New Linn Kiko (all-in-one streamer and speakers package)

rowlandhills · Post by **rowlandhills** » 2012-06-25 16:09

I suspect that we're not the target audience for this, somehow:

http://news.linn.co.uk/news/2012/06/mee ... m-linn.php

Being discussed here too:

http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=17417

Looks to me like it's intended as a streaming replacement for the Classik, as a unit with "domestic styling" although it's an interesting decision to package it with the speakers.

Will be interesting to find out whether the electronics are basically Sneaky or Sekrit plus a display, and what the speakers are based on.

If the price is right, it could be an interesting option for a second/third room though, if you've got a DS infrastructure in place already.

rowlandhills · Post by **rowlandhills** » 2012-06-25 16:47

I had answers to a couple of questions on the Linn forum from IanW, one of the Linn engineers:

The Kiko System consists of the Kiko DSM and the Kiko Speaker.

The image on Susan's link doesn't quite give you an indication of it's size, Kiko is far smaller than a Sekrit DS-I, even smaller than a Sneaky!

Somehow we have managed to squeeze onto the back panel HDMI connectors along with an analog and a couple of digital inputs. On the front there is an Aux input and Headphone output.

The Kiko Speakers are a 2 way aktiv speaker. Each channel being powered by a channel of amplification in the Kiko.

All available in a range of 6 colours.

Interesting that the speakers are 2-way aktiv.

Disappointing, though, that the price of the system is £2500. That seems rather steep to me in a world full on Sonos players and similar for the "lifestyle" market!

SaltyDog · Post by **SaltyDog** » 2012-06-25 22:39

There have been quite a few Bose systems at the marina parties on the docks lately. Different people's phones used to stream wirelessly. Beats no music by a long shot.

Is a full network required?

I don't see this replacing the portable music. I think most of the stuff at the docks has been bluetooth, but I may be wrong on that. I think that the portability of small system is a major draw.

Do you think Linn may have missed the boat?

lunch · Post by **lunch** » 2012-06-26 11:01

I looked at the Kiko and thought it'd be perfect for our cabin up in the mountains. A bit pricey, perhaps, but hopefully with good sound quality.

I reckon a network is required for streaming, though.

CJ1045 · Post by **CJ1045** » 2012-06-26 11:39

One thing that drives me nuts about adverts for such products, not just Linn's, is that they make out that they are wireless - not one states that they have to be wired to the mains for power. So many of my friends have got really excited when they see an advert for wireless speakers only for me to point out that they will still need to be plugged into the mains.

Still perhaps the governments huge investment in the Rolls Royce factory in Derby that will make new nuclear reators for submarines might develop a sideline of mini nuclear reactors for speakers.

On price I was thinking of it as a Sneaky replacement then adding £500 for the Komponent style speakers. £2500 is VERY disappointing. I do think that Linn need to rethink their marketing - this would have been so much better as an entry level product to draw people into Linn who could then upgrade at a later date to a Majik system. I would have pitched it at £1500 so that it is still less than Euro 2.000 . I think that this would have been a great boost for Linn's struggling dealers.

CJ

CJ

anthony · Post by **anthony** » 2012-06-26 15:02

CJ1045 wrote:One thing that drives me nuts about adverts for such products, not just Linn's, is that they make out that they are wireless - not one states that they have to be wired to the mains for power. So many of my friends have got really excited when they see an advert for wireless speakers only for me to point out that they will still need to be plugged into the mains.

Still perhaps the governments huge investment in the Rolls Royce factory in Derby that will make new nuclear reators for submarines might develop a sideline of mini nuclear reactors for speakers.

On price I was thinking of it as a Sneaky replacement then adding £500 for the Komponent style speakers. £2500 is VERY disappointing. I do think that Linn need to rethink their marketing - this would have been so much better as an entry level product to draw people into Linn who could then upgrade at a later date to a Majik system. I would have pitched it at £1500 so that it is still less than Euro 2.000 . I think that this would have been a great boost for Linn's struggling dealers.

CJ

CJ

Do the Kiko speakers need mains?

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2012-06-26 16:52

I'm supposing that could be a smart-alec comment, but just in case...

The power amplification is in the unit itself. Connection on the back of the Kiko unit and on the Kiko speakers is via 4 connection Neutrik Speakon connectors. The literature is not clear whether speaker cables are included but I would hope they are (I don't imagine the target market will be excited at the prospect of K400 running up the walls!).

US pricing is $3990 which has raised the same comments here I have seen elsewhere. However B&O, Meridian and others are already putting out products in this kind of range that certainly aren't likely as musical.

It would be nice if anybody had mentioned the musical performance levels of the unit. If it is musically close to a MDSM/109 setup (which would mean a fair bit better than a SDS/Unik setup) then it should justify the price. It will also be interesting to find out more about their new MediaServer technology which is supposed to remove the need for Twonky and Asset by streaming your iTunes library directly - the big question is whether you loose any musical quality or flexibility (like FLAC) for the convenience. So still some questions to be answered. As it stars shipping July 2nd we shouldn't have to long to wait to find out.

SaltyDog · Post by **SaltyDog** » 2012-06-26 18:53

The cabin idea is one that makes a lot of sense. By using a backup copy of your music library, you keep a nice safe off site backup too.

I was recently looking for a small pair of active speakers. They can get quite pricey for the good stuff. The price to sound ratio might not be too far off. Time will tell.

Robert Lake · Post by **Robert Lake** » 2012-07-03 13:43

Linn is seeking new buyers, and they are right in doing so. It is interesting to compare with Bang & Olufsen.

The Times, Monday 2, 2012 has interesting article on B&O "The budget Bang & Olufsen ... for the man without everything". Here they explain how B&O are famous for their design and pricetags. B&O's problem is that they sell new products to old customers only. The solution is look at brands such as Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs etc and introduce cheaper versions of their main lines. Linn hasn't gone that far yet, but what is the use of dedicated network of sellers if they don't sell and finds new costumers?

For B&O the goal is to sell to young professionals. People who earn quite a lot of money, who has a promising career but has not settle down yet. Thus, B&O introduces "B&O Play" (beoplay.com). The result is that the Knightsbridge store has increased sales with 51% since 2011!

People used to say that SAAB was the Thinking man's BMW. Even though SAAB didn't do well (due to GM), I 'd like to think that Linn is the Thinking man's B&O. My wish is that Linn again starts to offer products such as Linn Classic with 5.1 sound.

rowlandhills · Post by **rowlandhills** » 2012-07-09 22:57

Now I'm intrigued. Just seen this:

http://www.rococosystems.com/blog/2012/ ... ko-review/

I noted the following paragraph too:

Just when we thought that was it for surprises we got a hold of the new K40 speaker cables, approx 2m long and silver. The weight of these cables dictates the quality and becomes another exciting part of the Linn Kiko set up.

Anyone know any more?

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2012-07-10 01:10

I don't know any more but expected Linn to have done something like this. Firstly, it makes sense for them to include cables with the system especially as it requires four conductors and the Speakon connectors. Secondly, you could hardly expect your Kiko target customer to be happy with K400 snaking up the wall. ;-)

So I was pretty sure Linn would include these cables with the system and also make spools available for those needing longer runs. We haven't received a sample unit yet but we were told we were one of the dealers in the US chosen to receive an eval unit and it is supposed to be on the way. It should be here this week so I'll report on what I find. We also are supposed to see a new price sheet soon which I expect will have the new cable on it but we don't have it yet. I'll keep you posted.

rowlandhills · Post by **rowlandhills** » 2012-07-12 09:04

Philbo from Linn has just posted this on the Linn forum:

Philbo wrote:
Music Lover wrote: What's the cable diameter and what's the area on the "bass" and "treble" cores?

The low frequency cable is a multi-stranded OFC copper ~2mm^2. The high frequency conductor is a single solid core OFC of ~1.2mm^2.

We trialled gawd knows how many cables for the Kiko (I lost count) and found that multi-stranded was by far the best for low frequencies, while solid core gave the best results for higher frequencies. I have also tried this bi-wire on a pair of 109s with similar results.

I must admit though that I still prefer K400 for everything, but it is far too chunky for the Kiko system. While the Kiko speakers do have some substance and weight to them I suspect that K400 would pull them over ;)

Hope you all enjoy the Kiko when you get to audition it...

Phil.

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2012-07-12 17:15

Well, you beat me with that news. I was surprised to take the cover off the connector and find the different wire sizes for bass and treble - something which AudioQuest has done for some time although all with solid cores. We received our sample Kiko system two days ago and are still burning it in. So far it is indeed quite good sounding and the DSM unit is smaller than it looked in the photos - a very compact unit. We haven't done a tune set of the speakers yet but they definitely sound more balanced very close to the wall, as you would expect for a speaker intended for shelf placement or wall mounting.

We've also played a bit with the Songbox server software from Linn and that seems to work well so far. What a surprise for it to only support formats readable by iTunes - quite a departure from the early FLAC and WAV only days. I do hope it won't be long before FLAC, etc. support is added as it would be great to have a universal yet easy to use server from Linn.

Here some photos of the K40 cables and the speakers.

doze84 · Post by **doze84** » 2012-07-13 01:17

ThomasOK wrote:Well, you beat me with that news. I was surprised to take the cover off the connector and find the different wire sizes for bass and treble - something which AudioQuest has done for some time although all with solid cores. We received our sample Kiko system two days ago and are still burning it in. So far it is indeed quite good sounding and the DSM unit is smaller than it looked in the photos - a very compact unit. We haven't done a tune set of the speakers yet but they definitely sound more balanced very close to the wall, as you would expect for a speaker intended for shelf placement or wall mounting.

We've also played a bit with the Songbox server software from Linn and that seems to work well so far. What a surprise for it to only support formats readable by iTunes - quite a departure from the early FLAC and WAV only days. I do hope it won't be long before FLAC, etc. support is added as it would be great to have a universal yet easy to use server from Linn.

Here some photos of the K40 cables and the speakers.

What tweeter is that?

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2012-07-13 03:47

I really don't know at this point who makes that tweeter. It is different from any I have seen them use in the past (as is the woofer).