DESCRIPTION

The Linn Classik Movie System is a single-box solution, akin in a way to many of the home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) packages currently on the market, albeit several steps up in quality, and less the speaker system. At $2995 the Classik is certainly more expensive than the vast majority of HTIB systems on the market.

The basic feature set includes a five-channel, 75W amplifier (into 4 ohms), an AM/FM tuner with 80 presets, and an integrated DVD player. Additionally, there are two analog audio inputs, one digital audio input, one S-video input and output, and a full set of 5.1 analog outputs for external amplification. The speaker outputs are very unusual in that they’re reverse banana plugs, or BFA (British Federation of Audio) connectors. (For an explanation of BFAs, see the GoodSound! article "What You Need to Know About Loudspeaker Cables.") Try finding connectors for that at your local Radio Shack. I had to go to five electronics stores before I finally found rolled bananas that would just barely work with the connectors on the Linn. Better to get real BFAs if you can.