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Keilidhs Bi-Aktivated - Now What Source?

I think the late Dick Shahinian summed it it well.

"On the topic of CD players, our choices have never been too politically correct, in that we feel that the medium as a whole has still not delivered 100% of what was originally promised by the powers that be. As a result, for under $1000.00 it is possible to get one out of many machines to get 95% of what the megabuck players will do."

As I say, Hebridean cottage, looking out to St. Kilda, amassing a vinyl collection and living on toast and beans is the final solution. I've told my wife this and she replied with a Billy Bob Thornton 'Hmmmm...'
 
For CD, an Ikemi, it’s an aesthetic match with your LK kit but more importantly than that, it’s one of the best sounding CD players I’ve heard full stop… marginally bettered by an Akurate CD, the Rega ISIS and Linn CD12 a step up again, but at this level, the steps aren’t revolutionary, and after years of experience with countless machines, the Ikemi is the one where I’m completely satisfied, and feel no need to spend more… the CD tray is shared with the CD12 albeit anodised black rather than chrome, and that is a thing of beauty in itself

I’d look for a Klimax Renew DS for streaming, it’s a plain black box with no aesthetic charm whatsoever, but you really are in “why spend more?” territory there, and unlike a CD player, where you need to physically interact with the machine itself, it’s all controlled with a (very decent) app, you can hide it out of sight and just bask in the glorious sound it produces.

I have the above two digital sources in my LK active Ninka system… along with an Akuroksan LP12 (near Akurate spec but with a Roksan arm).

I’ve had much cheaper and much more expensive systems that I’ve enjoyed, but this system is the best bang for buck that I’ve owned.


What serial number of Ikemi should I be looking for?
 
What serial number of Ikemi should I be looking for?
Any to be honest. There was a change of laser/mech that came fairly late on but sonically, they’re all the same, the earliest ones sounding just as good as the last. Lasers are available for all of them.

If you’re in the West Midlands, you’re welcome to hear mine in your own system!
 
Don't rule out a second Klout to replace the LK140 if one pops up at the right price.

Source - Akurate DS/0/D or a later version if you have more money available. A DSM version would allow you to sell the Kairn.
 
+1 on the linnfomaniac's recommendations. The ikemi is truly an amazing player (I had a hard time picking between it and the CDX at the time, preferred the linn, adding the XPS made the naim better but it also doubled the price and was nearly triple the linn all-told).

Can't think of a better value play than a renew KDS.
 
Don't rule out a second Klout to replace the LK140 if one pops up at the right price.

Source - Akurate DS/0/D or a later version if you have more money available. A DSM version would allow you to sell the Kairn.

Another Klout is always an option. I've told my wife this and she didn't budge.

The Akurate DSMs are just out of my league though.

I had the LK140 and Kairn first. Then got a package with 3 Klouts, but deal with m'lady was that I had to sell 2 to make money back thus getting my Klout for free. Succeeded! But another time........ All people interested were German, Austrian or Swiss. All wanting a wee piece of Glasgow.
 
I have to be honest, I’ve never heard the CXN, but every other Cambridge Audio digital source I’ve tried (Dacmagic Azur, Dacmagic +, 640c, 840c) have been too bright for my ears through Linn, maybe the CXN is a more refined performer, but I’d try and hear the component I suggested because they fit with your amps and speakers like a glove. It really is amazing how far you can take the Keilidhs, they just keep giving when they’re partnered with better kit. Ninkas are better again, and are also worth investigating.

Managed to pick up cherry Ninkas from a good home. What an improvement over the Keilidhs and so easy to adapt for bi-active use. A delight in every way, especially the higher soundstage. I love them.

On Friday, I have a nice Ikemi coming from Krescendo.

I have to sell my spare room kit to finance it. Not really an issue because I mostly stream through my PC, HS7 studio monitors, ZenDacv2 and some nice XLR/RCA interconnects. So the spare system has all been changed over the last few months only to be sold for the Ikemi.

I've been in a state of flux but feel I'm settling in on a much-improved living room system that makes me want to hook up the D28 through its amp, which is a nice thing to be doing again.
 
Wow, glad you’re happy with the Ninkas, although I didn’t doubt for a second that you wouldn’t be, they’re just stunning speakers, I’ve not found anything yet that I prefer in my room. I’ve tried other speakers, including active Kabers, some have sounded impressive initially, but have soon started to niggle… the Ninkas done do that, they just draw you into the music.

A non audiophile friend (until very recently) heard mine, she was absolutely mind blown, she loves music but had never heard a proper hifi… she’s now the very proud owner of a mint pair of cherry Ninkas, a Majik I, a Mimik and an Arcam IR-DAC. An Ikemi is high on her upgrade list, she just needs to save for it, she didn’t expect to be buying all this kit a few weeks ago, but she just had to have it.

Hope you’ll be just as delighted with the Ikemi, I don’t know how the CXN sounds for comparison but I’m certain the Ikemi will out perform the Musical Fidelity player… I do know that it’s still one of the best CD players I’ve heard, the build quality and finish is stunning too, the Klout of CD players. It’ll be right at home in a top flight Linn LK era system. Like the Ninkas, it has a huge sound stage, masses of detail and it’s totally un-fatiguing, everything just flows effortlessly and cohesively. Look forward to hearing your thoughts!
 
Wow, glad you’re happy with the Ninkas, although I didn’t doubt for a second that you wouldn’t be, they’re just stunning speakers, I’ve not found anything yet that I prefer in my room. I’ve tried other speakers, including active Kabers, some have sounded impressive initially, but have soon started to niggle… the Ninkas done do that, they just draw you into the music.

A non audiophile friend (until very recently) heard mine, she was absolutely mind blown, she loves music but had never heard a proper hifi… she’s now the very proud owner of a mint pair of cherry Ninkas, a Majik I, a Mimik and an Arcam IR-DAC. An Ikemi is high on her upgrade list, she just needs to save for it, she didn’t expect to be buying all this kit a few weeks ago, but she just had to have it.

Hope you’ll be just as delighted with the Ikemi, I don’t know how the CXN sounds for comparison but I’m certain the Ikemi will out perform the Musical Fidelity player… I do know that it’s still one of the best CD players I’ve heard, the build quality and finish is stunning too, the Klout of CD players. It’ll be right at home in a top flight Linn LK era system. Like the Ninkas, it has a huge sound stage, masses of detail and it’s totally un-fatiguing, everything just flows effortlessly and cohesively. Look forward to hearing your thoughts!

I'm just sitting down to my first album, KNopfler and Atkins. It is beautiful and what you describe is correct. Loads of kit on eBay to cover it!
For those wondering about the A3 and CXNv2 combo, I still rate it quite highly I have to say, and I could have lived with that for a long time to come to be honest. I'm totally in your friend's shoes in exact same situation save for me going to stop now.

My wife still hasn't discovered her A3 is missing. But I'll play something on the Ikemi and wait and see her response.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, I appreciate your help.

Here we go......................
 
Very glad you like the Ikemi too. The system you have there just gels perfectly. It just draws you into the music and you could listen for hours without getting tired or bored, as you’re discovering… and it looks ace too, I described LK series kit as being “black boxes done right” on another thread a few months back and I stand by it, timelessly elegant.
 
Very glad you like the Ikemi too. The system you have there just gels perfectly. It just draws you into the music and you could listen for hours without getting tired or bored, as you’re discovering… and it looks ace too, I described LK series kit as being “black boxes done right” on another thread a few months back and I stand by it, timelessly elegant.

Just out of interest, Klout and LK140 - what drivers would you assign them to?
 
Klout on treble, LK140 on mid/bass, assuming you have the correct active cards to do so.
Aye that’s what I’ve done. Was wondering what it would be like the other way round. When I tested each amp separately with isolated drivers it just sounded like two wee transistor radios coming out of the tweeters and I thought the Klout was being underworked for its status….
 
Also it’s a PITA having to open up Klouty to adjust the treble levels. Had to do that twice with the Keilidhs. Haven’t done so with the Ninkas yet.
 
It's difficult to understand though. With LK140 and bass/mid drivers on their own you can tell it's not full-range.
With Klout and treble, it's like wee trannie radios.
But with both together, it's more than the sum of the parts.

Can anyone explain this?
 
I can’t explain it in great scientific detail, not after a few glasses of rum anyway, but musical notes and human voices are complex and are made up of an array of complex frequencies, as opposed to a pure sine wave which is a single frequency. Even bass notes will contain some high frequency information, and both the mid/bass units and the tweeters are working in tandem to reproduce them, so even a low bass note will sound soft and muddy without the tweeters doing their job. In isolation, mid/bass drivers and tweeters will sound pretty crap, they’re not designed to be heard that way. In fact, the first time I heard a pair of tweeters playing in isolation, I was at a hifi demonstration at my local Linn dealership whilst the usual guy was away on his holidays… the guy covering hadn’t realised the Keilidhs he was using were set up for bi-wire use… AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells had me immediately covering my ears, it was pretty unpleasant. Just to add, despite the tweeters seemingly only covering a small part of the audible frequency range, they’re not, there’s a lot going on up there and a lot of intricate detail… changing the treble amplifier for a better one can actually improve the bass, because the leading edge is better defined, bass strings twang more cleanly, kick drums punch harder and cleaner. Hope this helps.
 
I can’t explain it in great scientific detail, not after a few glasses of rum anyway, but musical notes and human voices are complex and are made up of an array of complex frequencies, as opposed to a pure sine wave which is a single frequency. Even bass notes will contain some high frequency information, and both the mid/bass units and the tweeters are working in tandem to reproduce them, so even a low bass note will sound soft and muddy without the tweeters doing their job. In isolation, mid/bass drivers and tweeters will sound pretty crap, they’re not designed to be heard that way. In fact, the first time I heard a pair of tweeters playing in isolation, I was at a hifi demonstration at my local Linn dealership whilst the usual guy was away on his holidays… the guy covering hadn’t realised the Keilidhs he was using were set up for bi-wire use… AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells had me immediately covering my ears, it was pretty unpleasant. Just to add, despite the tweeters seemingly only covering a small part of the audible frequency range, they’re not, there’s a lot going on up there and a lot of intricate detail… changing the treble amplifier for a better one can actually improve the bass, because the leading edge is better defined, bass strings twang more cleanly, kick drums punch harder and cleaner. Hope this helps.
Ok, I think I can see where your coming from with the more defined bass strings and kick drums. After reading about the Exakt Technology on the Linn website they show the high frequency signals hitting the ear before the mid level, with bass coming in last, but their exakt system filters everything so it arrives at your ears at the same time. So does increasing the power of the high frequencies by using a more powerful power amp kind of trick the ears into hearing all frequencies at the same time, a bit like those old 3D glasses and the eyes trick. If so this could be the forerunner to the exakt system. After that bit of useless mid bogging, fancy another tot of rum!!
I might just be on the lookout for an LK140 to boost my HF.
 


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