Linn Sondek CD12
Launched in 1999, the Linn Sondek CD12 is one of the very few players in the world that "gets it right". Linn are extremely proud of the Sondek, indeed the word Sondek in Linn's eyes represents something unique a once in a lifetime product, indeed only the LP12 launched back in 1972 has ever shared that title.
Weighing in at well over £10,000, the Linn Sondek CD12 is far from cheap but Linn has put together a package that is so musical and accurate all round. Critics (many of whom never thought 16 bit audio could sound so good) were amazed at what information the Linn Sondek could extract from a shiny 12cm disc. One of the secrets of the Linn Sondek CD12 like the earlier and much cheaper Linn Karik, is Linn's solution to CD jitter. Linn's approach is to send clock timings to the transport from the DAC, something that is only possible if you manufacturer your own transport systems. Sadly the majority of companies tend to buy off the shelf and build a DAC and player to suite. The biggest problem with this is that these transports have no inward bound clock communication and so vital information and timing is lost before any digital information reaches the DAC. Yes the DAC can be synchronised with the transport via PLL in the SPDIF, but this can cause latency which is not ideal.
Sadly for most the Linn Sondek CD12 will always be way out of most people budgets, but we can always dream.
Linn Sondek CD12 Specifications
Description: Single-chassis CD player
DAC: 20-bit Burr-Brown PCM 1702U-K (x4)
Discs: CD & HDCD
Remote Control : Yes
Analogue Outputs: 2 x RCA (unbalanced), XLR (balanced)
Digital Outputs: BNC with Linn Sync Link, AES/EBU XLR (balanced), TosLink
Digital filter: Pacific Microsonics PMD-100 (8x oversampling)
Frequency response: 5Hz-20kHz (+/-0.2dB)
Total Harmonic Distiorion: 0.0017%
Siganl to Noise: >108dB
Channel separation: >120dB
output level: 2V RMS
Output impedance: 200 ohms (unbalanced) 300 ohms (balanced)
Dimensions (WXHXD): 320 x 80 x350 (mm)
Power Consumption : 20W
Weight: 12kg
This entry was posted on Sunday October 1st, 2006 at 2:55 PM and is filed under CD Players. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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