Linn Classik All-in-one box solutions

Steuspeed,

I have another rather unorthodox suggestion. If you desire good sound, but don't want to spend much money, try to find a Sharp SD-EX111. This is trickle down technology from the original $15,000 Sharp Digital Integrated Amp that graced the cover of Stereophile a few years ago. The EX111 was sold on close-out at Overstocks.com for $70! I bought one after reading about it at audiocircle.com. There is a 2000+ post thread about it there.

Anyway, the Sharp is pretty darn good. It has digital switching amps, a pre-amp, CD and tuner in one small, cheap plastic package. It looks decent, sounds very good and can be bought for $100-200 when they show up from time to time. Also, Vinnie at RedWine Audio has several different mods for this unit that can take it to a much higher level of fidelity.

I've read a few post where folks have replace multi-thousand dollar separates with this unit.

Enjoy,

TIC

Great feedback guys! Thanks to all.

A really great sounding 2 box solution is the Quad 99 CDP (CD player with analog variable volume control and extra digital inputs for DVD, cable, etc)and a Quad 99 or Quad 909 amp. Check out the professional reviews. Absolute Sound and others have loved this combo.

Enjoy,

TIC

Audio Analogue just came out with the Enigma , an all-in-one that was reviewed pretty highly and received a Best Buy in this month's HiFi Choice (Page 62). The unit has tubes, no less. Supposedly it looks and sounds great and the price is GBP850, which would put in the Arcam's price range. Don't know about US availability.

As for a matching two box solution, the Music Hall A25.2 integrated amp & cd player are hard to beat and pretty sweet at $1100 (more rhyming is a New Year's resolution).

Regards, Rich

The Linn has pre-out. Great feature! Down the road, you can piece-meal a higher quality separates system. You can plug in an outboard amplifier, bypassing the Linn amp, while maintaining all the other Linn pre-amp, tuner & CD functions. It's a great way to bettter the Linn sound, and logically build into a separates system, or a second system.
btw, I find the CD sound quite pleasing in the Linn. The remote us absurdly large, not particularly logical in its layout, and not well balanced ergonimically.

For a 2-box solution, I agree on the Classik with an LK85. Also consider the other way around: a Genki with a Majik.

One-box solutions are pretty much limited to Linn, NAD and Arcam at the moment. OTOH the Magnum Dynalab MD-208 has no CD player, but a great tuner, and IMHO a better amp than the Classik, Majik or LK85.

Arcam Solo or NAD L53.

i have owned the linn classic and it is a great unit if you really want to enjoy to it's fullest buy a linn 85 amp and use it for the amp ....also linn mimik, genki with their majic intergrated is killer especially with their speakers.....very heavy unit and clean...

Buy the arcam solo.......tremendous value....can be bought new under $1300