The
Linn Karik CD PLayer Although Linn calls their new product a Linn Karik CD player, it is actually a separate CD transport and D/A converter. In typical Linn fashion, they cannot imagine anyone using
the Linn transport without the Linn converter, and vice versa. Both units, however, are available separately.
The transport is called the Linn Karik. The name is a variation on a Gaelic word that translates loosely to "a pinnacle appearing out of the water." The processor has been
dubbed the Numerik, after Linn's professional processor. With identical dimensions and black finish, the two pieces look quite at home stacked atop each other.
One look at the rear panels and it's obvious that the Linn Karik/Numerik is unlike other CD players; the Karik's rear panel holds a 9-pin "D" connector marked
"diagnostic output," and each BNC input/output is accompanied by an RCA jack marked "CD Sync Input" (or "Output"). Interesting.
The Karik transport represents a "ground-up" engineering effort. Rather than buy off-the-shelf mechanisms with their inherent mass-scale cost compromises, Linn
started with a clean sheet of paper and rethought what a transport mechanism should do. The entire Linn Karik mechanism was designed and built by Linn in Scotland. It is
unusual in many ways, including the method of clamping the disc from the top. Interestingly, one of the few other mechanisms built from scratch (the Esoteric P-2)
also uses top clamping, as does the popular Soloist Audio modification.
The transport features four motors and a very solid build quality. Linn Karik Servo control is handled by a Hitachi chip; EFM decoding, error correction, and digital audio
formatting are performed by a new Sony surface-mount IC. This is the first time I've seen this Sony chip; it reportedly has more powerful error correction than its
predecessors.
The Karik's power supply uses nearly the same components as the Kairn, but with different regulation stages. Each motor driver and the VCO supply is independently
regulated. Every power-supply rail of every stage is buffered with an emitter follower to increase supply isolation. Smoothing is provided primarily by two 33,000F
and one 22,000F caps, and three-pin TO-220 chips regulate each supply stage.
Linn Karik D/A conversion is handled by dual Burr-Brown PCM63P DACs, another brand-new part. This 20-bit monolithic DAC, called a "Sign-Magnitude" converter, has some
impressive performance specifications. I saw one of the PCM63P's designers give a technical paper on the part at the 1990 Los Angeles AES convention. The DAC has excellent low-level linearity and doesn't need MSB trimming. This is a result of a neat trick: the zero crossing point where all bits toggle (the 19 LSBs turn off and
the MSB turns on, or vice versa) is shifted to a much higher level, moving the zero crossing glitch away from low-level signals. This technique is described in more
detail in my review of the Museatex DCC in Vol.13 No.11. In that product, the same goal was achieved by conventional DACs and proprietary circuitry. The PCM63P
incorporates these techniques within a monolithic part. Linn chose the PCM63P after listening to over a dozen DACs. Incidentally, the PCM63Ps used in the Numerik
are the highest grade available, then selected by Linn for lowest switching noise.
A Philips SAA7273 S/PDIF input receiver was chosen over the more popular Yamaha chip. When the Numerik's sync cable drives the Karik, the clock recovery portion
of this chip is unused. Without this sync cable, the 7273 can function normally. The input receiver and the 8x-oversampling digital filter are shielded by a pair of flat
cans.
I very much enjoyed my time with the Linn Karik/Numerik CD player. Its presentation of digital sources was very different from what I'm accustomed to. In
particular, the Linn was very laid-back, gentle, and velvety-smooth. The treble presentation was superb, with a remarkable lack of grain and hash. Soundstage
presentation was similarly idiosyncratic, eschewing a vivid "Technicolor" character in favor of a smaller, more intimate portrayal. What really set the Linn Karik apart,
however, was its superb rendering of natural instrumental timbres. Instruments just sounded right, lacking artificiality, sterility, and a synthetic quality. In this
regard, the Linn sets new standards in digital playback, in my opinion.
Although I came to like the Linn's presentation immensely, I had a few criticisms. The mid and upper bass was somewhat threadbare, lacking the sense of warmth
and roundness heard from the DAC1-20 and other processors. The low bass didn't have the tightness and punch of the Theta and Wadia processors. Finally, the Linn's
treble smoothness and slightly softer transient rendering could make some recordings less palpable, lacking life and vitality.
I suspect that some listeners will find the Linn's interpretation exactly to their liking, while others will prefer the more dramatic rendering of competing units. In
immediate side-by-side comparisons, the Linn may sound smaller, less dynamic, and not as arresting. Over the long term, however, the Linn Karik "un-hi-fi" presentation
and lack of listener fatigue may prove more musically satisfying.
In some ways, I enjoyed music more through the Linn than from any other digital source. Although it wasn't my first choice for all recordings, the Linn was
nevertheless fundamentally musical and conveyed the music's essence. On this basis, the Linn Karik/Numerik CD player has earned a Class A recommendation in
Stereophile's "Recommended Components."
Analog-leaning music lovers who have been putting off buying a digital front end: the Linn Karik/Numerik was worth the wait.
