I have heard both the Wakonda and Kolektor at home for a few weeks and prefered the Wakonda by a wide margin. The Kolektor was not really any inprovement over the pre section in the Linn Classik that I had at the same time. The Wakonda on the other hand was much smoother, with less grain in the highs, and much more detail, wider soundstage, in summary: an improvement over the Kolektor across the board.
The Wakonda and Kolektor I listened to where each the newest version. In particular if you consider the wakonda, be careful since there are many different versions out there. Same should be tru for the Kairn. Both have been in production with multiple changes for the last ten years +.
I can't help you on the comparison of Wakonda to Kairn, but the Wakonda can be found fairly new in the same range (disclaimer: I just sold my Wakonda a few weeks ago).
On the other hand, as somebody who has tried out tubes recently I have to say I would probably not go back to Linn. I really like the Jolida integrated I downgraded to now (except for the lack of features). There a lot of good recommendations out there for cheap tube stages that migh help to add a little warmth/naturalness to the Linn sound.
Good luck!
Rene
The Wakonda and Kolektor I listened to where each the newest version. In particular if you consider the wakonda, be careful since there are many different versions out there. Same should be tru for the Kairn. Both have been in production with multiple changes for the last ten years +.
I can't help you on the comparison of Wakonda to Kairn, but the Wakonda can be found fairly new in the same range (disclaimer: I just sold my Wakonda a few weeks ago).
On the other hand, as somebody who has tried out tubes recently I have to say I would probably not go back to Linn. I really like the Jolida integrated I downgraded to now (except for the lack of features). There a lot of good recommendations out there for cheap tube stages that migh help to add a little warmth/naturalness to the Linn sound.
Good luck!
Rene