Richard Schneider

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.57 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Audio Club, Montreal

Summary:
I had been warned that the LK 140 would be too weak for my needs. However I kept my decision to go forward and I bought the amp. It's a decision I'll never regret. It's a great amp. The reason why I'm happy is that I have an efficient pair of speakers. They are made by Paradigm (Canadian make) and with this little Linn they sound and sing like I never thought they would. You do have to make the right choice in terms of cables. I drive it with Van dan Hul interconnects and Tara Labs cables for the speakers. The cables given to me by the dealer were not that good although he insisted they were the best. Don't listen to them. You have to experiment. I don't have a pre amp yet. For now my Genki does the job through it's own pre amp which does a pretty good job.

Strengths:
Bass extension, details and more details, different instruments are well separated

Weaknesses:
Soundstage could be better. Not forgiving and the sense that if the CD quality is good or better it will sound great. If the CD is bad it won't do anything to improve it.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
For the first time I did not trade any piece of equipment for about 4 years. It says something! I use Ikemi,Sondek,Kolektor,2xLK140 biamp with Tukans. Icould improve the system changing the Kolektor or with Aktiv Kans. But who cares? It plays and plays and plays and... ... . As I needed a second system I went for a used Naim , but the Linn stays at its place.

Strengths:
honest,robust,well made,plays tunes

Weaknesses:
too expensive,kind of top consumer good, but thats Linn today

Similar Products Used:
Naim

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Looking for an upgrade to my Cyrus I tried over 20 amps in the 800-1500 price range, including Arcam, Cyrus, Creek, Electrocompaniet, Sugden, Musical Fidelity... and many more. The only amp that came close to the sound I wanted was LK140 and Kolektor Pre-amp. However, don't expect it to perform right out of the box. I thought I'd made the biggest mistake ever until it started to sing after about a week's serious music. There aren't any other Linn products in my setup either - so don't think it's just for Linn-o-philes! Anyone thinking of an Arcam/Cyrus or similar amp should listen to the LK140/Kolektor combo.

Strengths:
Has enough power to drive big speakers. Makes a lot of recordings sound better than I had ever expected.

Weaknesses:
Don't expect the LK140 to make every recording sound great - some of the more compressed disks can sound poor.

Similar Products Used:
You name it, I've probably auditioned it.

Price Paid:  $995.00 from audiogon

Summary:
Excellent amp for the money. Nice improvement over my LK100. Quiet, dynamic and trouble free. As part of an all LINN system, this little amp rocks.

Strengths:
Build quality quiet enough current to drive most speakers

Weaknesses:
none.

Similar Products Used:
adcom, nakamichi,nad,naim, CJ

Price Paid:  $1400.00 from Sounds Like Music

Summary:
Have two 140's set up in active configuration. Sound is detailed, smooth, and toe tapping good. I can listen for hours, and do, no fatigue whatsoever. When buying LINN I had my doubts, many times, but all have faded. Have a complete LINN system to include Wokanda, Genki, and some Ninkas. Power conditioner is an AudioPrism and interconnects are all SilverAudio. I have no reason to upgrade for a long time...but probably will anyway...with more LINN. I think I'm hooked. Another note about LINN is customer service. Fried my amps power source when hooking up speakers (yes, very stupid move on my part). LINN was great and replaced the power source of the amp at no charge...should have been a couple hundred dollars. They are great to deal with. This is my first "real" system but I've been a musician my whole life. I know what music sounds like, and can say you won't go wrong with getting a 140 (or two)...or anything else that LINN makes.

Strengths:
Good separation and detail.

Weaknesses:
Maybe more bass responce.