Linn Majik DS-1 Streamer & Amplifier Review

[gvl]

Seems like the general conclusion is to avoid all this AVR and streamers as a whole

Matrix Audio streamers are SOTA devices. As for AVRs, they can be a reasonable compromise depending on needs.

 

[Coffee_fan]

@amirm the frequency response is very much like the one in the Linn AV5125-5 you measured back in 06/2020.

 

[Jimbob54]

Headless is a bit harsh?

I think it's appropriate. Imagine if amir did the measurements 10 years ago, would have been uproar.

 

[PeteL]

Hmm, the power into 4 ohm screen shot notes "Early rise in distortion (3 watts)" but I don't see a rise until about 20 watts?

I's a ratio,If the THD+N Ratio flatten, while you are still Increasing the level of the signal, it means that the distortion level start to rise. Or to be precise it starts to rise faster, it's out of its linear zone.

 

[PeteL]

We see sum total SINAD of 78 dB. This obviously limited by the DAC as it produced 20 dB better performance. Indeed switching to analog input we see that confirmed:

Sorry to play the semantic police, The amp is the bottleneck here obviously.

 

[Count De Money]

I’m not surprised . Linn always was a high end scam catering for the well heeled who fell for glamorous looks and marketing spiel. I remember one of their flagship DVD players from circa 2000 and pulling it apart to find almost all made in China parts . It retailed circa 10k Aussie dollars . But it made good table conversation in the yacht dinning room

 

[Jas0_0]

I had one of these a couple of years ago. Bought it second hand. Could never get it to sound right. First I tried it as a straight integrated amp, but it had no bass and really hashy highs. So I tried adding a Nord power amp, but that just gave me more of the same. Thinking the preamp/attenuator might be the problem, I added a preamp, just using the Linn as a streamer/DAC/phono pre. Still it didn’t sound right. Then eventually I replaced it with a Chord 2Qute DAC fed by a laptop and finally I had good sound.

Now I finally understand why the Linn was so terrible. I sold it on for what I bought it, but proper measurements would have saved me a lot of time, money and frustration.

Another salutary tale, as if it were needed, on the importance of measurements.

 

[PeteL]

I’m not surprised . Linn always was a high end scam catering for the well heeled who fell for glamorous looks and marketing spiel. I remember one of their flagship DVD players from circa 200 and pulling it apart to find almost all made in China parts . It retailed circa 10k Aussie dollars . But it made good table conversation in the yacht dinning room

May I ask how you trace where the parts come from in an electronic product? There is still more silicon plan in the US than in Asia, but it has nothing to do it quality, For the rest, yes China likely but it has nothing to do with quality neither. But very few manufacturers, even very hi end, would discriminate or chose the parts they use based on where they are produced.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I remember one of their flagship DVD players from circa 200 and pulling it apart to find almost all made in China parts

Which was that? I don't remember Linn ever making a DVD player, though maybe. Because of the huge cost of licensing most "high end" companies selling DVD plkayers actually bought in an already licensed design and put it in their own case, some did other mods too, but not all.
In any case the bulk of the cost of an item like these is the casing not the electronic parts.

 

[McFly]

What happened to a Naim getting measured? Bet they caught wind of it and threatened legal action.

 

[3125b]

but nothing is broken.

Exept for the price.
Well, and the frequency response, there is no reason for that kind of performance.

What happened to a Naim getting measured?

Right, they sell similar products at similar price points. And probably similar performance.

 

[PeteL]

Exept for the price.
Well, and the frequency response, there is no reason for that kind of performance.

About the price, Thinking out loud but would it be correct than 10 years ago, Ethernet based network streaming was really a novelty with pretty much no competition? I don't remember there was much of it, if it's the case, starting with no IP and developping fully from scratch are enormous cost to recoup, but maybe there was some stuff out there and Linn just generally is overpriced. Innovation warrant a big price tough, if it's the case here. In all cases the amp section is quite poor, so I generally agree with you that it's not worth it.

 

[restorer-john]

The amp supposedly has 45 WPC @ 8ohms and 90 WPC @ 4ohms, so it's not measuring even close to its spec.

It hits both those numbers at 1% THD into 4R and 8R according to @amirm's plots.

 

[thewas]

It is disappointing to see an engineering focused company like Linn target so low in power and noise and distortion.

Personally I have never seen companies like Linn, Naim etc. as engineering focused selling overpriced "high end" with not state of the art measurements and a lot of "upgrades" to make for example a sub-optimal belt drive turntable less bad.
Now I must duck and run though before their fans shoot at me.

 

[YSC]

I like streamers or integrated amps for the convenience. They do everything in one box and they're easy to move. I don't like cables for one, so the less the better. As long as they sound decent I am ok. Very subjectively speaking, this one sounds better than it measures.

Right, maybe it’s me who’s not wealthy enough to spend that amount of money at ease, and here in HK we have tiny home so the moving around isn’t an issue and that’s why I prefer separate boxes. But this sort of performance is really disappointing

 

[Jas0_0]

Personally I have never seen companies like Linn, Naim etc. as engineering focused selling overpriced "high end" with not state of the art measurements and a lot of "upgrades" to make for example a sub-optimal belt drive turntable less bad.
Now I must duck and run though before their fans shoot at me.

As an owner of an aged LP12 that’s due for either replacement or upgrade, I’d be interested to know what you’d consider a well-engineered, optimal turntable.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

...see if I can install the Roon bridge on it.

https://ropieee.org/

Works like a charm. Close to zero setup.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

Now I must duck and run though before their fans shoot at me.

This place is kind of safe space for people like you (and me).

 

[restorer-john]

And I HATE music in the background, particularly when I have something to do.

Background music is really only useful at wedding receptions and in lifts (elevators to our American friends).

And, it must have The Girl From Ipanema on high rotation.

 

[restorer-john]

I’d be interested to know what you’d consider a well-engineered, optimal turntable.

Technics SL-1200mk2. Sell the Linn, they really have nothing going for them apart from secondary market resale value.