RE: Linn/MultiRoom etc was Re: SonicBlue now have Rios on sale in the UK

["BUTLER, Tony, FM" <tony.butler@xxxxxxx>]

> 1) They like to use STP or FTP Cat5, and nonstandard pinouts, 
> consequently it will probably not be plug and play on a standard Cat5
> netwrk. 

I know of @ least 1 person using bog standard UTP with bog standard wiring
-
though he did the wiring himself.  No way would a dealer go against
Linn
recommendations!

> 2) They do not release technical info very readily so it's difficult

'very readily' try 'at all' :((

> to figure out what you can and cannot connect up. Gives the 
> impression of forcing you down the Linn only route, which costs!
> 3) Their multiroom model is based on individual room amps with audio
> distribution via balanced line signals over CAT5 - this means that
> you need another box or few boxes in each local room. This point is
> probably personal to me - were I a real "audiophile" it
might be an 
> advantage, but my <<ideal>> multiroom hifi system would
consist of 
> all the kit hidden away in a rack in node 0, with ONLY speakers and
> IR "eyes" in each room. I would compromise on
"theoretical" audio 
> quality for discreteness (and in Linn's case - price!).

I have a 3 1/2 zone setup ATM:
Linn intersekt & all sources & lounge amp @ node 0, RCU in
lounge.
line receivers & amps for kitchen & dining room are in a small
cupboard in
the kitchen, so the only things actually visible anywhere are the RCU's
in
the kitchen and dining room (and of course, the ceiling speakers)
The 1/2 zone is the garden, playing the same source as the dining room.

The original plan for expansion upstairs, which has all the wiring in
place
if nothing else, is for the amps etc to live in the ceiling space
(accessible from the loft) with, again, only the RCU's in the actual
rooms.

>From a quality of signal point of view, this has the advantage that
the
speaker wires are kept to a minimum, so losses in the cables are
minimal.
(I'm not audiophile enough to notice the difference really, but I _might_
be
in the future!).
Also, if you are an audiophile, you can use a 20k meridian system in
one
room as the amp, benefitting from it's quality, and a 50 quid cheap n
cheerful in the kids room on the basis that they only listen to crap
anyway
:)

If you look at the (much cheaper) QED system for example, you are limited
by
the quality of the built in QED amps......

(My original plpan, BTW, in tatters (wallet breathes a sigh of relief)
since
discovering KAT5 and switcher (at some point).

> My feeling is that Linn are not that advanced technically - they do
> produce nice quality audio kit though and it looks pretty. I reckon
> KAT5 technology (switcher??) with IR distribution will match Linn for
> multiroom functionality, if not looks, at hopefully a fraction of the

True, which is something I discussed with keith a few months back -
Knekt
but WITH video switching.
Bear in mind that the Linn knekt technology is at least 8 years old
(probabyl 10 if you take account of development time) and was advanced
_then_. I have no idea why they haven't moved into video switching via
knekt
yet - maybe the system just can't handle it technically, or maybe as an
audiophile company, they are still wary about getting into A/V type
products.

I don't know what the control mechanism is going to be like for the
KAT5
switch, all I can say is that the Linn RCU's are simple, elegant
solution
that anybody can operate - I only hope we get something like that for
Kat5.

Web control will be nice (and seems likely from some of the comments
Keith
has made in the past) but a visitor to your house, or SWMBO even isn't
going
to be too comfortable with using a PC/Fuji to skip to the next CD
track.
With it's "What/Where/Do" system, it is very easy for anybody to
control
Knekt.....


Tony


********************************************************************
      Visit our Internet site at http://www.rbsmarkets.com

This e-mail is intended only for the addressee named above.
As this e-mail may contain confidential or privileged information,
if you are not the named addressee, you are not authorised to
retain, read, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it.
********************************************************************


For more information: http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
Post message: ukha_d@xxxxxxx 
Subscribe:  ukha_d-subscribe@xxxxxxx 
Unsubscribe:  ukha_d-unsubscribe@xxxxxxx 
List owner:  ukha_d-owner@xxxxxxx

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.