Easy to use, flexible, open sound

Poor interconnects, lack of attack

Last year I decided to treat myself and upgrade my Mission Cyrus amp and Marantz 67SE MKII CD with a LINN Genki/Kolektor/LK140 combination. It sounded great in the shop but when I got it home I was underwhelmed. It was better than my old system, but not much. Did it need "running in"? Were my venerable Mission 753S speakers or QED Silver Aniversary Biwire speaker cables the problem? Eventually, I replaced the LINN interconnects with VAN DEN HUL 102 MKIII Hybrid. What a difference! Suddenly there was detail and stereo depth not heard before. If you like the LINNs and want to get the most out of them, you certainly need to use decent interconnects between CD and pre-amp and pre-amp and power amp.

Controls, custom user options, great control, very usefull bass and treble controls.

Remote not very handy, otherwise none at this prizerange

The Kolektor is a very strange unit with lots of custom user options, a great discrete design and, when used with other Linn equipment, very good sound. Since there are no moving parts, this unit will function perfectly for many years to come, and there are certainly enough inputs to expand your system in the future. Also the MM Phono input is very good, i´ve tried it with the Linn LP12 and K18II, and it sounded just great. Actually, i had the opportunity to compare the Kolektor directly to my old Rotel RSP-966 Surround preamp together with a Rotel RB-980 Poweramp, and to my surprise, the Linn was not nearly as musical as the Rotel, but the bass was clearly better and more controlled. When the RB-980 was removed and the Linn LK85 power amp put in, it all changed. What i am trying to say is, that Linn sounds best together with other Linn equipment. When doing so, there is not much that comes close to it, perhaps the Kairn preamp from Linn, but it has a much higher price.

Similar Products Used:

Linn LK1, Linn LK280, Linn LK85, Linn Kairn, Rotel RSP-966

Superbly user friendly,excellent sound,remote control

I can't think of any!

I've been quite critical in the past about some of Linn's substantial price rises so it was quite a pleasant surprise when I had a demonstration of the Kolector/LK140 pre-power amp.This pre-amp has to be one of THE Hi-Fi bargains of the moment.A 10 Input(inc. mm phono),fully remote controlled unit with, wait for it,TONE CONTROLS! Having upgraded from a Naim Nait 3 the sound quality from my LP12, Lingo,Cirkus,Akito,K9 front end & Royd Abbot Speakers has improved in every aspect. Detailed,punchy & with so much grip I think I've found an amplifier I can be happy with for a very long time!

Transparent sound, lots of inputs, no potentiometers, ease of use

No tape loop, no listen/record switch

I am not really a fan of Linn products, but when I set out to find a good pre-amp that didn't cost a fortune, I fell in love with the Kolektor. My pre-amp had to have a phono stage, preferrably tone controls, and lots of inputs for future use. I didn't want any potentiometers, so my choices were rather limited.

I didn't care about so called "balanced" inputs or outputs, that's just a big hype and scam in order to squeeze even more money out of us poor audio enthousiasts. "Balanced" connections are often not very balanced since the electronics that do the conversion between "balanced" and "unbalanced" is crap anyway. And the only time you would need balanced connections is when you have really long cables, such as in a studio environment. Otherwise, in normal home use, you will ususally get worse sound with "balanced" connections... The Kolektor has only standard RCA connectors, great!!!

I used to have a very nice integrated Accuphase E-203 from 1980. However, its potentiometers started making noises all the time (even when I had them fixed by a professional), the tone and balance controls made noise too. I then set out to find a pre-amp - power amp combination to replace the E-203. I didn't want any potentiometers (no noise please!), and the Kolektor was the only amp I could find that didn't have any. I often wonder why there must be so many buttons, knobs and potentiometers on an amp...? If we can control the volume of the TV-set without potentiometers, why can't we with an amp? It must be a traditional thing.

Anyway, the Kolektor has everything you want:
Phono stage
10 inputs (configurable)
3 outputs
1 tape out
Great remote control

apart from:
tape loop
listen/record switch
but I can live with that.

The Kolektor is like a small computer that you can program, so it's very flexible. You can configure which input you want for CD, tuner, etc. The Kolektor can also remember settings such as volume, balance, bass and treble for each input. I don't use it, but it's there. There is a great mute function too. There are lots of options that you can program (behaviour in different cases), but I haven't really bothered.

The best thing about it is the clean design and the lack of potentiometers. Wonderful "digital" volume control from 0 to 100. The display is simple and clear, love it.

As for the sound, I don't really know how it compares to other pre-amps, but I trust Linn and I think it sounds superbly in my system. I guess it does its job and gets out of the way.

You may find this funny, but I use it with a Rotel RB-991 power amp (2X200). It's a beauty and the beast combination that works great for my Infinity Kappa 90 speakers. Linn don't really have any big amps, and I simply won't cough up the ridiculous money they want for the Klout. The Rotel RB-991 (got it for $800) is a great amp, I really don't think the Klout would sound that much better. And as previously stated, I'm not a Linn fan anyway, but I'm getting there...

I managed not to fall for the interconnect scam either, and invested in a pair of Cambridge Pacific cables ($35) that sound great.

I even got an unforeseen bonus: The Kolektor remote control works with my Arcam DIVA CD72! Great! One remote less to keep track of.

I strongly recommend this pre-amp. Actually, I can't really see any reason why you would buy another pre-amp, unless you refuse to buy Linn products because of the ridiculous foot-tapping ads etc. It's great value for money. But don't open the box, because then you'll realize that it's about 95% air, but that goes for all pre-amps.....

Similar Products Used:

None

Transparency, detail, focus

Too cheap for the sound and facilities on offer !
A little challenged for tonal color and soundstage, maybe.
Just maybe.

I confess to being confused by the little, low cost Kolektor.

It substantially betters all of the above listed audiophile-rave pre-amps.
Perhaps it is a little "grey/washed out" in tone.
Perhaps it is a little 2 dimensional.
Perhaps.

Bargain of the year/decade/century ?

I happily use it with ($15,000) Avantgarde Uno speakers, ($15,000) Jadis JA80 monoblock amps and the latest upsampling digital gear from Perpetual Technology.

Similar Products Used:

Rowland Consummate, Audio Research SP11/2; Musical Fidelity F22, Audio Synthesis Passion 8

Can't think of any, especially for the price

My reason for auditioning the Kolektor in the first place was primarily due to its features - I wanted a preamp with a remote, a phono stage, the ability to drive multiple amps, and the ability to integrate (if and when I decide to do so) into a home theater set-up.

When I looked at the diminuitive little box with no knobs and an LCD display, I was initially apprehensive. I mean, come on, a little nondescript little black box is supposed to be a serious pre-amp? Most others I looked at had brushed aluminum faceplates, a honking big volume knob, and handles.

Well, one listen convinced me. Not only did the preamp have the features I wanted, it sounded way better than I expected (better than the Wakonda, for anyone considering that as an option). The phono stage is excellent, and I can do everything I want to do now, as well as probably anything I'll do in the forseeable future. The sound could probably be best described as warm, detailed and musical. If I were to be critical, I'd say that compared to the super high end, it may sacrifice a very slight amount of transparency for warmth, but that's a comprimise I'm happy with. I prefer a touch of warmth to cold, analytical graininess any day.

Also, I've kind of become used to the styling. Maybe I don't need handles after all.

Now I have one, I can't believe it's so cheap. This has to be one of the great bargains in Audio today, and I strongly recommend that anyone looking for a decent preamp should listen to the Kolektor.

I was so sold with it, I bought a pair of LK85 amps (with aktiv cards) and a pair of Ninka speakers. Sure, you don't have to pair the Kolektor with Linn stuff, but it sure sounds good if you do.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned adcom, bryston, arcam and classe

Flexable, compact affordable unit

No volume knob

Not a bad unit for the money, offers a lot of flexibility but is not the last word on transparency. Slightly muffled sound but can also be fatiguing. Decent build quality and if speakers are under 2K or not very revealing not a bad choice but recommend stepping up to a better unit if more resolution and detail are needed.

Similar Products Used:

Krell KRC-3, Musical Fidelity A-3, CJ PV-14

The sound of this unit is much different than previous linn preamps. More forward and less detail than Wakonda yet sound is smoother, some say more musical. Sounds like a wall of music coming at you rather than a multilayered sound stage that the better preamps provide. Sounds very similar to the classik. OK for a budget setup, but the lack of depth is annoying. Doesn't come with an interconnect cable like the other preamps do and the remote is a f((*&(^ joke...probably designed by some math wiz with coke bottle glasses and with a fixation for statistical calculators. Sounds better with the newer Linn gear. Good value for basic features, but for the price of this + LK85 there are some mighty good integrated amps out there that are far better.

Linn products are generally of high quality, and this new per-amp is more than just a step ahead. Not only does it complement the new LK85 and LK140 power amps from Linn, but it also sports more inputs than you could use at the moment. In this regard it is future proof.
The best of this new pre-amp is the way it sounds. I bought it with the LK85 power amp, Linn Genki CD and Sonus Faber Cencerto speakers, and I am overjoyed at the soundstage and absolute crisp sound and precise control.

At £500 it's an absolute bargain!

Uncoloured sound, great bass control, great value

Noisy electronic buzz at startup

When I was looking to update my 10 year old electronics, I decided that whichever preamp that I buy, it will need to have tone controls (to tame those remastered CDs from analog sources)and a good phono preamp (to allow continued enjoyment of my 600+ LPs). As you can imagine, my choices these days are severely limited. While in principle I am in agreement that the shortest signal path and minimal (or none) signal interference should be the ultimate design goal of any amplification equipment, real life situations demand the availability of some form of tone controls to render some CDs listenable. A great example is Kleiber's Beethoven's 5th Symphony-the best musical performance ever recorded (by my book) but remastered by DG onto a CD with VERY harsh trebles. Dropping the treble control by 2 digital units (down 3-4 dB at 20 kHz) on the Kolector make listening enjoyable again. I pair this preamp with a Bryston 4B, and needless to say, the bass control and accuracy was astounding. Highly recommend this combination to those with speakers that can go down to the low 20s. A great product. I would have given a 5-star overall if not for the electronic buzz upon power up._

Similar Products Used:

Classe, Krell, Levinson, Accurus