19-Oct-2015, 09:55
I'm not saying there isn't any deterioration with 'stacking DACs' but the Devialet is considerably better in my experience as a pure amplifier for analogue sources than logic would suggest it is.
Linn KDS/1 - I just felt the cost didn't really justify the improvement. It was the best out of the KDS/1, ADS/1, Renew DS/0. The ADS/1 is maybe less nuanced and maybe works best with rock music. The Renew DS/0 (i.e KDS/0) sounded more 'analogue' to me and I have to admit I had more pleasure listening to it than the KDS/1, of which I was perhaps expecting more. It could just be my system was better matched when I had the Renew DS/0 and perhaps I took a wrong turn somewhere.
I was a Linnie for perhaps 14 years purely because of the system synergy and the guarantee it would sound good without needing lots of auditioning. Testing separates from different manufacturers against each other, and managing to build a balanced/matched system where you're hearing the best of everything is just so frustratingly difficult that it's a lot easier to go the 'synergistic' route like Linn or just cut the component count down massively by going for an intergrated solution like Devialet. That said, one reason I left Linn was I felt the synergy had been lost in recent years. It was becoming fairly difficult to match components, and I felt some dissafisfaction with their power amps in particular, and speakers - the modern ones of which I don't really like. Akubariks are probably the latest I've heard (about 2-3 years ago?) and I was pretty impressed.
Linn KDS/1 - I just felt the cost didn't really justify the improvement. It was the best out of the KDS/1, ADS/1, Renew DS/0. The ADS/1 is maybe less nuanced and maybe works best with rock music. The Renew DS/0 (i.e KDS/0) sounded more 'analogue' to me and I have to admit I had more pleasure listening to it than the KDS/1, of which I was perhaps expecting more. It could just be my system was better matched when I had the Renew DS/0 and perhaps I took a wrong turn somewhere.
I was a Linnie for perhaps 14 years purely because of the system synergy and the guarantee it would sound good without needing lots of auditioning. Testing separates from different manufacturers against each other, and managing to build a balanced/matched system where you're hearing the best of everything is just so frustratingly difficult that it's a lot easier to go the 'synergistic' route like Linn or just cut the component count down massively by going for an intergrated solution like Devialet. That said, one reason I left Linn was I felt the synergy had been lost in recent years. It was becoming fairly difficult to match components, and I felt some dissafisfaction with their power amps in particular, and speakers - the modern ones of which I don't really like. Akubariks are probably the latest I've heard (about 2-3 years ago?) and I was pretty impressed.
