Lots of Lejonklou amps in a Linn Exakt system

[HIDDENSYSTEMS]

Fired up the Linn KDSM + Klimax Exaktboxes + 4 x Tundra Stereos + 2 x Tundra Mono on the bass - sounding great. Movies are good too.

When are you coming to the UK Fredrik ?

HiddenSystems-Exakt-Tundra.jpeg

[lejonklou]

Cool! Would like to hear it!

I should visit as soon as possible. It's been too long!

[macrotech2]

Cool! Would like to hear it!

I should visit as soon as possible. It's been too long!

Make sure you bring the completed Streamer with you though :-)

[lejonklou]

Ouch.

You're in no hurry to see me, are you? :)

[macrotech2]

I am. of course, always delighted to see you. I'm also very keen to give you more of my hard earned cash! :-)

[lejonklou]

I am. of course, always delighted to see you.

As we say in Swedish: Detsamma!

I'm also very keen to give you more of my hard earned cash! :-)

Wonderful! But first I need to deserve it.

[Ozzzy189]

We need a reunion guys.

[Husky99]

I can vouch for the great sound, having just invested in 3 Lejonklou Tundra amps and Linn Akurate Exact following some long demo sessions with Chris.

I am now banned from visiting Chris again! by the Chief Executive of the house.

[lejonklou]

Hi Husky99!

How cool! What speakers are you driving?

Welcome to the forum!

[Husky99]

we are using Linn Kabers
They are the perfect size for the room and were in my fathers system so a bit sentimental

Chris converted to Active and they sound brilliant, even Chris could not believe the noise (great sound) we got from the system from 20 year old speakers. I think they would embarrass many newer more expensive speakers.

Through Chris i was able to hear a set of active and passive kabers which helped/ influenced the out come.

[lejonklou]

Kabers, mmm nice!

Not only good sounding, but perhaps the nicest looking Linn speaker ever. The proportions are perfect.

[Music Lover]

Agree, Kaber and Keltik = great proportions.
Late version Isobariks on stands are also sweeeeet looking.

[sunbeamgls]

Wow Chris, would love to hear the mix of Exakt and Lejonklou amps. How long are you likely to have that set up in the dem room?

[sunbeamgls]

we are using Linn Kabers
They are the perfect size for the room and were in my fathers system so a bit sentimental

Chris converted to Active and they sound brilliant, even Chris could not believe the noise (great sound) we got from the system from 20 year old speakers. I think they would embarrass many newer more expensive speakers.

Through Chris i was able to hear a set of active and passive kabers which helped/ influenced the out come.

Seems like a great mix of source/amps/speakers there Husky. Congrats, I hope it brings lots of enjoyment.

[finster]

Getting there... running Keltiks exakted with 2 x tundras and 4 channel bryston on bass. Love my Tundra amps. The styling is so reminiscent of Linn's LK series.
I may replace the bryston in the future with Tundras. And of course I need to upgrade them to latest config.

[HIDDENSYSTEMS]

Through Chris i was able to hear a set of active and passive kabers which helped/ influenced the out come.

Hi Husky99,
Glad you made onto the forum and it was a pleasure to demo and conclude. The sound achieved was very good given the age and your father would of been mightily impressed and very cool to keep in the family. Stay in touch and I’m up for that biking off road stuff in mid Wales.

I now have three pairs of Kabers including one set complete three Aktiv Klouts all boxed which reminds me to list here

[lejonklou]

Getting there... running Keltiks exakted with 2 x tundras and 4 channel bryston on bass. Love my Tundra amps. The styling is so reminiscent of Linn's LK series.
I may replace the bryston in the future with Tundras. And of course I need to upgrade them to latest config.

Hi finster,

Thank you for the praise! Very cool, I'd love to hear your system one day.

[David Neel]

Well it wasn't the system mentioned earlier, but....

I've wanted to hear Lejonklou for some years, and finally I had a chance. I live in Glasgow, so a long way from dealers. I do regularly visit Cambridge, and last weekend it was by car rather than my usual Easyjet and train. So after encouragement from Charlie1, I contacted Anthony and arranged to compare my AK/1 with a Tundra against a Boazu. Unfortunately before I arrived he texted me to say that the Boazu had been sold. My travel plans didn't allow re-arrangement till a replacement arrived, but I did hear the very interesting differences between Akubarik and 242, as well as between K400 and the new K200. The most important thing was to understand that Tundra will drive a "difficult" speaker. Thanks Anthony!

So I phoned Chris Fuller who kindly agreed to do that demo a few days later. A long diversion on my road trip (we won't talk about the hidden speed cameras...) but possibly the only chance for many months to do this.

We started with (and stayed with) LP12SE and 109s. First up, AK/1 and 6100 passive, then AK/1 and Tundra. Okay, Tundra wins, not too surprising a result. Then Boazu. This was more difficult: there were some things the Boazu did better than AK/1 and Tundra, but it lacked control and drive. A close-ish win for AK/1 and Tundra.

I was happy with that, but Chris wanted to move to Exakt, so the next stage was connecting the LP12 to a KDSM into Akurate Exaktbox6 and three Tundras. Good, better than passive, but considering the cost differential I'd have stuck with the AK/1 and Tundra. At this stage I was ready to hit the road as I had a long journey, but Chris wanted to do one more switch - a Klimax Katalyst Exaktbox in place of the Akurate.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you want to maximise your 109s, this is how you do it! It was quite shattering to hear how good they sounded, and how much bass they reproduced, fed by that front end and electronics. Throughout the demos we had been listening to the rondo finale from Barbirolli's Mahler 5 on the LP12. But when Chris streamed it instead, the magic was gone, gone, gone....

So my conclusions were: vinyl rules, Tundra is great, Exakt is expensive to do right, and 109s can do things you wouldn't believe possible. Source first....

[HIDDENSYSTEMS]

Great summary, I enjoyed. The Boazu is a full sound that you can listen for hours but the combo of an AK/1 surprised me to be honest, it seemed KK level, we didn’t have its Ethernet connected.

When I used 109s with Klimax Exaktbox recently I’d only streamed but then a full blown LP12 SE deck does reset their capabilities - indeed source first

[tokenbrit]

Sounds like fun. Any reason that Sagatuns, stereo &/or mono, weren't at the party?

[anthony]

Sounds like fun. Any reason that Sagatuns, stereo &/or mono, weren't at the party?

Prior to the demonstration, and telephone discussions, my remit was to improve on a majik power amp, but still retaining the potential for moving to exakt in the future. There are so many potential combinations, but felt anything involving preamps, was academic.
Therefore I believed adding a better amplifier to the existing AK1 would be a better route to this future goal.
As vinyl was the main source, I had already suggested a better preamp, the AK1 is still a good interim preamp, as I think was shown by Chris's more comprehensive demonstration. As Exakt would ultimately need a Klimax DSM in an exakt system to realise full potential from an lp12, and David had disclosed he used House of Linn for Linn purchases, so I focused on Tundra with both 242 and Akubariks.
I believe both Dems were useful and I definitely got the impression "David" still preferred what a smaller speaker can do over a larger one.
This is also interesting and still holds true over 40 years I remember replacing Linn Kans with Isobariks and missing the impressive and agility of a smaller speaker, although for me there is no substitute for a full range speaker.
Will be interested in which direction you take, and hopefully you are now enjoying your kandid!

[David Neel]

Absolutely right, Anthony. In retrospect it would have been interesting to hear Sagatun, but my current sensible priorities and financial possibilities are either Akurate exakt or alternative electronics and possibly speakers. Either way, I want to leave open the possibility of exakt in the future as it develops, but at the moment it may well be that I'd only be happy with exakt at a price level I can't afford.

Also, there's some truth in the small speakers comment - after Gale 401As and Saras (both powered by Naim 12s/250) I had Kan Mk1s for 27 years then 109s for the past seven. These choices were driven by constraints on space and money that are no longer so restrictive.

And yes, the Kandid is good. At this rate I'll wear it out by Christmas!

[u252agz]

but I did hear the very interesting differences between Akubarik and 242, as well as between K400 and the new K200.

What did you think to these comparisions ?

[David Neel]

Contrary to opinions I've read, I preferred the new K200 to K400. I had a preference for 242s over the Akubariks, but discussing it since with Anthony, cabling might have influenced this as we didn't try the Akubarik/K200 combination.

[anthony]

but I did hear the very interesting differences between Akubarik and 242, as well as between K400 and the new K200.

What did you think to these comparisions ?

I think being used to, and favouring a small speaker, the 242 is a closer fit. The akubarik is a fuller sound with more bass, it also has a smoother presentation, probably sounding between a 242 and 350.
In many ways 242 mk1 may have been ideal.
Changing from a small speaker to large actually requires time to readjust.