Alan Sircom, Editor of Hi-Fi+, has posted a review of the Linn Majik DS-I Integrated System (£2,500) at AVGuide. His conclusions:
Then there’s the quality of the sound from the NAS. I am not a major supporter of the ‘CDs sound better when ripped and stored’ school of thought, but the Linn Majik DS-I does make a strong argument for that. Certainly as a two-and-a-half grand package, I’d struggle to find a CD and amp that significantly better the overall performance. It’s a ‘dry’ sound, with neither the lush mids of valve amps or the forward mids and tops of solid state to get in the way of the performance. All of which is a polite way of saying “sayonara Squeezebox”. And I suspect that for a significant number of newcomers to our little audiophile clique, this and a pair of Majik 109 speakers will be all they need to discover the joys of music in the home.
It’s hard not to sound a bit nerdy when discussing the whole DS concept. And, in all fairness, that nerdy part could read ‘unstintingly daunting’ to someone used to a more 20th Century interpretation of technology. This can sometimes mask the benefits of a DS system – name a conventional hi-fi system that can let you access every piece of music you own in a second, has potential access to the whole musical canon from online sources and even wake you up in the morning without a fuss? Ultimately, UPnP streaming is likely to be the way you will be playing your music tomorrow. Linn just lets you get with the programme today.
You can read the full review here.
