Linn users need your advice on Amps.

RED
In home theather and stereo my system works great. THe solos more than hold there own against any amp. That said I still want to biamp the 802's. I am in the process of buying some Mark Levinson 436 monos for the bass on my 802's.
The reason I am going with the 436 for the bass is first they cost about $3000 (used) less than Solos (used. And second I always liked levinson gear as well. It was my second choice next to Linn. SO I feel I can combine them as biamping goes and save some money and make sure my first decision was correct. I will eventully split my system in to a dedicated home theater and 2ch rig. So I can't lose by having more amps than less. I would recommend listening to the solos vs others to help you with your decision.

Deven8,

Your choice of the Levinson's is very nice. Are you not satisfied with the bass production of the Linn's?

Speaking of Linn, have you heard the CD12? If so what do you think of this player compared to your Unidisk 1.1? I was contemplating on whether or not it would be nice to purchase a second hand cd12? At around 9 to 10k I am curious about its performance against other companies such as Ayre (CX-5e), Classe, even Levinson. The problem with all this gear is that many of the dealers do not carry all the product lines together. The Linn dealer which carries the Monos does not carry the 802D's. Just difficult to make a final decision on some of this stuff. Oh well better for the pocket book. :)

red
I lIke the bass from the solos. I just wanted more (from biamping) and thought I try levinson.
As far as classe being made for b&w well the major studios with B&W all have chord gear powering their speakers?? So who knows.
A 1.1 is about 90-95% of a cd12 on cd depends on who you ask on sacd a 1.1 is better than a cd12 on cd. Go to the linn forum and do some searchs there is alot of info there.

I have just gone through the same process of looking into pruchasing Linn Klimaxes, and had been wondering about if the Chakra Twin had enough drive for my not too efficient--85db sensitivity--Dynaudio C1 speakers. I decided the only way to find out for sure was to buy used and try. And which I did.

Now I had a Klimax Kontrol and a Chakra Twin for about 2 weeks, I found that the Twin seems to drive my Dynaudio with ease. It never got more than mildly warm, the fan never came on, and the control of bass is better than the Gryphon integrated it replaces. Out of the maximun volume of 100, I usually listen at 70 or so, and at 75 or more, its too loud for my 14'x18' room.

The general tone was leaner than the Gryphon at first, but after I changed Linn's original power cord and interconnects to others, the leanness was mostly gone. What I gained over before are more precise sound reproduction, more detail, and more control. I still need to tweak my system a bit, but I am generally very happy with the Linn combo.

On Linn's own web site there is a excerpt of review by a European magazine, and it reveiwed the Chakra Twin with a 802D, and the Twin seemed to do just fine. On a Japanese audio magazine--Stereo Sound--I read, it claims that in Japan, the Twin is reputed to sound better than the solo; and it confirmed it in the review. Of corse, I would think solo should be better than Twin, especially for less efficient speakers, but I think its good for you to know that, when cost of purchase is a concern, the Chakra Twin may do just fine for your application.

I would advise the Linn Klimax Solos. I have them in my system with Ayre K-1xe preamp, and the new Ayre C-5xe disc player, using Wilson Sophia II speakers with Aerial SW-12 subwoofer. If you can wait a short time Ayre will soon be releasing a new monoblock amp which I believe got raves at recent Consumer Electronics Show.