Opinion wanted | Replacing a Kairn for center channel and sub or just improved stereo

[NinthWave]

Consider the actual system in my signature which I own for a while now.

I have started to think about upgrading.

My main goal is definitely music but I also watch movies. Sometimes, I'd like to have a center channel (AV5120) and a sub. I really don't care for the full 5.1, 7.1, 9.1 or ∞.1 I am not even sure I want to go that way since Kodi allows me to add gain to center channel only.

I read that the Exotik is way better that the Kairn and I just learned about the Kinos. But I could just abandon the idea of 2.1 and get a Sagatun.

I understand I am aiming "wide" but any thoughts are welcome.

Thanks

[springwood64]

I went through a similar thought process, and added a surround processor to my stereo for a centre channel and rear surrounds.

However I had a limited budget and could not buy the additional processor, amps and speakers without compromising the quality of my main stereo audio. For the centre I used an AV5120 and for the rears I used Linn Sekrits, both powered by LK100s. I also briefly owned an AV5150 sub, but selling that allowed me to upgrade my main power amp.

So instead I ditched the surround and focussed on stereo. Now I listen to movies through that, and have found much greater enjoyment by maximising the quality of stereo.

I have owned Kairn, AV5103 and Kinos and can confirm that the Kinos is quite a bit better than the other two. If you are seriously considering a Sagatun though, I recommend that you go for that. The improvement in stereo will be marvellous. You can always add more channels later if you wish.

[u252agz]

One advantage of Sagatun is that you can use the unity gain feature with an AV amp with pre - out facility.

The AV amp powers the centre, sub and rear speakers and sends its Left and Right signal via interconnects to the Sagatun and then through to the Left and Right speakers.

AV amp controls the volume for all the speakers with movies and Sagatun is used on its other inputs for Hi Fi ( as per normal) with no degradation in quality.

Works very well in my system and as good as Kalla is with the sound of movies on the Hi Fi system with Apple TV - I still prefer the surround sound for movies which benefit from the full surround sound experience ( not that many in my experience).

Interestingly, quite a few netflix shows have pretty good surround sound tracks.

[Rutger]

Consider the actual system in my signature which I own for a while now.

I have started to think about upgrading.

My main goal is definitely music but I also watch movies. Sometimes, I'd like to have a center channel (AV5120) and a sub. I really don't care for the full 5.1, 7.1, 9.1 or ∞.1 I am not even sure I want to go that way since Kodi allows me to add gain to center channel only.

I read that the Exotik is way better that the Kairn and I just learned about the Kinos. But I could just abandon the idea of 2.1 and get a Sagatun.

I understand I am aiming "wide" but any thoughts are welcome.

Thanks

This is a classical case and youre not alone of those thoughts.
2 channel playback with two speakers with optimal setup in the room will always be better, mainly because the center channel is probably not in its optimal place , nor the surround speakers if using tunemethod during the setup.
Also - better is always better, meaning that a pair of active Kabers are better than passive kabers.

If one forgets the loudspeaker setup ( you cant in the real world ), 5 passive kabers gonna sound worse than 2 active kabers If the same amplifiers are used.

Its obvious more complicated in the real world.

If you live alone or are only two people sitting in the sweet spot when watching movies the only benefit a center channel has, goes away. But if you are a big family with 5 persons someone always gonna sit on a less good place for enjoying the sound. So you might have to compromise.

Exotik and Kinos are slightly better sounding than the kairn, but almost all of them has long therm problems with reliability, they will almost certainly fail in a couple of years If bought second hand.

Another problem with multichannel playback are many speakers in the room - bluring the perceived pitch of the tones slightly when listening to music.

[Spannko]

Hello Ninth Wave,

It’s often said that if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there! With this in mind, where do you see yourself going with your system? What’s your end goal? When you know this, deciding upon the next step is relatively easy.

[NinthWave]

Hello Ninth Wave,

It’s often said that if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there! With this in mind, where do you see yourself going with your system? What’s your end goal? When you know this, deciding upon the next step is relatively easy.

I totally agree... But unless you get some preliminary information of what you'll find if you go there, it's hard to know where you "could" go.

[Spannko]

OK. Given that you’re asking for advice on a way forward on this particular forum, we need to be thinking about how you can improve the tune playing ability of your system.

I’ve heard quite a few Linn home theatre setups and although they sound very impressive, not one of them was capable of making music, so I’d strongly suggest concentrating on a 2 channel system.

When new, the Kairn and LK140 were very tuneful. Unfortunately, they’re over 30 years old now and will sound very tired, so regarding amplification I’d suggest selling the Kairn/LK90/LK140/crossovers and buying a used Boazu for £/€1500-2000.

I’d probably suggest keeping the Ninka’s for now, or possibly exchanging them for a pair of Katan’s and putting the balance towards the Boazu.

A pair of Linn Silvers and split LK400 are practically mandatory.

This just leaves the front end to sort out. Since I’ve not heard your streamer I can’t really comment.

[NinthWave]

If you live alone or are only two people sitting in the sweet spot when watching movies the only benefit a center channel has, goes away. But if you are a big family with 5 persons someone always gonna sit on a less good place for enjoying the sound. So you might have to compromise.

Exotik and Kinos are slightly better sounding than the kairn, but almost all of them has long therm problems with reliability, they will almost certainly fail in a couple of years If bought second hand.

Just just gave me the info I needed to to stay in stereo mode and juste slowly upgrade to Lejonklou material.