2. amps-preamps
  3. 1169964783

LINN Majik vs Classik vs Wakonda vs Kairn

I have owned a Linn Kairn for over 10 years. I have no complaints nor do I ever plan to sell it. Recently I acquired a LINN Majik for a second system and was REALLY amazed at how good it sounds. Even the small 33wpc amp built into the Majik seems capable enough to drive smaller speakers. The excellence of the Majik made me wonder if the LINN Classik Music sounded as good as the Majik or possibly better?

I have also heard that the Wakonda with 'Circular Brilliant' or 'Slimline Brilliant' power supply were very good preamps. Are these two different Wakonda versions better or different sonically than the Majik or Classik Music? I have never heard any reference to the 'Slimline Brilliant' being vastly superior to the 'Circular Brilliant'? (Only that 'Slimline' is just better) My hunch is that the 'Circular Brilliant' is a torroidal transformer inside a shielded case. Does anyone know what's inside the 'Circular Brilliant'?

So, are there any strong opinions as to whether the Classik Music sounds better than the Majik? To my knowledge the Majik does NOT have 'Brilliant' power supply, but I'm not sure about the Classik Music?

Also, having the added convenience of a LINN CD player built into the Classik Music makes it very appealing for a small room...but is this internal LINN CD player really worth the up charge for an all-in-one unit, vs these other LINN offerings like Wakonda or Majik?

How would you compare these four different Linn preamps, sonically, especially the major differences between Majik, Classik and Wakonda? I presume the Kairn is the best of the bunch.

And as a follow-up question, is it safe to 'split' the preamp output on the Majik 2 or 3 times and use one pair to drive an external amp and another pair of outputs to reconnect to the Majik? I can't see any reason why this would harm the Majik, but would there be a limit to how many times you could split the preamp-out signal of ANY preamp? The Classik Music DOES include a dedicated Pre-out, but the Majik does not. Does splitting a pre-out signal effectively split the output power?

Thanks in advance for any comments.
nsmith7
looneybird
3 posts
 
I demoed the Classik and Majik and I bought the Majik. They were very close, but the Majik was a tad smoother at high volume. When the Classik was played LOUD I wanted to turn it down, not so with the Majik. Still at normal listening levels I would have been happy with either.

I saw an internal pic of a Wakonda and it looked like a Majik board without the power amp section. It had the slimline power supply (doesn't look like a toroidal in there).

Why do you want the pre-outs for the majik? is it to feed another room? If so, why not look for a sneaky line driver? I found one cheap on eBay and feed a Direktor in the Kitchen.
nsmith7 OP
10 posts
 
Using the Pre-outs is a 'sneaky' way to power a another amp if you want to drive larger speakers and you can still use the amp in the Majik to drive smaller speakers while connected to an external amp, This is just an option if you want to use the Majik as more than a 'stand alone'.

Overall I would agree that the Majik sounds smoother than the Classik. Listening to CD's played on the Classik (with Classik connected to the Majik) through good (STAX) headphones revealed that at least the headphone jack on the Majik sounded much better than the Classik's headphone jack. Perhaps this just means that the Majik has a better headphone circuit as compared to the Classik?

My Majik has a built in Knekt as does the Classik, but I have not found a need to use those features yet. Both the Majik or Classik are very good at what they do, but being that I often like to use headphones, I would choose the Majik over the Classik, even though Classik has CD playback.
I consider the headphone connection on the Classik to be useless to me...but the CD playback on the Classic makes it more useful for a small office system or 'clock radio'.

As good as the sound is after it passes through the Majik, I was wondering if the Wakonda, with Kudos Tuner and 'Slimline Brilliant' installed would be much better sounding pre-amp than the Majik, especially the headphone circuit? Or if the Wakonda is that much better as a preamp than both the Majik and the Classik?
lavoy
9 posts
 
I used to own a Wakonda in a mid-level Linn active system. As part of a new system, I purchased a Placette passive volume control and put it in the Linn system for comparison. It was surpisingly more transparent; it made me appreciate how much the Wakonda, while a good piece of gear, was veiling things. This is perhaps more of a compliment to the Placette, than a criticism of the Wakonda, but the difference was appreciable.
More to discover