great design, very detailed sound, a lot of features like multiroom

too many buttons on the remote and all buttons have the same size

i wanted to buy the Arcam A85+CD72+T51, but when i saw and heard linn`s classik first i was excited!!! in this price range you will never find a better looking and sounding product!!! with the classik you can connect four other classik`s and so you have a little mulitroom system!! first i wanted to buy b+w dm604 s3 loudspeakers (sounded great with arcam) but with linn it was only good. so i looked for a alternative and i found the linn katan. this combination is unbeatable! now i added two lk85 power amplifiers and active moduls to drive the katan loudspeakers active. it is a great feeling!!!

Similar Products Used:

Arcam A85+CD72+T51

Great sound - balanced, transparent, fantastic soundstaging with both CD and tuner. Neatness/tastefullness of appearance, convenience of use.

None - great value when compared to separates of the same cost, and when the multiroom capabilities are taken into account.

After over a decade buidling up a decent mid-range separates system (NAD amp/tuner, Marantz CD, Mission speakers plus Rega turntable) decided to check out the Classik following a house move, as the compact, minimalist design plus promise of separates sound quality appealed (plus Linn are a local company in Scotland). Bought Classik with Kan speakers as package, with trade-in in good deal, and have been using for a few months. Have been absolutely delighted with the sound quality - fantastically balanced, transparent and well-imaged sound with all styles of music. Significantly better than my old separates which cost about the same all-in. This product blows all the old pre-conceptions of mid-range separates out of the water - yes you could get better sound but only if you spent significantly more (twice the amount the Classik costs) on high end separates. I'm now considering another Classik for the study and linking the two using the multiroom capability.

Similar Products Used:

NAD amp/tuner, Marantz CD, Mission speakers on Atacama stands

Great sound from a small(in a good sense) box. Very convenient to use and place.

A little pricey? (But you can find a bargain..) People don't recognize.(I don't care!)

This piece is a gem. It's small, neat, and most of all sounds great!

Similar Products Used:

Rotel CD palyer + Rotel int. amp.

My Classik was bought for its size, so I could sneak it through Indian customs for a 2-year posting there, in my hand luggage. It was really important to get the right speakers, and it does sound great with the right speakers in the right room. Unfortunately, the speakers I chose, AE107s for their muted treble, gutsy bass and responsiveness, did not work well with lots of windows and a marble floor. I still think it is a fantastic beast, and it was my ray of light in a 3rd world country, even if I did have to lug it back in my hand luggage twice because they didn''t fix it properly the first time.

Purchased this unit for around $700 and largely based on reviews here.
Was looking for a small amp/cd combo and this fit the bill very well.
Incredibly smooth, refined CD playback. Adequate amplification for small-medium
sized rooms. Excellent remote control.

Not extremely powerful, bit of a delay on powerup and when ejecting CD's. Headphone output power is sub-par. Does not support banana plugs.

A great piece, and for the price no regrets!

One of the greatest values in HiFi. Mike ( aka Jenny, Bill ) seems a little envious of Linn HiFi. It seems he has an ax to grind with Linn, and is going to systematically give poor reviews to every product they make.

Could use a little more power.

Just a great value, and a nice introduction to the world of HiFi. I recommend it without any reservations to my friends. Although it is a little under-powered, the overall rating is in consideration of price.

clear crisp sound, cd player w/ internal amp

none

I bought this on recommendation from a friend. He was right. Great cd sound & good quality power amp in one. When i bought it i was going to a friends house in nyc. She had an old rack system, mid 80's style. I wanted to see how it sounded....even on her old speakers. So I played a disc on her stereo and then connected the Linn Classik to her speakers.......wow. What a great sound.....so alive. And now its my bedroom stereo with a pair of paradigm bookshelf speakers. What a great way to wake up. For under $1000, this is pure quality.

It sounds and looks so darn good.
Key sound qualities - clarity, detail, openness
Key looks - minimalist.

Irritating wait when powering up and starting each function.
Slightly metallic sound to some voices.
Amp could use more oomph.
Numbers on the display are too small to see clearly across the room (perhaps the room is too large for the original design spec).

Have coupled this unit up to some AVI Neutron III speakers using van den Hul CS122 hybrid cables.

Result: I really enjoy listenning to music, again.

The sound is clear. Definately not warm (but not cold either). Poor recordings are mercilessly reproduced.

The sound staging with this system is good but not brilliant giving breadth but not a lot of depth.

Versus the other systems auditioned:
- more detail and better bass control than Bose.
- more guts and clarity than Marantz Perla.
- simpler design than either.

I preferred the sound from CD6000OSE but if you want a Marantz matching amp and tuner you're faced with a big pile of electronics and wires.

Linn Classik? All in all a very good compromise. Definately a good buy if you've got a small/mid size appartment.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz Perla. Marantz Duetto coupled to Marantz CD6000OSE. Bose lifestyle systems(various).

Beautiful performance and non-intrusive design.

Remote is to complex for the purpose of this unit.

I am very amazed by the performance of this unit, which I had considered because of it's size, design and functionality. Coupled with LINN Katan speakers, the system provides astonishing, room-filling quality all through the 25x13ft living room of my condo. The remote control is effective, once a few basic steps are learned. I haven't bothered to program it beyond the clock and US settings. The showroom demo of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" was equalled in my home: perfect, with all the resonance and clarity of a much larger system. Outperforms B&O and Bose Lifestyle. My wife, who generally scoffs at such things, now listens to music when she gets home, instead of the tube!

Smooth sound (not harsh like Rotel), small, compact size, ease of setup.

Amp could be more powerful (esp. with a list price of $1799)

After many months of searching my first system, I have finally settled on the Linn Classik/Tannoy M2. I got the amp/CD player heavily discounted on uBid.com; otherwise I would not have been able to afford it. At the discounted price, the unit is untouchable. At $1799, I am not sure even if I had the money that I would get the unit. The integrated amp is rated 4 ohm stable at 75w, so that means on an 8 ohm speaker it is roughly half of that wattage; around 38w or so. It doesn't have the upfront characteristics of the Rotel setup. If I didn't get this setup, it is likely that I would go the route of the NAD C340/522. Now, I have only listened to budget electronics, so I am not an authority as to what the really good stuff sounds like.

Similar Products Used:

Tested [Cambridge Audio CD4/Cambridge Audio A3i/A1mkIII], [Rotel RA-931/Rotel RCD-951 (HDCD)], [NAD C340/NAD 522]