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Originally Posted by memepool /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Wow some pretty exotic Hi-Fi, where is this fabled island? Madeira? Tenerife?
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Yes, the last one, with the BIG volcano in the middle, that is
I had received my Linn Akurate CD two weeks ago. At this moment I don't know how to explain its sound. My last source was a Pioneer which has twelve years old: enough details and transparent sound, well, so-so, and cold, pain treble, a little distortion when massive vocals keep the player very busy, too. One grateful sounding characteristic from Linn is treble. I am very sensitive at these frequencies and usually my ears feel pain even at low volumes. With ancient vinyls it wasn't the case at all. Linn delivers treble round edges, sweetness but in the border of neutrality, warm bass, not very emphatic but little blurred (an Audio Technica 950LTD sounds like a big Sennheiser if you can understand the example).
The good news: the middle frequencies, of course, sounds great. All the music, and only the music, has more energy, more power "inside", and that is the most strange and best characteristic for me. All the details stay there, at place, for your pleasure. But it helps you to forget to analyse the sound. You don't have to lost any bit of music in exchange of sweetness, please don't believe that. But its presentation don't bring the music for your study in front of you. So it's not spectacular at the beginning, it's not stunning. Maybe it sounds thin and delicate. Very suave. It's not easy to understand why you don't feel a black background (my amp maybe?), why you enjoy the music but the polite presentation lacks the "punch" that your endorphins demand. Nevertheless you understand many things about music. Because you NEVER are hearing your rig. At the end I feel like enjoying a deep old love, only the good things deserve to be remembered.
Last thoughts: SACDs, good SACDs, are absolutely analogical. And here the terms "digital" or "solid state" or "op-amp" or whatever you usually manage disappear. There is one skill, another very strange skill, this Linn player delivers: rhythm or pace. I don't know how to explain, I'm sorry. All the magic part is about qualities of music, it's not about sound or physics. There are notes, melody, strings, voices. It is not soundstage, spikes or holes in frequencies or how similar or different is regarding other players. It's fun!
I am using an ATH-950LTD (and soon a new ATH900Ti) through an old European integrated amp. During the next months I'll change that amp. But I have mixed feelings about the path. One day I think I need a pair of electrostatic cans in my life, and the next day I believe that an upper solid state monster (like Rudistor amps) amp fits better with the next big thing (from AT, for example). I have to wait.
Thank you head-fiers and congratulations for the return of our site!
