New Linn Products

The new version is the Movie Classik Di (for Digital Input?).

It has the same CD/DVD laser, tray and load mechanism as the standard CMS, so no SACD, but the chips and software are based on the Unidisk 1.1, so better processing. It has 2 extra optical digital inputs, and composite, S-video, and RGB inputs and outputs. Dolby ProLogic II processing is available on all channels.

For people who watch a lot of satellite TV films, the additional processing is to die for...

Sounds great from here ;-)

They have a new version of the Movie classik coming out too, though not sure if it will play SACD. It does everything else though. Uses the transport/guts of the unidisk. $5k retail I believe. I have a 15 page PDF on it somewhere here...

-Ed

I went to my Linn dealer yesterday afternoon, and they have received their first Unidisk. No Kisto yet. It is an early production model, apparently sent to only a few dealers here in the U.S. Routine shipping is to begin in six to eight weeks. I listened for about an hour to some redbook CD and SACD. My initial impression is that it is a truly excellent audio player. I didn't watch any video or do any comparisons with an Ikemi, CD12 or other players, but I'm planning a shootout with my dealer and my personal Tri-Vista SACD in the near future. My dealer's impression is that it is a better redbook player than the Ikemi, and the Unidisk SACD performance is on par with the CD12 on redbook. The Unidisk has some interesting features, and there are balanced outputs for the front stereo channels. The transport has a metal tray and is very smooth, solid and quiet. Track access was fast, but you do have to stop to switch between redbook and SACD layers on hybrid disks. There is no Firewire interface. The Unidisk case is the standard AV51 style, the remote is plastic (just like the Movie Classik, but a little heavier and with a different finish), and the included Analogue interconnects are standard black and not silver. I'm no videophile, I was assured that video performance is world-class.

Unfortunately, the pricing of the Unidisk and Kisto is higher than I think anyone anticipated, a spasm-inducing $11,000 for the Unidisk and a sphincter-tightening $15,000 or $16,000 for the Kisto. A less expensive universal disk player was promised in a few months, possibly to mate with a revised 5103 processor.