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Editor: When Stereophile published the first-ever review of the Klimax DS, in March 2008, it was heralded as "the stuff that dreams are made of"; the only real criticism leveled was that the user interface was "stupid." At the time, we maintained that Linn's unique, open approach to the home network would prove fertile soil for software programmers to plant their own ideas and grow their own interface solutions on whatever platform they chose.

Today, Linn boasts the widest range of networked control solutions on the market for any hi-fi product,…

Art Dudley reviewed the Linn Majik DS-I in the March issue and found that, when fed audio data over an Ethernet network, this D/A amplifier "presented a more open, nuanced, explicit, involving, and altogether natural musical experience than any USB-based digital source I've heard."

Strong words! But when I measured the DS-I before dropping it off at Art's place, I couldn't get it to recognize the music server on my home network, and therefore ended up doing all the digital-domain measurements using one of the Linn's…

Editor: The measurements from the Majik DS-I's S/PDIF-TosLink inputs [offered in the Follow-Up of the DS-I] are at the limit of the test equipment (footnote 1). It is consequently not possible for the same test equipment to demonstrate the superior jitter performance of the Ethernet configuration.

We are able to measure the audio master clock (MCLK) inside the Majik DS-I, and what we find is that the MCLK recovered from the S/PDIF receiver (fig.1) has about eight times the jitter of the MCLK that is used for Ethernet audio (fig.2).

Fig.1…

"I am here to fix ze problem viz yer pheaun."
After setting up the ia21 and letting it cook for a day or two, I sat down and gave it my first real listen. Something was not right. The sound was grainy and rough, the soundstage was not happening, and the frequency response seemed very lumpy. I…

Description: Tubed integrated amplifier. Tube complement: four 6SN7, four KT88 or EL34. Power output: 50Wpc into 8 ohms (17dBW), 1% THD. Bandwidth: 4Hz–80kHz, ±0.3dB, at 1W; 9Hz–52kHz, ±1dB, at 50W. Signal/Noise Ratio: >90dB (A-weighted). Voltage Gain: 30dB (31.1x) at maximum volume. Distortion: 0.05% at 1W, 0.2% at 10W, 1% at full power (50W). Power consumption: 230W maximum.
Dimensions: 16.9" (430mm) W by 7.9" (200mm) H by 16.4" (420mm) D. Weight: 59.4 lbs (27kg).
Serial Number Of Units Reviewed: 210213, 210221.
Price: $2995. Approximate number…

Digital Sources: Theta Miles (S/PDIF output), Bel Canto CD2 (with VBS1 power supply) CD players; Benchmark DAC1 & DAC1 HDR, Bel Canto DAC 3.5VB, CEntrance DACport D/A converters; Sony Vaio laptop computer.
Power Amplifiers: Pass Labs Aleph 3 & XA30.5, Plinius SA103; Rogue Audio M180 monoblocks.
Integrated Amplifiers: Pass Labs INT-150, Simaudio Moon i3.3.
Loudspeakers: Revel Performa F30.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox HDVX, Silver Sonic D-110 AES/EBU, Wireworld Gold Starlight AES/EBU. Interconnect: Sain Line Systems Pure (single-ended…

To perform the measurements on the Mystère ia21, I mostly used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see the January 2008 "As We See It" and www.ap.com); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain.

As Erick Lichte mentioned, he sent me the first sample of the ia21 (S/N 210213) after his preliminary auditioning, as there seemed to be something wrong. I carried out a full set of tests with the amplifier, and yes, one channel was offering around ten times the distortion of the other…

I haven’t had much luck with in-ear headphones.

Kelli’s Etymotic ER-6i earphones ($99) offered a well-balanced sound, with satisfying bass and natural highs, but I found them extremely uncomfortable and I had a difficult time getting them to fit properly in my ear canals. I liked Shure’s SE210 ($149.99) and SE115 ($139.99), but they felt large and heavy in my ears, and friends often balked at their prices. Don’t get me started about the V-MODA Remix Metal in-ears ($99.99); their highs were so pronounced and glaring and bass so completely…