Well well well...

Got it out of the box in mint condition.
First impression: Very heavy, small, build quality is superb.
Judgeing by the looks of the item, I say it could have cost me 5 times more.
I payed 200 GBP.

Sound:
1. The sound is a bit forward. The soundstage is open, but not too open. It begins 50cm in front of the spekers and goes deeper.
2. Timbers - they are moderately presented, but well enough.
3. The sound is neutral in the direction of warm. It has a silky touch. It is calm, not agressive.
4. It is vunarable to cables, both power and IC.
5. Requires good pre, may be paired with much more expensive gear - it's classy enough when playing.
6. Depth - it is very nice, you can feel the distances between sounds.
7. The instruments are larger then normal. This gives impression of being closer to the music, very nice effect, magical indeed. Linn has it's magic. Very romantic and sentimental. You may have a feeling of taking part of music. Linn definately is not a piece of equipment that plays for itself. There may be better gears at that price, but few can give you the feeling they are playing for you, personally for you, like musicians in jazz club when you are close to the stage.
8. Intstruments are close to eachother, but they are very well separated. Holographic localisation is very good.

LK100 definately has a touch of magic. Quite like ... I recall Metaxas Iraklis II. It had this smooth magic too,
but was way better, and 5 times more expencive. It was not 4 times better, maybe just better.
This Linn is a real bargain for its price.

At the end I'll say: Buying this item was an experiment. I wanted to see what people see in Linn.
Now I know, and I am afraid I will get sucked into this magic.. :)

CU,
M2B

Easy, plug and play upgrade path, tank - like construction, active modules, cheap now discontinued, dramatic sound improvements at each add-on, loves being driven by other linn kit.

Makes me want more linn kit!

I began with a 2nd user linn classik driving new B&W 603(S3) speakers, all sound organisation stands and racks and 2x3m cabletalk 3.1 biwire with plugs. This system beat all other British systems at similar price points for music such as Zappa, where timing and precise imaging where vital. 1st LK100 was biamped with the power amp component of the classik, tweeters ran from the LK100, bass from the classik's onboard power amp. BIG improvement! Made me want to try another, so now I have two LK100's biamped using the classik as a preamp. Next step is Genki + Preamp or even (payrise pending!) Ikemi + Preamp and use the classik in the bedroom. Yes, i've sold my soul to linn, but have I mentioned that the addition of the 2nd LK100 snapped everything into focus? Now Norah Jones sounds like she's whispering sweet nothings in my ear while Yello shake my sofa while tearing my heart from my chest with wild noise-abuse...I like that sort of thing, you see, and we don't get too much of it in Yorkshire..next stop active!

Similar Products Used:

linn classik

High current power. Detailed when active. Well build.

Not bridgeable.

Hello again, I posted the review just below this one and I recently got a 3rd LK100 so I'll report on it's performance. I put the Keilidh bass xovers in it and now I actively triamp my Keilidhs, with frequencies above 80hz. Everything below that gets sent to 2 velodyne CT120 subs. There now seems to be no limit to the amount of clean power I can put out of this system in a room 16' x 25' before my ears start to hurt. These amps are cheap now that they are discontinued and can be found on ebay, Audiogon and right here at audioreview. If I could do it all over again I'd get these amps again.

Similar Products Used:

Mission Cyrus 2 with PSX on Isoplat.

Balance and clarity

None

I am very impressed with these little amps. I run two of them in the active setting, using Linn Keidhl (sp?) speakers with a Copland 301 tube preamp and the Linn Ikemi CD player. Wires are Transparent Ultra off the CD player and Linn Silvers, Van Den Hul speaker wires. My guess is that the active setting is very important to the quality of the sound. Those true Linnies will be interested to know I tested the Linn Kairn as a preamp and like the Copland preamp much more. The Ikemi is a very strong product as well. Good luck to all.

Similar Products Used:

Classe DR 15 power amp

haronic richness, embued with airiness

weakenesses?...yeah, I wish I had two of them for bi-amping

Ever drove a car that just felt right, or a comfey chair that felt made just for you? Well, this is the same impression I got the momment the music began with this amp. My eyes widened as my ears was bathed in the golden hue of aural delight. Gone was the consistant presense of a electronic haze to the music, now replaced with a cushion of air of which the music floated effortlessly. This 50 watt per channel amp (LK-100) kicks almost as much butt as my McCormack 05 amp (soon to be sold), yet sounding more harmonically rich throughout the entire spectrum...from voice, drum, piano, guitar to brass, everything sounded closer to the "live " experience. This amp is easily powering two ACI Sub 1's and Krix mini monitors (these Krix's sound nearly as good as Proac 1sc's...no joke!!! for only $600). Now, even my worst recording are listenable with the Linn. It never gets bright on you, yet retaining every nuance of detail I remember from other amps of higher wattage and cost. Dang it !!! I'm getting another one. ~~~ Associated Equipment : CJ PV-10 or Nova CPA-100 preamp, Rega Planet CDP, Harmonic Tech and Nordost cable. Thanks for reading my post :)

Similar Products Used:

McCormack 05, Quicksilver mini-mites, Monarchey M75, Aragon 8008

Rather ok I guess, but...

Miles beyond the Klout

Sorry
I have listened to my system (Linn Genki, Kairn and a pair Linn Secrets) with a Klout as poweramp, and after that my LK100 sounds like it lacks speed, precision, detail and rythm. I don,t think I'll be realy happy before I can afford to upgrade (and then I'll go for the Klout before new speakers (AV5140)

Accurate. Good bass control. Sound stage.
Lots of power.

Not quite as fluid or transparent as more expensive amps like Conrad Johnson or Linn Klout.

The LK100 is a very well balanced amp with nice tone quality. Bass control is outstanding on my ProAc One SC's. I am bi-amping with a Majik and the LK and the improvement was significant when I added the LK100 recently--especially at higher volumes.
The amp images wonderfully and casts a wide soundstage, but even more impressively it added a lot more front to back dimension to the sound. This amp, like other Linn gear, is very accurate and does not seem to colour the sound at all. Very truthful sound. A great match for anyone using a Linn preamp who wants to add some extra power.
Right now this amp is no longer made but is readily available used for excellent prices. I paid just $550 for mine!

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Linn Majik, Conrad Johnson.

warm, smooth yet detailed, great front to back imaging (can create the illusion that sound comes from behind you), plenty of power, dynamic.

none

I currently actively biamp my Linn Keilidh spkrs with 2 LK100's. I recently purchased a McIntosh MSD4 surround decoder and was concerned that it would reveal shortcomings in the amps but instead, my system's fidelity improved greatly. The amps are clean, detailed, very dynamic (due to active triamping with a LK100 treble amp, LK100 bass amp, and 2 Velodyne CT120 active subwoofers transducing everything at 80 and below), VERY 3 dementional in stereo, and convey the detail and warmth of the MSD4. They are powerful. In a large room they can reproduce full frequency range and great dynamics up to the threshold of pain (from 20' away) without even a hint of clipping. However, to achieve this quality of fidelity from these amps you MUST have all high-end components throughout the entire chain (not just source, pre-amp, and transducers), but vibration dampening platforms and racks, high quality line conditioners, and room acoustic modifications. The entire back wall behind the front spkrs must be covered with sound-absorbing material thus making it acoustically dead (non-reflective of sound). This will reduce standing signwaves and sharpen detail and imaging to an unbelievable degree. I also have the front half of the side walls treated with absorbant material to further illiminate standing signwaves. These are currently discontinued but can be found used at a good price. They are built VERY well and solid and can probably be past on for at least a generation or too if they are not abused.

Similar Products Used:

I started with one LK-00 with a Linn Wakonda pre-amp which replaced a Mission Cyrus Two w/Cyrus PSX (both seated on a Mission isoplat), and the improvement was in richness of sound and more bass preasents. No aspects of sound fidelity were sacrificed. I then added another LK-100 and switched to Linn Keilidh speakers run in passive bi-amped configuration. All aspects of fidelity were improved. I recently went Aktiv with this system and the results were dramatic and far exceeded my expectations. I have heard sysems costing tens of thousands of dollars more and have yet to hear a system that I like better then mine. Yes, better and/or more expensive systems are out there, but hi-fi audio reproduction is subjective enough from person to person that price range doesn't always dictate the level of satisfaction one receives from system to system. for that I am thankful.

A couple of LK 100's bi-wired to Linn Kelidh speakers from a Majik or Kairn is a perfect match. Good controlled strong sound.
Haven't gone active yet - hope to do so soon.

Rating based on passive system, would hope to go to 5 stars once active.