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Old or new £300 speakers?

Iain Docherty said:
What are you amplifying your Ninkas with? I’ve had various pairs over the years, including active with 5125s and 5100s... now have a pair with a Sneaky DS that sounds better than it has any right to!

Cheers

Iain.
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Currently two LK85s (on mid/bass) and an LK140 (on treble), it’s how I’ve ran them for years but they were my second system for a long time. I’ve tried them passive on a Classik and have gone as far as to try them with a Tunebox and Klimax twins in the past when I was flush for cash and had a Klimax system elsewhere in the house. They’ve sounded great on everything I’ve used them with but have really scaled well with high end kit, it’s amazing how far you can go with them. I love how they sound off the LK85s and LK140 and I’m in no rush to upgrade again, but I will eventually invest in an Exakt setup to drive them, so the rest of the system will change, but the Ninkas will stay, fabulous things capable of truly high end performance for (relative) peanuts.

I moved house a couple of years ago and sold my Klimax system to free up some cash and reduce my mortgage, promoting the Ninkas back to main system duties and I’m not disappointed, they sound fabulous in my dedicated room.
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
Currently two LK85s (on mid/bass) and an LK140 (on treble), it’s how I’ve ran them for years but they were my second system for a long time. I’ve tried them passive on a Classik and have gone as far as to try them with a Tunebox and Klimax twins in the past when I was flush for cash and had a Klimax system elsewhere in the house. They’ve sounded great on everything I’ve used them with but have really scaled well with high end kit, it’s amazing how far you can go with them. I love how they sound off the LK85s and LK140 and I’m in no rush to upgrade again, but I will eventually invest in an Exakt setup to drive them, so the rest of the system will change, but the Ninkas will stay, fabulous things capable of truly high end performance for (relative) peanuts.

I moved house a couple of years ago and sold my Klimax system to free up some cash and reduce my mortgage, promoting the Ninkas back to main system duties and I’m not disappointed, they sound fabulous in my dedicated room.
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I do wonder if I should find a used 4200 and aktiv cards and have some fun with them...

i
 
Iain Docherty said:
I do wonder if I should find a used 4200 and aktiv cards and have some fun with them...

i
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My long term goal is an Akurate Exakt DSM, Katalyst Exaktbox and a 4200/2200. I’m absolutely sure they’d shine in active mode on Akurate level gear... you have me thinking now, I was planning on getting the DSM/Exaktbox first and persisting with the LK power amps... but I could buy the Akurate power amps and some Chakra cards first, and then remove the cards when I get the Exakt kit... it’s all just a daydream right now anyway because the current situation has put a big dent in my disposable income. I reckon it’ll be over a year before I can even think about spending any real money on HIFI again... but I do have a long term plan, with Ninkas in it.
 
Charlie_1 said:
Going from 6100/D to 4200/D was nice. Not a big deal but the treble was more refined which I appreciated. More engaging too. Not cheap though.
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Nope... worth it though. I’m also considering used Klimax twins, they would sound absolutely astounding fed by an Akurate Katalyst Exaktbox, that would be the system I would settle with for the long term.
 
Linn speakers are weird... I tried and tried to like Kans - over and over again, but never completely got them, that later Kan II were 'better' but pointless. Saras - totally loved, never owned a pair, then when the Sara 9 arrived I could have stretched to a pair but they didn't excite me quite as much.

When I was 18 I hitched to my parents house on the south coast and we ended up in Salisbury so we went to Naim, which was a shop down a back street, and a chap called Julian played us some Jazz through some speakers in a room/cupboard no bigger than 3m x 4m with a pair of Linn Isobariks in there driven by NAP300s (1970s not the new ones) - it was almost a religious experience - there was a saxophonist in the room.

It took me a few years to get my 'briks. I the mean time a friend bought some Kabers - way underrated, I went through ARC050 and developed some compact speakers with a team, but we never got to market. Some 'briks in poor cosmetic condition came up, and I blew my savings on them, and eventually went active with Linn, then totally Naim, and lived with them for years. I then discovered the ESL and life changed but Linn have made some amazingly good, and some amazingly awful speakers.

I've not been able to enjoy any Linn speaker with the weird (to me) nostril thingy on the front - I understand the idea, the technology and the reason but the aesthetic really put me off... It came to a head when when I went to my dealer, listened to some active Linn speakers, felt they were okay, but couldn't hack the aesthetic, but assumed they were may be £2k, £3k - but they were something bonkers like £20k, I realised I'd lost the plot and the market. So Linn moved away from me in the same way that Naim moved away from my window of amplifiers. I hope there are enough super - rich after the pandemic to support these elitist brands.

Interestingly a friend of mine was looking for university sponsors in the '80s and went to Linn for an interview - he was met at the airport by a chap called Ivor and spent a lovely day at Linn - but they wanted graduates in electrical engineering, not acoustics to design their future speakers. He went down the acoustics route, and now runs car factories in China - so can basically but any hifi he wants - in his Paris house are my original (tatty) Isobariks run actively with some of my Naim kit...
 
JemHayward said:
Linn speakers are weird... I tried and tried to like Kans - over and over again, but never completely got them, that later Kan II were 'better' but pointless. Saras - totally loved, never owned a pair, then when the Sara 9 arrived I could have stretched to a pair but they didn't excite me quite as much.

When I was 18 I hitched to my parents house on the south coast and we ended up in Salisbury so we went to Naim, which was a shop down a back street, and a chap called Julian played us some Jazz through some speakers in a room/cupboard no bigger than 3m x 4m with a pair of Linn Isobariks in there driven by NAP300s (1970s not the new ones) - it was almost a religious experience - there was a saxophonist in the room.

It took me a few years to get my 'briks. I the mean time a friend bought some Kabers - way underrated, I went through ARC050 and developed some compact speakers with a team, but we never got to market. Some 'briks in poor cosmetic condition came up, and I blew my savings on them, and eventually went active with Linn, then totally Naim, and lived with them for years. I then discovered the ESL and life changed but Linn have made some amazingly good, and some amazingly awful speakers.

I've not been able to enjoy any Linn speaker with the weird (to me) nostril thingy on the front - I understand the idea, the technology and the reason but the aesthetic really put me off... It came to a head when when I went to my dealer, listened to some active Linn speakers, felt they were okay, but couldn't hack the aesthetic, but assumed they were may be £2k, £3k - but they were something bonkers like £20k, I realised I'd lost the plot and the market. So Linn moved away from me in the same way that Naim moved away from my window of amplifiers. I hope there are enough super - rich after the pandemic to support these elitist brands.

Interestingly a friend of mine was looking for university sponsors in the '80s and went to Linn for an interview - he was met at the airport by a chap called Ivor and spent a lovely day at Linn - but they wanted graduates in electrical engineering, not acoustics to design their future speakers. He went down the acoustics route, and now runs car factories in China - so can basically but any hifi he wants - in his Paris house are my original (tatty) Isobariks run actively with some of my Naim kit...
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I’ve found the same with Linn speakers, some models are absolute all time favourites and have a really special place in my heart, others have left me cold... I’ve never been impressed by the Akurate 242s, everything there but just not engaging... I have heard Majik 140s, the significantly cheaper model sounding absolutely great, Sunbeamgls had a pair driven actively on the end of Akurate gear at Scalford a few years back, they sounded stunning, one of the very best sounding systems at the show that day.

I’ve actually only heard Kans more recently and found them a little shrill and cuppy, not to the extreme that some make out but I thought Tukans and Katans were way better. In fact I think my Royd Sapphires exhibit all the goods that Kan aficionados describe in Kans, so much so that I though they might actually sound a lot alike, but they don’t. The sapphires sound much more well balanced to my ears.
 
I think I’m going down the ladder of hi-fi as well........
Had some basic stuff at first, then middle class level and after rather high up the ladder.......if a 2009 Naim NAP 250.2 can be considered high level.
But nowadays, I listen and enjoy more music on a vintage Naim 32.4/Hicap/Nap 160 BD, what’s wrong with me ?
I had a feeling I should not get rid of my refurbished 1971 IMF Super Compact just in case and guess what : I may soon give them a try and fall in love with them again ! Not that they are perfect, detailed and with an imaging that makes you feel the room where the recording was done but simply because they make easy to listen to music and makes me want to put another record again and again !
I had a similar feeling with some Mordaunt Short Pagent speakers as well.........and the latest ones can be bought for peanuts nowadays !
Some vintage Tangent speakers such as the TM1 would be on my shopping list as well. Very affordable at the moment.
 
Gervais Cote said:
I think I’m going down the ladder of hi-fi as well........
Had some basic stuff at first, then middle class level and after rather high up the ladder.......if a 2009 Naim NAP 250.2 can be considered high level.
But nowadays, I listen and enjoy more music on a vintage Naim 32.4/Hicap/Nap 160 BD, what’s wrong with me ?
I had a feeling I should not get rid of my refurbished 1971 IMF Super Compact just in case and guess what : I may soon give them a try and fall in love with them again ! Not that they are perfect, detailed and with an imaging that makes you feel the room where the recording was done but simply because they make easy to listen to music and makes me want to put another record again and again !
I had a similar feeling with some Mordaunt Short Pagent speakers as well.........and the latest ones can be bought for peanuts nowadays !
Some vintage Tangent speakers such as the TM1 would be on my shopping list as well. Very affordable at the moment.
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That’s the goal, a system that makes you want to listen. Some systems are highly resolving but just don’t really communicate with you on an emotional level, that’s how I felt about the Akurate 242s. No doubt the Akurate 242s are most resolving and erm, accurate than my Ninkas... but when I first heard Ninkas, they made my ears prick up, they’d been in the shop were running in in the dem room when I popped in on my way home from work, they sounded good from outside the room so I asked the dealer if I could go and have a listen... I fell in love with them and before long, I’d bought a pair. Roll on a few years, I’d still got the Ninkas but had since bought Keltiks (which I also absolutely loved), I went for a demo of the 242s because I was reasonably well healed at the time and thought they’d be my next move, they just didn’t do it for me... the “lowly” Ninkas are much more engaging to my ears... and so I wasn’t too heartbroken when I had to sell the Keltiks and revert to Ninkas, they’re still delivering the goods for me... albeit not the same pair, I sold my original ones years ago, regretted it almost immediately and then bought one of the last pairs made, in lovely maple finish. I’ll never sell these ones, they’re here to stay, even if I eventually upgrade, they’ll go in the system in the next room.
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
My long term goal is an Akurate Exakt DSM, Katalyst Exaktbox and a 4200/2200. I’m absolutely sure they’d shine in active mode on Akurate level gear... you have me thinking now, I was planning on getting the DSM/Exaktbox first and persisting with the LK power amps... but I could buy the Akurate power amps and some Chakra cards first, and then remove the cards when I get the Exakt kit... it’s all just a daydream right now anyway because the current situation has put a big dent in my disposable income. I reckon it’ll be over a year before I can even think about spending any real money on HIFI again... but I do have a long term plan, with Ninkas in it.
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I'd like to hear them aktiv with a couple of KCTs. Linn made at least one pair of the old analogue Klimax xovers for Ninkas - that would be interesting to compare to Exakt.

Ref Kans, they need very careful partnering btw otherwise they can sound sh1te or weird or both - shill is definitely possible :) Even when partnered well they will not appeal to everyone.
 
JemHayward said:
Linn speakers are weird.
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You also have to remember - like the LP12 - lots of different people have designed Linn speakers over the years and so the design principles and execution have changed a lot. I’ve never had any of the original Kan/Sara/Brik séries outside of a dealer environment so don’t know them well. I owned Index 2s and Keilidhs from the Rod Crawford era and loved them both (the Keilidhs really were a spot on design working with all kinds of music and kit, no wonder Linn sold something like 25,000 pairs IIRC). My dad had Kabers which were clearly very good although his were on the end of olive Naim, which I’ve never liked. I heard a pal’s Helix 2s a lot in the 90s at uni and they were always fun. Don’t think I’ve ever heard Keltiks though... intrigued by them but that’s quite a rabbit hole to go down...

I too find the modern speakers a mixed bunch: I’ve owned Majik Isobariks (good in old house, only so-so in this one), and now Akubariks which are fabulous (at used prices!) Possibly the best Linn sound I managed was in my old flat with active 212s and a 221 subwoofer. But then the sound I’ve liked most at the Linn factory was Akudoriks plus two 226s... that played everything thrown at it (in the big domestic space in the Linn Home, not a demo room) with complete ease.

Have any of Rod Crawford’s Legend speakers that he’s been building since he went back to Australia 25 years ago ever made it to the UK?

Cheers

Iain.
 
Charlie_1 said:
I'd like to hear them aktiv with a couple of KCTs. Linn made at least one pair of the old analogue Klimax xovers for Ninkas - that would be interesting to compare to Exakt.
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I’m sure I saw a Ninka Klimax Tunebox for sale in the UK once (Krescendo?)... that would certainly be fun to try. There were also some Katan Klimax Tuneboxes made for Japan too.

Cheers

Iain.
 
I have bought new in the past and found, that value for money wise, old speakers are far better. I bought a pair of Tannoy D6t for about £600 new and then was offered some Spendor S6e for £300. I did a comparison and the Spendor were far better. The dealer was happy to take the Tannoy back
 
Faux said:
I have bought new in the past and found, that value for money wise, old speakers are far better. I bought a pair of Tannoy D6t for about £600 new and then was offered some Spendor S6e for £300. I did a comparison and the Spendor were far better. The dealer was happy to take the Tannoy back
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I used to own those Spendors.Very civilised speakers.
 
Sadly when comes to Katans I’m the odd one out. They were fine but not great using them passively with one 140, my friend suggested moving up the ladder to 2x 140’s and going active, it made a difference but...nah. The soundstage was cabinet bound and had little get up and go. I couldn’t boot them due to my neighbours so perhaps they came alive when pushed. A real shame as I really looked forward to the active set up.
 
Charlie_1 said:
I'd like to hear them aktiv with a couple of KCTs. Linn made at least one pair of the old analogue Klimax xovers for Ninkas - that would be interesting to compare to Exakt.

Ref Kans, they need very careful partnering btw otherwise they can sound sh1te or weird or both - shill is definitely possible :) Even when partnered well they will not appeal to everyone.
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KXOs for Ninkas are extremely elusive but I’d love one/some... not even sure if it was a single box or a pair. I’m sure Ninkas are up to the task though. They sound superb of single KCT in passive mode, better still of a slimline Tunebox and a pair (or even three) of KCTs... when I had all this kit to hand, I had to combine it just to see, they we’re mind blowing. When I say you can take Ninkas a long way, I really mean it.

But even with my LK amps, they sound great... I gave them a good kicking earlier with Metallica (the black album)... grinning from ear to ear throughout.
 
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