|
Linn Intek AmplifierLinn's diversification into the populous world of integrated amplifiers is something of an act of faith. At £500 it is placed way above the average for a 50 Watt per channel unit and yet it is decidedly minimalist in conception and might appear to the average buyer to offer far less in the way of facilities than almost all of its competitors. However, the company, long and rightly revered for its engineering abilities in the turntable market and not without a dedicated following for its loudspeakers, has only to announce such a new product to secure an 'open sesame' to the demonstration suites of the world's best audio dealers. A two-part system, pre and power amplifiers, is already to be found there but it is expensive, rather elaborate and has yet to make the mark that this one is likely to. In stating that "The Intek was designed and manufactured to provide better sound quality than other high quality integrated amplifiers", Linn are certainly throwing their hat into the ring. Let us investigate their claim. The external appearance of this fine piece of apparatus is certainly most encouraging. The stout steel case is beautifully finished in that smart black crackle paint that we were once used to seeing on expensive scientific instruments; it stands on four small square rubber surfaced feet. The front escutcheon appears to be an alloy casting coated in a near matt and lightly textured black paint, with clear white lettering applied to indicate the function of the few control switches and knobs. The controls themselves are similarly surfaced but to me this was one facet of the external appearance which perhaps seemed to be a little lacking in refinement. Reading from the left the panel carries a Power on/off control (there is a small green LED indicator adjacent), then comes a stereo headphones jack-socket and the one perhaps unnecessary control in the form of a headphones switch (it is as easy to withdraw the plug and surely nobody is likely to want to wear headphones which are switched off). A second switch controls one of two sets of loudspeaker sockets on the rear panel, the other set being permanently live. Two lever knobs in the centre of the fascia are six-position input selectors, one deciding which signals are sent to the record outlets and the other which are passed on to the internal amplifier. The labeled choice is, Phono, Tuner, CD, Video, Tape 1 and Tape 2. A balancing pair of switches towards the right of the panel are for Mono and Mute and the last control is a friction locked coaxial pair of knobs which control the volume for each channel and hence also act as a Balance setting. The rear panel appears rather busy: at the left is a terminal for a turntable earth above a slide switch which selects either moving-coil or magnetic-cartridge matching. Two turntables, one with each type of cartridge, can be plugged into the adjacent pairs of gold-plated phono sockets. (Note the warning to switch off the power before changing from one to the other.) There follows a run of eight pairs of phono sockets to accommodate the remaining five input sources and to provide record outlets for two tape recorders. These record outlets are fed from a unity gain buffer amplifier to provide a low source impedance and avoid oscillatory problems with some tape machines. All the inputs except phono have identical characteristics and one should note the rather low input impedance, which might be less than some sources would prefer. The remaining pair of sockets are marked Pre Out, Power In. The output from the early stages at the 500mV level is connected to these and can feed an additional or alternative power amplifier. Conversely, the internal power amplifier can be fed from an external source but this requires the severing of internal links which falls into the province of your dealer's technician, who would also be needed again to restore normal integration. Also on the rear panel are the four pairs of 4mm loudspeaker sockets and a standard IEC mains power connector with a fuse compartment below it.
Internally the Intek displays a skilled layout and a neatness of construction which compares favorably with similar products from any source. The very observant can find tiny signs of individuality; for example I noted the faint file marks beneath the bright plated finish of the steel chassis members where someone had tidied the guillotined edges they wouldn't have bothered east of Suez; many of us have cut our fingers as proof of that! The components are top commercial quality and have obviously been selected by someone with fitness for purpose well to the fore but without wasteful extravagance. Integrated circuits, with the exception of power regulators, have been eschewed in favour of the above-average tiny Zetec (once Ferranti until a management buyout) E-line transistors, noted for consistency, reliability and very low noise. There are literally dozens of these to be seen, many clamped to small heat sinks. All the individual components, apart from the large toroidal power transformer, are on a single printed circuit board of good grade material with the word 'Clyde-built' prominent - a reminiscence of the old Cunarders perhaps - certainly that single word has meant a great deal to many people in many countries. Immediately behind the power transformer at the left hand side is a heat-sink to which the pairs of encapsulated output transistors are clamped so that their connecting legs can be formed to align with the pcb edge. There are two sets of output windings on the power transformer, each brought to individual bridge rectifiers and reservoir capacitors on the board. One provides ± 38 Volts at high current to suit the demands of the output stages and the other ± 20 Volts to feed the regulators of the earlier stages.
How it performed
Measurements showed the Intek to be well up to modern standards; output reached 50 Watts exactly into 8 Ohms and 90 Watts into 4 Ohms, both channels driven to the onset of clipping. Sensitivity of all inputs was considerably less than the owner's manual claimed, but a telephone call elicited the fact that these had been deliberately reduced as a result of experience in the field and have now been set at 500mV, 0.45mV for MC and 5mV for MM, all for 50 Watts into 8 Ohms. Apparently my sample amplifier was one issue ahead of its instruction book! A small oddity cropped up when measuring signal-to-noise ratios on all the line outputs, where it was found that the figure worsened by about 6dB whenever a source was connected. This is known at Linn and a spot of re-routing of internal wiring is planned; at better than - 85dB in the worst case it matters little anyway. The phono inputs are also very quiet, certainly better than -70dB. Setting the record switch to the same input as the one you are listening to drops the level by 0.2dB and provides an interesting check on one aspect of your hearing abilities! Which brings me conveniently to the listening experience, and really there is little to say in the face of such an anonymous presentation. This is one of those amplifiers which makes no fuss about its sources or loads but just gets on with the job. For that reason I am left wondering why Linn insisted on supplying two five-metre lengths of their own K20 loudspeaker cable, which is an ugly thick grey ribbon some 15mm wide, with instructions to use it in the right direction as indicated on the web. My cynical outlook on such matters survived unchanged when I compared it with some very cheap 79-strand of unknown origin on a random selection of five pairs of loudspeakers. All sorts of theories have been thrown at me as to why cables can make a difference but nearly always they relate back to design deficiencies in the source or load or both. Fortunately no such limitation applies to the Intek.
Most of my listening was sourced from Sony's latest top line CD player (the CDP-X77ES) and such recent releases as their own Mozart Requiem with Giulini, soloists and the Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra (Sony Classical CD CD45577, 8/90) which really sang out (literally-the recording of the soloists is quite outstanding). Inner detail in Hyperion's fine recording of Boughton's very English Third Symphony (CD CDA66343, 1/90) with Vernon Handley and the RPO in great form, was exceptionally rewarding from this combination. Some lime was spent listening to LPs in deference to the Intek's. origins, which led me to discover that its moving-coil input was rather less than adequate for the Ortofon cartridge I had been using, and something with a higher output was indicated. A favorite of mine is a set of English madrigals by the Hilliard Ensemble; recorded by EMI in Abbey Road Studio No. 1 on EL749197-1, (2/89), this came over very well indeed as did Melvyn Tan's fortepiano Schubert recital recorded in the rather reverberant surroundings of The Maltings at Snape, also on EMI (EL749102-1-nla).
There can be no doubt that many people's reaction to the Intek will be along the lines of 'just another integrated amplifier and an expensive one to boot'. That would be quite unjust and would overlook its worthy styling, fine quality of components and construction, simplicity in use and above all excellent and admirably transparent sound. ![]() |