Linn questions for novice.

The above responses are sound and have good points. I do not hold strictly to the "all Linn" philosophy (party line). That aside, your choices are limited by your budget and your ears. For a CD only system, the Genki run directly into an LK85 would be quite a bit better than a Mimik/ Majik combo. I personally don't recommend the Mimik at all. It is revealing and musical, but it has a "hardness" to the sound that is completely absent in the Genki, which is the player that lured me back to CDs! Do you need a phono stage? What is the size of your listening room? The Tukans of course, do not have the bass response of the Keilidhs, but they are more neutral sounding with a higher quality midbass driver, whereas the Keilidh is a bit less bass articulate, but with a lower bass response. So, to sum up, my recommendation would be to buy a Genki, no question about it. The amp, be it LK85 or Majik, definitely audition and consider your priorities, budget and upgrade plans. As for the speakers, consider your room and listening preferences. Listen to music you are NOT familiar with through Linn equipment. This is a great test as to whether you truly enjoy the presentation - your bias towards familiar music it taken away. Well best of luck in your search. -John

Had a Majik/Mimik driving a pair of ProAc Tablette 50 Signature in my studies for a while. Work real well, very musical for the price of it.

ElDragon: it seems like you're the Linn man around here :) I read some reviews on audioreview.com and I think I best stick with the Tukans. If I go for the Majik, Mimik/Genki and Tucan combo it's tough to go wrong. If I could find a Genki for $1100 I'd probably buy it. But buying a Mimik for a low price would enable me to sell it later on and upgrading to a Genki. I read somewhere that the Tukans were updated in just the last couple of years or so. Does anyone know what year that was, and what to look for when shopping? Also, what's the difference between the Majik and Majik-I? Does the Kudos tuner module come with most of them? How expensive is it used? The speakers would unfortunatly go in the great room, which is together with the kitchen and is approx. 26'x 29. I know I won't get the best sound in such a large room, but it'll be a lot better than the non-fi I currently own. I'm getting excited! I feel like I'm on a hunt. I remember hearing the Mimik/Majik/Tucan combo 4 years ago, and I'll never forget it. True to Linn's philosophy - once you've heard ours, theirs will sound like noise.

Hi, Morty i am not particulari "Linn man", but at the time i was on the "look-out" just like you, and Linn was only company, that offered the best possible sound, for the money i was willing (able)to spend. And also, i was able to personaly audition the product. I am not aware of any upgrades, that Tukan went through. Also, Kudos tuner, doesn't come with the Majik, and you can find it for about $600(used). It is good tuner, but pricey.I am using vintage tube "Fisher" found on e-bay for less than 200 bucks. Regarding CD player, as i said you can find Karik II for 1K, and if you are to upgrade, just add NUmerik d/a converter, for around 800 bucks, and you would have digital front-end as good as any! I am VERY pleased with Karik(alone)and that is the player i am going to keep, as long as CD's exist. I would like to suggest, for you to find "silver" jumpers (jumpers, they are on the back of the Majik conecting amp with pre-amp, and factory ones are thick copper) The sound with the silver-ones, is much cleaner, transparent....I also have relatively large room, 20 x 15 which is also quite "brite" (wood-floor), which i treated with some heavy curtains, persian rug, bookshelves etc...and i have no problem. One more thing, when and if you get Tukan's make sure that you fill those stands with lead shot (to the top)I tipped mine, few weeks after i bought them, and made dent in one of them what made them "un-fit" for re-sale. Once again, good luck and contact me if you will.

I am happy to see that Linn products are apparently gaining more popularity. I am a sold-out Linn-o-maniac. I started with Tukan speakers, which I was very pleased with. You may be thinking of the fact that there was a previous model called the Kan, which was upgraded to the Tukan in the past couple of years. I found that I was happier using a subwoofer to get enough bass response -- I could not afford the Linn subwoofer at the time, so I used a Mirage which seemed to pair decently. In a large room the bass from the Tukans kind of disappears, but it also depends upon what type of music you listen to. I next went to an A/V system that used the 5140 speakers in the front, 5120 center and the Tukans in the rear, which sounded great. I became so sold on the Linn sound (and so did everyone else that heard the system), that I now have Linn Keltic speakers in the front, with the 5140s in the rear. All the speakers are run in active (I guess I should say Aktiv) mode. I am using Klout amps (to run all these speakers active requires eight amps). For A/V I run everything through the Linn 5103 processor. I am currently looking for an Ikemi CD player. I've moved the Tukans into a second room and plan to set up a second smaller system. I think your initial set-up with the Mimik/Majik/Tukan would be great. Sticking with the more recently introduced products should make resale easier when you upgrade. Although the Karik/Numerik combo may give you great sound at the moment, with the rapid advances in technology, I suspect they will become outdated and more difficult to sell within a couple of years. If you could possibly go up to the Genki, though, I would recommend it. Once the Linn bug gets you, watch out.