Clarity, midrange, precision

Slightly muffly bass

Partnered with Arcam 9/9P and 9CD. Purchased these speakers after listening to 5 others. These had the best sound on the day, however when mine were delivered I was slightly disappointed with the sound compared to when i demo'd them. After carefull running in I upgraded the bases to the polymer ones at a cost of 160 UK pounds - the dealer was good enought to say he would give me a refund if not happy.

This changed the sound totally, giving more punch and drive. I am sure that when I auditioned them I was listening to the ones with the upgraded bases as only now am I happy with these.

If you have the ninka or are thinking about them - check out the polymor base upgrade.

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM Range, Linn Katans

Very precise sound, excellent image, best of all

not found yet

I wanted to have the best of both world: excellent hi-fi sound when listening CD and also excellent dolby surround sound when running DVD on home theater... Not an easy task. So i decide to go with good renowned components and I just spended 9000$ Can (6000$ US) on the complete system.

The most difficult part of the purchase process was for the choice of speakers. I am almost deaf on high frequencies (loud 70's...) so it is important for me to compensate that with a precise clean sound. The Ninka are by far the best speakers I haved seen (or listen should I say...) The bass is very tight, the mid and highs very open and realistic. A very big improvement over the Linn Keilidh and far ahead over the B&W CDM 7NT and even 9NT (not as precise in the bass).

Now I have to find the good central speaker for HT. I need a very clear sound to listen correctly to movies' dialog. I tried the Linn Centrik (very disapointed), the Linn AV 5120 (better but not perfect - and expensive...). So far, the best central speaker I experienced for dialog is the B&W CDM CNT, but not exactly the same type of sound to match the Ninka. Still searching...

Surround speakers are B&W DM302; ok for now, but could be upgraded if worth it.

My system is:

Rotel RB-985MKII power amp (5 x 110 W)
Rotel RSP-985 Surround sound processor
Rotel RCD-971 CD player
Rotel RDV-985 DVD player
Linn Ninka floor-standing speakers
B&W CDM CNT centre speaker
B&W DM302 surround speakers
Linn connexions and cables

Thank you Linn for making that Ninka jewell.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Keilidh, B&W CDM 7NT and 9NT, JM Labs, ProAc

Like it hasn't already been said. Just plain awesome!

$$$, tight bass, but doesn't reach real deep. Needs a sub as a partner- though not terrible in this regard. Go buy a $500 Velodyne and your all fixed up.

Just upgraded my system to Home theater and was stuck looking for speakers for the past 4 months. I demo'ed JM Labs, Dynaudio, Energy, Thiel, and Paradigm. What can I say, the Ninka's are awesome. It was real close between the JM Labs Cobalt and the Ninka's, but 1) the Nink'as sound much more pure, and 2) the Cobalt's are in the midst of a line change and are unavailable until late April.

The Ninka's sound is pure. WHen you listen to 2 channel I wonder where the heck the speakers went- as they seem to disappear (best way I can describe it). I listened to these guys in the store on the Linn 5 amp active setup- wow. ALso listened to a 5 channel, 70 watt Onkyo and NAD receiver- big difference but still awesome (I can't afford the $64k price tag for the complete Linn setup). I like the Ninka's so much, I also bought a pair of Katan's for the rear, and the 5140 center channel. Love 'em.

If you want to spend ~$3k on 5 speakers that are definetly better than any of your friends' this is it!

Plus, Audio Overture (Ann Arbor, MI) really did a nice job and is a first rate stereo shop- check 'em out.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-4800, Acurus A-150 (A-150 is for sale!)

None that I can identify

I can only describe them the way I hear them. They are very open. The boxes disappear. All instruments sound well balanced and even. They provide an outstanding center image for movies. I have removed the center speaker. It was not up to the sound quality. They sound wonderful.

They are replacing a terrific little pair of AR218's. It has been hard to make the jump to a full range floor standing speaker. These make me smile and they are well woth it. I have them biamped with a Pioneer Elite rcvr (no surround) and Kimber 8tc. At about $17 per pound they are a good value. Thanks Linn!

Similar Products Used:

Nothing really

This is a follow-up to a previous posting. I have now changed my CD Player to a Genki, and added the polymer stands.

I originally noted that the Ninkas sounded a little polite in the mids, with some bloom in the upper bass. I wondered if it could be attributed to the AMC CD6 I had, and it was. I had an Exposure integrated before moving to the Majik, and the difference in sound by moving to the Genki was similar. It was a pleasant change, one of quality more than quantity. Everything tightened up and another layer of disconnect from the music was removed. The expected gains in pace and timing manifested.

The same cannot be said of the polymer stands. Granted I added these after the Genki, but the change was dramatic. These stands improve the quality and quantity of the sound in every measure.

Brass has a much more realistic 'blat', symbols etc better air and detail. The sound stage now has much more of the 'audiophile' characteristics normally aspired to. If you have any, or care for, Charlie Hunter- with this his title album sings. That is, you’ll like the bass.

The rigidity of the stands keeps more of the signal in motion to the ears, rather than as wasted heat in the speakers. Result? More detail for our greedy hobby of lost hours and angered neighbors.

The stands are unquestionably transformative, and well worth every sacrifice small or large to obtain. I have not heard such a big difference since swapping the old NAIM wire I had on my Snell KIIs for k400.

The mids are still a tad soft / veiled, highs are great and the bloom lessened. Now I wonder, how is the Majik limiting things? Or the passive, single amp aspect? Hmmm.

While the Genki was a polite improvement, well worth the cost difference, the stands are a stop in your tracks and check again event. Think of the Genki as going to premium fuel, the stands as slipping a little nitrous to the fire. They grab you by the collar and throw you around.

great soundstage und detail, very natural, fun to listen to again and again

none what so ever

After looking for a pair of speakers for more than half a year, the ninkas finally had everything the other speakers just didnt't get right. Where other speakers are too bright, or focus on detail for lack of musicality, the ninka is a speaker that never hurts your ears without hiding any of the details the record has to offer. the soundstage and clarity is really outstanding. You never get tired of listening to music, no matter what kind (from Metal, House, Folk, Funk, Pop, Classic ... the ninkas are perfect for all tastes), and you just can't help tapping with your foot or even start dancing spontaneously.

I spent many hours in the demo room listening to the ninkas with different sources. Starting with the Linn Genki as CD Player, i was totally pleased with the sound. After listening with the Linn Ikemi, i was enthusiastic and totally overwhelmed by the musicality of the system. The ninkas never are the weak spot in a hi-end system, they grow with every update of a component.

After getting everything home and setting up the system, I was a happy man. But when i thought back to the hours of listening at the demo room there was something missing. Only after they were set up professinaly by the dealer, they revealed their full potential again. Let a professional set up the ninkas for you and only then you can be sure that you didn't give away some of the quality the ninkas can offer.

The perfect home-cinema solution with strong focus on stereo playback for 8600 $:

Front Speakers: Linn Ninka (bi-wired)
Center Speaker: Linn AV 5120 (bi-wired)
Rear Speakers: Linn Kan IV

AV-Receiver: Nakamichi AV10
CD-Player: Linn Ikemi ( with Linn Silver Interconnects)
DVD-Player: Pioneer 626D
Turntable: Rega Planar 3 (with Linn K9 cartridge)
Phono-Pre: Project Phono Box
Rack: Sound Organisation

Similar Products Used:

Vienna Acoustics Haydn + Mozart, Mission 782

In my opinion, very good, true sound.

None yet. Except having to pay for the heavier bases.

These speakers were not my first choice. I would have much preferred the next step up LINN speakers, (I don't know what the new name is for them, the old designation was the 5140.) The price was just too high for me to justify.

These speakers do match very well with the Ekwal (5120) center channel very well and provide a good sound stage.

The frequency range is wide enough that I do not have to have a subwoofer in my new and evolving home theater system. Obviously there are some sytems that extract the LFE from the signal and only route that signal to the LFE output, in which case you would miss that channels information. In my system, when you choose the speaker choice with large front, small center and rears, the LFE is automatically sent to the front mains (L/R). Since my personal taste is not for a lot of "booming" sound that tends to overpower the dialogue, this configuration is great for me.

I have said all of this to let you know that even with the wide range of sound that these speakers are handling, they still sound accurate and lifelike. (In reality, they are so lifelike that my dog barks when a door bell rings or there are other animals in the background soundtrack. My cat keeps looking for the birds that she hears in those tall "birdhouses" in the front of my room.)

If you want to be impressed, listen to the flaminco dancers in the beginning of the Mission Impossible 2 DVD with these speakers and the matching Ekwal center. You will hear the best reproduced sound of shoes snapping on the wooden stage that I personnally have heard.

After you get past the sound, you will be impressed by the ability to bi-wire, tri-wire, and bi/tri amp these speakers with the change of a card. With each step you WILL hear and improvement. This is not to say that the simple single amp is not going to sound good, it is that this speaker is extremely flexible and with each step up you will be thrilled with you initial choice and the changes it affords without major cash outlays.

Similar Products Used:

Meridian, B+W, M+K, Martin Logan, Paradigm, Aerial Acoustics, etc...

This speakers are "fast", open and detailed! Great looks.

Very long break-in-period.

After almost 20 years of enjoying my "old" B&W DM7 mkII's I swapped them for the "Linnka's" because the DM7's began to sound a bit "slow/lazy" when playing jazzrock or fusion. (this sounds almost human!) Off course I tried the new CDM7 NT but I was dissapointed; this speaker was not musical enough to me. Too neutral and NOT friendly to less than perfect recordings. The MIRAGE OM9 sounded great but less detailed than the "Linnka's". The "Linnka's" do sound very musical and are friendly to my old vinyl which is a MUST!
The sound of these speakers "grow" day by day and in the future I will upgrade to the polymer-stands (Why not standard delivered!)
By the way; allthough I'm the first Dutchman on this review, this speaker is very popular in Holland (as well as the Keilidh's)

Similar Products Used:

B&W CDM7 NT, MIRAGE OM-9

Warm, detailed, enjoyable musicality

..less than before (after break in)

This is a follow-up to my previous review below....

After living with the speakers for six months, I finally feel sufficiently familiar with them (and my system) to climb up on the proverbial soap-box and espouse the vitrues of the Ninka (where do they come up with those names, anyways?).

I've got three points to address:

1. Be patient. I thought the speakers were broken in after about 100 hours of play. I was wrong - they continued to change for at least 200-300 hours. So if your speakers are new, and sound thin and tight, leave them on when you go to work for a couple of weeks before really sitting down to listen to them.

2. Go Active. Although this is not specifically a speaker issue, the rare ability of the Ninkas to be configured to bypass the internal high-level crossover in the speaker through the use of 'active' line-level crossovers in the power amplifiers is an opportunity to vastly increase the level of detail and control in your system. Once again, I urge you to find out for yourself by doing an active vs. passive demo.

3. Get the polymer-concrete stands. I'm usually skeptical of most the tweakery in audophilia, and resist the temptation to adorn my equipment with electromagnetically damping stones, pieces of wood, funny little spikes, rubber balls and the like. As a fan of vinyl, I do, however, repect the use of a solid, stable base for a dynamic piece of equipment. The heavy optional stands greatly reduce the amount of 'wobble' in the speaker, which results in a significantly increased level of imaging and bass definition. They make a BIG difference, and are a wise investment. I just got them, and wish that I had done so sooner.

Like before, I still intend to keep these speakers a long time.

Best regards,
Jason

They are "musical" period, like an instrument.

Not precise like a "monitor"

Thanks to all of you, but especially to "Jason, Kevin & Co." for their excellent job.

I listen the NINKA for six months now, and they are marvellous (system with; all LINN and MITcables); clean, tuneful and entrancing.

At first, I was skeptical for the polymer stands necessity, but WOW; an another world open up in front of me with the concrete under the NINKA, all my ghosts quit at this moment.

Bye JM lab (Cobalt and Electra) the second best; they are too analytic, dry and electronic for me. The Piano in my listening room with LINN is like life, without war.

"Viva la musica" and NINKA

Similar Products Used:

Totem, JM lab, B&W, Thiel, Mirage.