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Classikal gas
Linn expands the Classik into movies
By Tony Davey
August 2002
One drawback with home theatre is the amount of space that is required to store all the equipment. Even a modest home theatre set up is likely to need some significant shelf space, not to mention the mess of cables so commonly associated with multiple components. This is not practical in apartments and homes where living space is at a premium and a quality solution was needed.
Linn is a Scottish company whom strive to perfect the art of audio reproduction. Their amplifiers, speakers, CD players and record players have an enviable reputation in the audiophile world.
Linn have answered the “save space” call by combining all the required aspects of home theatre into one tidy and beautifully presented box, the Linn Classik Movie System. This elegant beauty measures just 320mm wide x 80mm high x 330mm deep. The review model was finished in white, but it is also available in blue, silver, black and green. Certainly variety enough to complement most decors.
The Classik Movie System is an integrated system with on board DVD player that supports DVD-video, CD, CD-R, CD-RW and MP3. There’s on board Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, 75watts RMS (into 4 ohms) of amplification for all five channels and digital am/fm tuner. The Classik uses BFA speaker connectors, and not the more common banana sockets.
The Classik Movie system is multi-room capable, with plug and play network connections for up to four more Linn Classik’s (music or movie).
Performance
Any thoughts about an integrated system not being able to perform were
quickly dispelled. With first class audio at the forefront of Linn’s
philosophy, it was no surprise that the Linn was magnificent when listening
to music.
The Linn handled a variety of music styles with aplomb. I found myself wanting to listen to more and more CD’s. Discs sounded so good though my Image Reference speakers I simply couldn’t get enough.
No matter what was played, the Linn was powerful yet subtle. The Lyrics in Dido’s “Thank You” came through with absolute clarity and without being lost in the heavy bass of the backing track. Meatloaf’s “I would do anything for love…” played with all the vocal power you expect from the big man, yet the subtlety of the piano was not lost behind the heavy electric guitars and drums.
Some may think the 75 watts RMS power rating a bit low, I did at first, however some extensive listening played at louder than normal listening levels proved my judgement unfounded. The system had enough useable power to eliminate the requirement for my sub-woofer (this point alone left me immensely impressed).
Surround sound performance carried on from its CD audio capabilities. Movies full of action such as Gladiator were rendered with absolute clarity. The Linn played the opening forest scenes and the ensuing battle with a real sense of power. Not just loudness – most amplifiers can go “loud” – but there was real depth and body to the sound often missed from lesser components.
Other more subtle surround presence (which can so easily be overlooked or forgotten altogether with the aggressive surround tracks of so many “demonstration films”) was portrayed well. Whether it was the sound of wind blowing, ambient noises in a restaurant scene or the impressions of space created in concert DVDs, the Linn rendered them with absolute clarity.
The Classik Movie System has multiple picture settings to get the most out of your TV. I viewed discs in high resolution which through my projector which gave a pleasing result. Shadow detail was as good as I have seen, there was no evidence of colour bleed and the picture was as sharp as what would be expected from DVD.
When you have a product that tries to satisfy both camps, it would be easy to compromise quality and features. Add into that the “all in one” product and this is more likely.
The Movie Classik does not have all the decoding options now common place with dedicated home theatre components (Pro Logic 2, DTS-ES of THX-EX), nor is there support for RGB or component video output, however that is not what this system is about. What you get is a stylish integrated system, audio performance for both music and movies is astounding, picture quality is good and the unit is user friendly to operate.
If music is your first love and you have been wanting to get into multi-channel surround but hesitated because you didn’t want the jumble of boxes often associated with home theatre, the Classik Movie System is a genuine solution that doesn’t forgo its audio heritage for multi channel playback.
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