Line Magnetic spoken here?

[Kt77]

Originally Posted by fjn04

Kt 77- Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts. Hats off to you, for putting it in to that interesting perspective. I may have had one of the last few CJ pieces, before they joined the neutral camp. I had the Premier 16-1, and soon after, the Art1. I had the Premier 8's as well. Very nice gear, I enjoyed owning them. I heard their V2 preamps were more neutral, and the next generation 140 amp and CT-5, even more so. I am really looking forward to hearing my LM 211 with vinyl. I will have an analog front end set up w/ the LM soon. In the here and now, I m putting the LM through it's paces with a Sony PS-1. I don't know what it was with this migration toward a more SS sound. It seemed all the the big name tube companies jumped on the bandwagon. I guess they were trying to achieve some of the attributes of SS. Perhaps they were successful, but for me that special something was lost. That's the way I have heard it anyway. Cheers -Don

Hi Don,

It goes without saying - but you're more then welcome.

I merely try to call matters/things as I've seen/heard them - as far to many of us are often persuaded by what some of our friends would have us believe aren't systems of worth - upon listening to what we've so carefully tried to assemble to suit our ears/taste/preferences and then become thrown between what matters to them vs what matters to us.

As, I've spend a great deal of my youth stationed in Japan during the mid 70s - early 80s, the one thing that I couldn't help but notice was that each one of my Asian friends systems consisted of tubes - and after asking them why this was the case - many simply said " Listen to Heart ".

Americans quest for power at lower cost gave them a chance to make us blind to the fact of what we had given away in the quest for said power, as a means of driving less efficient speakers - more or less I frequent a few Asian forums as they seem to be more helpful when it comes to finding out things about tubes - transformers - isolation devices that many Americans tend to take for granted - but in response to one of your questions as to where we went wrong?.

It's simple - CDs....., with digital we merely got away from sound and became more into the fad of the times - as a result of it - many started craving what I see of late as turntables that offer the resolution of said players ( mainly of German design ) and started saying things like this is Hi-Rez - yeah right.

If I wanted a CD Player that sounds Analogue in nature - then why not just buy a Turntable to begin with - because it isn't remotely close sound wise pops - clicks - snap/crackle pop and all of those thinks that are the flaws of said technology - but once we begin to trust our sense, we begin to realize something was lacking with digital as well as solid state gear - it lacked presence - emotion - air - or more importantly a means of connecting with the actual artist passion for their craft - as it was merely covered up.

We do in a sense want our systems to be neutral to a point - as this allows us to venture off into different genres of music - whereas a colored/tuned system might be great at playing this or that type of music - but place something more complex before it, and watch it all fall apart.

The big tube companies here merely forgot their roots and became more contend with chasing the masses as opposed to music lovers - but in hindsight I'd care to wager that many of them are asking themselves at this very moment - why sales have curtailed in the last two decades?, because we remember our first time listening to tube gear and thinking that even if it didn't have the deepest - most defined bass notes - it touched us by simply allowing the music to flow and/or connect the dots in a more gentle manner if you will.

I'm not an expert, but any stretch of the imagination - but I do have a decent ear for what music should ( and is meant to ) sound like.

I'm a Music Lover - whom happens to believe that a system is a extension of what brings us all to an end - by letting us have a sense of peace at the end of the day as soon as it's turned on - as we begin to notice that our lives are less tense all of a sudden.

It's more then a means of relaxation - it's spiritual.

I'm long-winded, I've been told - but I do believe in speaking my mind, as I see honesty as a great way to be.

Be well - Don, and forgive my rantings.

O_o scar

[adaug]

dave: do you prefer 845s to KT-120s? i have heard neither type but a lot about them, esp the KT-120s lately. KT-120s seems to have a lot of strong fans - but not too many amps yet seem to be able to use them.

845s seem to draw more of a mixed reaction.

if you, or anyone, care to shed more light on the tube choices, that would be great.

regards -andre

[Masterlu]

adaug... Welcome!

[adaug]

got my LM-216. sounds fantastic. esp for the money. looks cool to boot.

chinese-made equipment like this does not sound like i had for a long time assumed that chinese equipment would sound. LM and primaluna are 2 contenders in the "great sound for money" category.

i just wish that LM, like PL, offerred a built in phono section.

regards

[fjn04]

I believe Prima Luna does. I thought so anyway. Congrats on the 216, it is an excellent sounding integrated. Pair it with a good phono stage, and you will be in good shape. I have a Heed Quasar on the way, which I will be using with my 211 IA. Cheers -Don

[yanguizi]

Question for Line Magnetic owners

Last week took delivery of a 518IA amp and 502CA DAC, which I bought for a 2nd system I’m building to go with a pair of Zu’s I’ve got on order.
My main system is a Weiss DAC 202/Leben 300XS/Omega 6XRS, I bought this 1st system to replace a stolen Zu Druid/RedWine 30.2 which I loved. I’ve never been too happy with this system, sounds a little thin to me, I was going to do some tube rolling and switch cables (Crimson.)
As my Zu’s havent arrived yet I hooked up the 518IA and 502CA DAC to my Omega 6XRSs, wow! Extension, dynamics are now there in spades. This is a seriously great combination. I’m not trying to say this is better than the Leben or Weiss, but for my type of rock and indie music tastes and the musical presentation I like, it’s a killer combination. The DAC is also a real keeper, I want to do some A/B comparisons to the Weiss but I can’t stop listening to music right now. Later I hope.

Here’s the question, the 518IA amp has a really low background through my speakers, lower than the Leben actually. But the amp itself has an annoying hum, it’s an electrical hum. I’ve only had it running for a few days, it’s not as bad as it was the first 2 days, at times hardly noticeable, other times it’s a little louder and of course now I’m aware of it! The Leben is dead quiet from this perpective, anyone got any experience of hum from Line Magnetic amps? I’ve only owned these 2 tube amps so I’m a complete novice. I’m in China so sending it back is a pain here and the amp serious weighs a ton. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[Masterlu]

yanguizi... Welcome!

[vortrex]

I have the 218IA with the same low level hum. I don't think there is anything wrong. I've been told that with 845 tubes in general there is a certain amount of hum that's inherent with them.

[adaug]

welcome to the world of LM, yanguizi.

have you checked if the hum is in the amp itself as opposed to a component hooked to the amp? in other words, does it hum when switched to an empty selector?

my 216IA is very sensitive to hums in the phono chain. i moved my phono pre further away, played around what was plugged where, and tried 2 and 3 prong plugs. finally i grounded my turntable itself (normal phono ground wires only ground the arm/cartridge) . this reduced the hum by 95% and it is now barely audible. hum had not been an issue with other integrateds and amp/pres in my system, my LM is somehow more sensitive to hum prodcution in the system.

the 216IA sounds amazing. making me wonder how the more expensive LM units sound.

all the best getting your hum issue sorted.

-andre






QUOTE=yanguizi;491074]Question for Line Magnetic owners

Last week took delivery of a 518IA amp and 502CA DAC, which I bought for a 2nd system I’m building to go with a pair of Zu’s I’ve got on order.
My main system is a Weiss DAC 202/Leben 300XS/Omega 6XRS, I bought this 1st system to replace a stolen Zu Druid/RedWine 30.2 which I loved. I’ve never been too happy with this system, sounds a little thin to me, I was going to do some tube rolling and switch cables (Crimson.)
As my Zu’s havent arrived yet I hooked up the 518IA and 502CA DAC to my Omega 6XRSs, wow! Extension, dynamics are now there in spades. This is a seriously great combination. I’m not trying to say this is better than the Leben or Weiss, but for my type of rock and indie music tastes and the musical presentation I like, it’s a killer combination. The DAC is also a real keeper, I want to do some A/B comparisons to the Weiss but I can’t stop listening to music right now. Later I hope.

Here’s the question, the 518IA amp has a really low background through my speakers, lower than the Leben actually. But the amp itself has an annoying hum, it’s an electrical hum. I’ve only had it running for a few days, it’s not as bad as it was the first 2 days, at times hardly noticeable, other times it’s a little louder and of course now I’m aware of it! The Leben is dead quiet from this perpective, anyone got any experience of hum from Line Magnetic amps? I’ve only owned these 2 tube amps so I’m a complete novice. I’m in China so sending it back is a pain here and the amp serious weighs a ton. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE]

[yanguizi]

Thanks for the replies, this is a really good forum. The hum is definitely from the amp itself - from the electronics below the tubes - through my speakers the background is actually lower than my Leben. I tried moving my phono stage farther away also tried the empty selector and pre-in and its still there, the amount of hum varies over time. My dealer here in Shanghai has a 218IA in stock I will pop in this week and try to compare.

But this amp is really, really something. The DAC is also a great match, I was told changing the tubes on the DAC can also make an improvement, so I've order a couple of different tube pairs - I can try them on the 518 also. I'll do some comparison with my Weiss DAC and post my findings, I've owned a LOT of DAC's and this is really good. For the cost here in China its exceptional.
Thanks again.