Ozzzy's Sagatun experience.

MisterH · Post by **MisterH** » 2014-05-25 19:00

Perhaps Frederik should go that little bit further and do away with naming the products (as Linn do) if he wants to separate his brand from being associated with Linn or more precisely Linn owners.

I have just been trying to think which other manufacturer uses a name rather than a model number ?

Personally I like the products being named, it makes them easier to remember rather than a model number and maybe gives a feeling of being more individual

Unfortunately couldn't make the Sagatun launch but look forward to hearing soon. I'm sure it will be better than the Exotik I used to have, but how much better than the Kikkin 2, will it be £2500 (or more) better ?

Music Lover · Post by **Music Lover** » 2014-05-25 19:52

ThomasOK wrote: much fewer yet where a turntable is one of the sources and very few who make all of the pieces very well (maybe two?).

Linn and ?

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2014-05-25 20:22

Music Lover wrote:
ThomasOK wrote: much fewer yet where a turntable is one of the sources and very few who make all of the pieces very well (maybe two?).
Linn and ?

I would say Rega within the more moderate price ranges with the proviso that their speakers, while good, are not giant killers.

Under $3000 they make quite a few musical products in turntables, CD players and amps and some pretty decent speakers.

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2014-05-25 20:30

neilh wrote:Perhaps Frederik should go that little bit further and do away with naming the products (as Linn do) if he wants to separate his brand from being associated with Linn or more precisely Linn owners.

I have just been trying to think which other manufacturer uses a name rather than a model number?

Aesthetix, Rega, Wilson, Roksan, Naim (in part just like Linn), Kuzma, Continuum, Clearaudio, Lyra, Ortofon, Koetsu, AudioQuest, Nordost, Sonus faber, Vienna Acoustics...just to name a few that come quickly to mind.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-07-07 19:58

Hi guys,
Due to the number of pm's I'm getting regarding sagatun I just wanted to say it's fantastic, it's in my home and I'm currently running it in before I write further thoughts.
I'm also open to home demos in the North of England, these products deserve to be heard.
Daniel.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-07-12 20:38

Hi everyone.
Firstly I want to say what an absolute gentleman Mr Chris Fuller at HiddenSystems is. A week last Friday I drove the four hours down from Yorkshire to hook up with Chris and get a hands on with some linn and leklonjou kit. I was a bit bollocksed at first to be honest, I'd come off a night shift and Rowlandhills and his gang were also there listening to the klimax exakt kit, I relaxed in the adjacent room listening to the music and let the lads get on with their demo.
Once the majority had left only Rowlandhills and I remained, we listened to the kds1 and Lejonklou system and I enjoyed it hugely, and I'm pretty sure he did too judging by his comments.
Later on I had more time to listen to music with Chris.
We were able to listen to the kds1 and sagatun monos and tundra mono into akubarik passive and play whatever we wanted whilst chatting about all kinds of things, proper chilling time! This has been one of my favourite set ups, it's very musical and extremely involving, a real cracker! Later Chris got a pair of totem speakers out and a rega amp and also some rather lovely oppo headphones and matching headphone amp. This was brilliant, I particularly liked the totems! By now it was beer then curry and beer time!
On our return we played more music, I'd not had such a great time around Hi fi ever! 2am arrived and sleepiness was taking over, time to call it a night!
Anyway, three hours kip and it was back oop north with a few new toys!
Once home I set everything up and made sure via Chris that I'd connected it all up properly. I did struggle initially, but blamed this on tiredness!
I was going up to Gateshead at 7pm so played a few tracks then conked out!
I've been ridiculously busy and haven't had much listening time at home and will write about the sagatun that I took home with me. All I can say after a week is that it's a fantastic piece of kit and is yet another triumph for Fredrik.
Chris was a brilliant host and I enjoyed every minute in his company.
I will certainly look forward to helping promote these fantastic products in the North of England, they really do deserve to be heard by more people.
Thanks Chris, you're a star.
My full sagatun write up will be done in a week at the most, I feel it should have plenty of hours of running in time before I write about it.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-03 20:25

Ok sorry about the long delay but i really wanted to get plenty of hours on the sagatun before doing a write up.
Fredrik's new box is packed exactly the same as the tundra power amps, with the unit in a plastic sleeve and packing foam adjacent front and back i think it was. There's a small 'one for all' remote included which takes AAAA batteries, which i've still to find here in sunny Yorkshire ! However, most folks will probably use what they already have, in this case a Linn MDS remote. Two instruction manuals are included, with one dedicated to showing how the volume translates into Db from the coloured light that Fredrik has chosen to use, and another one with tech specs and some do's and dont's etc. In all honesty i really much prefer this to a display, i personally use one source for the most part and don't need to see 'Majik DS' or whatever glaring at me, and the volume indicator is brilliant, it just works so well. Turn it up til you're happy, turn it down if it's too loud, easy and simple with the light usually green and turning yellow for me, which is 60-69 in green and 70-79 in the yellow shade. The colours change gradually too, so green starts to turn yellow as you reach the next level. Incidentally holding a volume button will raise or lower the volume in steps with a slight pause every 10Db, another cool feature.
The Sagatun is plain and understated, which is a big plus for me, i'm not into bling etc. ! There are three buttons on the front, a Vol+ / - which doubles up as a parental lock and a source select button which mutes the volume as well. These feel very tactile and have a nice click to them like a very small micro switch.
I'll not go into too much detail about the functions etc as it's already been mentioned here by far more knowlegable people than i ! A quick mention about the mute function however. One quick press will knock the volume down enough to hear conversation etc. i think about -15 DB ? Holding it down performs a full mute, a great idea !
I did struggle a little with connecting it up originally, Fredrik uses a different layout to most manufacturers and even reading the manual i was a little stumped, i was extremely tired at the time, so hopefully by the time i'm moving my unit to friends etc i'll have it down to a tee !
Anyway i suppose you all want to know what i think of it ?
I've tried all kinds of music over the last month, and as i type this i have the deluxe edition of Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' cd rip to lossless FLAC playing, and it's fantastic! It sounds bombastic and powerful, detailed beyond belief and just makes you want to sing along and dance ! Basslines in most of the rock music iv'e played have been so tuneful and easy to follow, and personally I think it makes you appreciate what a fantastic and underrated instrument bass guitar is.
Yup, the ol goosebumps are out on my arms again, something that Fred's gear seems to do to me all too often such is the musicality and connection to the performers.
Moving on to classical music like Il Maestro himself, the one and only Ennio Morricone is a revelation. The level of control the musicians exhibit of instruments like clarinet etc is incredible, yes you could say that just listening to it on another system, but with lejonklou there is nothing else, no colouration no time delay, it's timing is impeccable, stop and start, exactly like the tundra power amplifiers and it really helps to connect the listener to feel the instrument sounds. It's this bare bones presentation and level of musicality that is unmatched by anything else i've heard, especially at this price point, some may say at twice the price but i've possibly not heard as much gear as some folk ! Synth and electronica from the likes of Kraftwerk and Jean Michel Jarre play with a punch and clarity i've never heard, it just sounded so bloody good, especially 'tour de france' and JMJ's teo and tea.
So far nothing i've played on my Lejonklou pre/power combo has sounded rubbish, even stuff i know to be poorly recorded sounds much more palatable. How is this possible ? Perhaps it's the fact that there's now a pre /power combination from the same manufacturer with the same characteristics and built around the ideals of Mr Lejonklou? Just a thought.
The thing that's really impressed me is that one guy with a vision has created this with minimal help. I appreciate that others have given ideas and helped with programming etc, but it's predominantly the work of one man. Incredible.
I won't start blathering on and coming out with more audiophile BS phrases, but i am stunned not because of how great Sagatun is, but because the monos are on another planet, they're insanely good, so thanks for that Freddie boy ! Seriously, anyone wanting a new pre amp really should have this on their list. It's basic, no fancy wifi or phone docking stuff, for ME however it's simply a two channel delight. And that is what I wanted, nowt flash or fancy, just a bloody good 2 channel pre amp, and boy has Fredrik delivered.
I've tidied and added a little text, hence the edits.
Negative points? Only that the feet do cheapen the product slightly, but I do know that Fredrik is looking into this particular issue.
Thanks for reading.
Ozzzy.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-03 20:31

Post by **lejonklou** » 2014-08-04 21:49

Thank you for sharing your impressions, Ozzzy!

Those are AAA batteries, very common. Sorry for not including them, I will have to adress that detail. But as you mentioned, most people use their old HiFi remote that also controls some other units in the system.

Glad to hear you like the "Sorry, you were saying??" feature of the Mute button! It's -12 dB and disappears if you press Mute again or a volume button. It was first introduced on Kikkin, but back then it was -10 and a very fast blink to signal its prescence (on Sagatun it's slow). I tend to use it a lot when I play loud.

It's true that the only person who helped me with the development of Sagatun is Linntek on this forum, who programs the firmware. But to be able to manufacture it - making more than one pair of Sagatun Mono's for myself - I have needed more help. In particular I owe thanks to my quality manager Jaan, who makes sure the assemblers follow every instruction to the last detail. I know they think I'm a terribly fussy customer, so I'm grateful they put up with me.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-04 23:03

I'm pretty sure they're 4xA Fredrik, I've got AAA and they're too big, I'll double check tomorrow. I'd quite like to use the little remote as I presume I can switch sources, as I have my TV plugged in as well for PS4 / Netflix and general TV viewing on input 2.

Post by **lejonklou** » 2014-08-05 16:52

Darn, you were right! AAAA batteries, a bit smaller than AAA. I didn't know they existed until now.

I can ship you a pair right away, if you want.

tokenbrit · Post by **tokenbrit** » 2014-08-05 17:34

Seems Tesco might have them: http://www.tesco.com/direct/duracell-2- ... 2-9777.prd

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-05 20:57

Thanks fredrik, if I can't find any at tesco or eBay I'll take you up on that!

macrotech2 · Post by **macrotech2** » 2014-08-06 08:48

I didn't know they existed either. Plenty of them on Amazon.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-10 15:28

Bought a pair off eBay for a couple of quid. I'd quite like to use this remote as my linn one doesn't select sources.

Post by **lejonklou** » 2014-08-10 19:57

Now I have them too. Will be supplied with every remote from now on. My apologies for not supplying them in the first few units!

What remote doesn't have source select? Odd.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-11 10:29

Nice one fredrik. Maybe my remote isn't set up or working properly! My Exotik remote was fine, I'll have another peek.

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2014-08-12 23:21

I was also unaware of the existence of AAAA batteries until I received my first Sagatun. As some of the remotes came with batteries dated for 2012 I went searching for the batteries and found a 50 pack of Eveready AAAAs for a reasonable price on Amazon so I picked up a box. I mailed two to my first Sagatun Stereo customer in Canada so he would have a fresh set. It cost $6.00 postage to mail a pair of 50 cent batteries in a puffy envelope to Canada - Ouch! These international postage costs can be brutal.

I noticed that Amazon also had some even cheaper generic AAAA batteries but I would recommend steering away from them. A few people who bought them wrote in their reviews that they weren't as long as real AAAAs!? Pretty bad if you can't even make the battery the right length.

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2014-08-12 23:24

Ozzzy189 wrote:Nice one fredrik. Maybe my remote isn't set up or working properly! My Exotik remote was fine, I'll have another peek.

I am also unaware of any Linn remote without source selection. If it is the new slim silver remote the two buttons marked + and - on the right side (across from the volume up and down) are the source up and down button. This causes no end of problems from people (myself included) hitting the plus button on the right to turn the volume up only to find they have just changed the source.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-13 04:56

Hi Thomas, it's the matt silver remote from the previous generation and i've still yet to double check the source select. I'll look later today now I'm no longer using an Exotik remote . Thank you.

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2014-08-13 16:56

Ozzzy189 wrote:Hi Thomas, it's the matt silver remote from the previous generation and i've still yet to double check the source select. I'll look later today now I'm no longer using an Exotik remote . Thank you.

On that remote it is the "SRC-" and "SRC+" buttons right above the five button cursor pad in the center of the remote.

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-14 12:24

Yup, remote is fine, just never really used it.
Anyway, if anyone is in the Yorkshire area they're more than welcome to come to listen to the kds1, sagatun monos into tundra stereo driving majik 109

clasch66 · Post by **clasch66** » 2014-08-14 13:58

Wow! Nice upgrade!

Ozzzy189 · Post by **Ozzzy189** » 2014-08-14 16:31

I wish it was! It's simply stunning, no other words can describe it. I was really happy with my system before but this is insane.
The kit is on loan from HiddenSystems for demo purposes, but unfortunately my first one has just cancelled due to personal reasons but I've had a pm regarding a home visit, so I should stay positive.
Time to play some more!

clasch66 · Post by **clasch66** » 2014-08-14 16:56

Home Demos with such gear is a dangerous thing ;-)