Linn adds lifestyle to broaden the appeal of its network systems

Before you get your hands on the Linn Kiko system, it’s hard to work out exactly what it isn’t: the publicity pictures don’t really make it clear how compact the whole set-up is, and neither is there any sense of how well the Scottish company has thought through the set-up and operation of this new addition to its range.

‘Just listen’ says the vaguely cube-shaped box in which the whole £2500 system is delivered, and that really is all there is to it. Whether it’s destined to be the main system in a small apartment, or an adjunct to one of Linn’s other streaming systems perhaps to bring sound to a kitchen, study or bedroom, this little package really is a lot of Linn thinking in not just new curvaceous clothing, but a range of colours, too.

Time was when a full-house Linn active – sorry Aktiv – system comprised a stack or two of seemingly identical black boxes, each one with a grey power button bottom right, and a display and a set of buttons on the left side of the fascia.

I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but one of the funniest things about Linn’s provision of a complete system for the Music Room in Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class Clubhouse at Heathrow years back was watching cool media types trying to work out how to get a peep out of the thing. Having the remote control helped – a bit – but you could still while away an hour or two before your flight trying to work out which box you should put the CD in to get music.

And I swear they juggled the boxes around occasionally, just to keep frequent flyers mystified.

That was a Linn Aktiv system then; Kiko is a Linn Aktiv system now. Two amplifiers per channel are built into that sleek central unit, which also houses the inputs and outputs, digital crossover for the speakers, streaming hardware, preamplifier and – well, actually no controls whatsoever, aside from an on/off rocker switch on the right end-panel.

Connection to the similarly teardrop- (or is that wing- ?) shaped speakers provided with the system is via chunky cables terminated at each end with Neutrik Speakon  plugs (also supplied), and with that done and the system switched on, it will play some music stored internally to show you all is well, first from both speakers, then from each speaker in turn.

Of course if you buy the system from a Linn dealer, installation will come as part of the deal, but the procedure above is also outlined in a very neat set-up wizard designed to run on home computers for those wanting to self-install: this not only takes you step-by-step (not that there are many steps) through connection and set-up, but also detects the system on your network and starts playing music from your computer through it.

That, in essence, is what Kiko is about – getting music from your computer through some decent amplification and speakers. Once it’s plugged into your system, it can take music from computers, portable devices and network attached storage – using Ethernet and your Wi-Fi router, Linn’s own Songcast software, Apple AirPlay or a whole raft of third party apps for a variety of operating systems – and play it through its rather good onboard amps and supplied speakers.

A remote control is supplied, but the lack of a display on the Kiko main unit means it’s best only used for simple functions: playback of music from computer storage is more about pushing music from a computer using Songcast, or using an Apple iOS or Android handheld device running Linn’s Kinsky control software to control the flow of music from a remote computer or storage.

There’s also internet radio: Kiko comes preset with a range of stations, including those run by the company’s record label – but you can use Linn’s Konfig app on a home computer to change the region whose stations you want to hear, or select your own favourites using the www.tunein.com platform, then deliver that preset list over the internet to Kiko.

So it does all that, is seriously cute – to give you an idea, that main unit is just 28cm wide and 7.5cm tall when used in horizontal orientation (it can also be used on one end to slip into a bookshelf, for example), while the speakers are 26cm tall and a little under 15cm wide – and comes in a choice of colours: black, white, champagne, silver and a choice of light or dark blue. But is that it?

Not quite: as well as its streaming capability, Kiko can accept analogue audio on a pair of phonos to the rear or a 3.5mm stereo socket on the front, has both optical and electrical digital inputs, and a trio of HDMI inputs, allowing Blu-ray players, games systems and the like to be run through it (there’s a monitor output, also on HDMI, for video passthrough).

All of which, along with its ability to stream music at everything from bargain-basement MP3 right up to 192kHz/24-bit hi-res audio, makes this a pretty potent little system.

PERFORMANCE
I have to admit that, as soon as I heard about Kiko, I was keen to get my hands on a system, and as soon as Linn supplied one for review it was taken home for listening in very short order.

With typical thoroughness, the company supplied a laptop preloaded with its various set-up and operation software – the Wizard, Konfig and Kinsky – along with some music from the Linn Records catalogue, but I got the Kinsky system up and running with the Wizard running on my usual Mac, only having to lapse back into Windowsland for a moment to get the Windows version of Konfig to sort out allocating my radio presets to the test unit.

That done, and with the caveat that, in usual Linn style, the system only offers wired network connection, and should ideally be used with a wired connection between your computer and the router/switch to which it’s attached, Kiko was up and running in about ten minutes flat.

Doing things the Kinsky way soon becomes second nature – you queue (or is that cue? – up your chosen music on a playlist, choosing discs, works, tracks or any combination, hit play and away the system goes. You can also save playlists – good for programming an evening’s listening. Or of course you can do all this direct from the computer, using iTunes or similar software and Linn’s Soundcast, which simply makes the system the audio output device for your PC or Mac.

The output power of Kiko won’t please those who think you need big numbers in the Watts column to get a good sound: you get 33W per channel, although of course the tweeter and woofer in each speaker are driven separately, and this proves more than adequate for the kind of rooms in which this system is likely to find itself being played.

I found the sound a bit over-polite at low volume settings, at least when the whole system was factory-fresh, but it both opened up pleasingly when the volume was raised to ‘sit up and listen’ rather than ‘background’ level, and showed definite signs of loosening up and filling out the more the system was run.

Not that there’s anything major wrong with the sound out of the box: indeed, for the kind of listeners at which Kiko is being targeted, a spot of sonic decorum won’t go amiss in taming the rougher MP3 files and low-bitrate internet radio, while the ability to crank the level up and turn the system into something able to breathe more freely is also attractive.

More to the point, Kiko will demonstrate well when run at decent level in a retailer’s shop, and then won’t disappoint – far from it – when the customer has the system installed at home.

Fed with one of Linn’s high-resolution recordings, the Kiko system is able to demonstrate decent punch in the bass – although it only goes down to 66Hz or so – combined with a seamless transition into the midband and on up into the treble. With the speakers at the extremes of the cables supplied – around 3m – and toed-in slightly, it’s possible for the system to create a convincing soundstage way beyond the capability of simple desk-top ‘computer audio’ set-up.

Yes, there are rival systems able to offer similar flexibility for the same kind of money – a Naim UnitiQute and a pair of Neat Iota speakers would seem an obvious rival – but Linn has got both this neat package and its marketing very well sorted. It’s hard to see how Kiko can fail to attract both new users and established Linn DS enthusiasts alike.

SPECIFICATION
Linn Kiko
Price £2500
Type Streaming music system
Inputs Two analogue inputs, on rear-panel phonos and front-panel 3.5mm socket, optical and electrical digital, three HDMI
Outputs One pair of speakers, headphones (3.5mm socket), HDMI
Other connections Ethernet
Power output 2x33W into 4ohms, active biamplification
Formats played FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC), WAV, MP3, WMA (except lossless), AIFF, AAC, OGG , at 7.35-192kHz and 16-24 bits
Compatibility UPNP media servers and AV1.0 control points, internet radio
Remote control Handset supplied, or via Kinsky app on Windows, OSX, iOS, Android or Linux, or using various third-party solutions
Dimensions (Kiko DSM, WxHxD) 28x7.5x27cm, (Kiko speakers, HxWxD) 26x14.6.18.7cm
www.linn.co.uk

DESIGN NOTES
Gilad Tiefenbrun
MD, Linn Products

On early choral memories, and the importance of Studio Master releases

Gilad Tiefenbrun, who took over the reins of Linn Products from his father, Ivor, back in 2009, was grounded in music at a very early age: ‘Some of my earliest memories of are of the sound of my grandmother singing.  She sang all the time, she was a member of a choral society and she really encouraged me to sing. I actually learned how to read music in her house when I was five or six years old, and quickly joined the school choir.’

Encouraged by his parents to take up piano from age seven, and later – inspired by seeing Julian Bream at the Edinbur Festival – the classical guitar, Tiefenbrun says ‘there was a lot of classical music played in the house and of course I was aware that my father had built this amazing company that meant he was always coming home really excited to play an old favourite to show-off the latest development of his Linn Sondek turntable.

Music was a constant source of inspiration in our household and that fired my intrigue about Linn and made me want to know more about the company and understand how Linn was able to make music sound better.

‘My favourite classical works growing up were Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtsmusik, whose catchy melodies make it very accessible, and Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D minor which has a darkness and drama that fired my imagination. Thanks to my involvement with Linn Records and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and I have widened my repertoire of favourites in recent years to include Beethoven's Piano Concertos, and I love the early Mozart Symphonies too.

‘What we understand about music at Linn is that playing and listening to music is essential for how you feel and music is one of the very few things that can change how you feel, and so can be a very powerful force in life.  We are relentless at Linn in trying to reproduce sound ever better because the more accurately music is reproduced the stronger its communicative power and the better its ability to change how we feel.

‘One of the biggest advances we have made in recent years is the introduction  of 24-bit recording, which has allowed us to capture more of the musical performance. We now provide the original 24-bit recording, the Studio Master, as a download from our website and allow people to experience the original recording in their living room.  The result is that music can now be enjoyed in the home at its highest quality since the introduction of the phonograph in 1878.’