Linn Unidisk 1.1 Multi Disc Player – Quick Impression
This player reminded me strongly of the Weiss DAC2/Minerva da converter for its clean, tight, fast, open, business-like and dry sound. The 1.1 sounds lively and fairly enthusiastic, although I wouldn’t call it very dynamic because it seems to compress large dynamic swings, making both soft sounds and loud outbursts sound evenly present. In all fairness, this player is absolutely not grainy or otherwise badly behaved, but it was just very clinical to my ears, not possessing the relaxed fluidity, rich colors and the large soundstage that I like. Everything sounded just a bit too controlled and too cold. Overall I find this true of all other Linn components I have heard. It seems to be the company signature sound. The built-in transport is very good: upbeat and confident. Using a separate Mark Levinson DAC made for a large improvement, leaving only a slight dryness/greyness to the sound.
