I’m creating this thread for any Line Magnetic products anyone besides me might someday have interest in.
It’s funny - not funny how the influence of MSRP cost plays such a psychological role in this hobby. I recently damaged, a few pieces of kit and will require replacement parts, repairs, shipping, etc. so i started eyeballing hifi gear i have sitting around which see very light use that might bring in a couple of hundred dollars just to offset costs.
One relatively inexpensive amplifier I own, thank’s to a friend of the forum, is the Line Magnetic 216 ia which is KT88 based. Matched and mated quads of older KT88’s and 6550’s will easily exceed the value of this amplifier so i never dove deep into the hole of trying to roll tubes for it and simply used the amplifier very sparingly the past few years never bothering to really give it a workout or ever much talk about it. I’ve got less than $1k worth of tubes for this amp, which for me is showing restraint, and I haven’t searched out tubes for it in a couple of years because of the ever higher cost and ever shrinking supply of old NOS tubes.
I decided to incorporate the amplifier into a system in my smaller room this weekend to verify it still powers up and works before taking some pictures, packing it up and putting it on the used market. Well, dammit I’m so glad i took the time to fire her up because for some reason i had it stuck in my head that this was a piece i could easily let go of. 
Nope, she isn’t going anywhere,
I mated the amplifier up w/ My Falcon LS3/5A silver badge speakers and what I consider a very solid and strong front end. There was no disappointment or even any ‘MEH’ moments, the design of the amp is very solid. It’s a damned heavy amp and all the weight is in the back where its massive transformers sit so it’s very awkward to carry up the stairs. It has been a long, long while since i powered up the unit and the bias on one tube needed a tiny adjustment but otherwise she fired up just fine.
I’ve got a solid 8 hrs or so of good quiet listening time on her and i just don’t remember the amplifier performing this well ever in the past 
I know my memory is not what it used to be and i don’t complain much about any pieces but damned if the speakers aren’t performing admirably. The top end has genuine extension w/ no fatigue, grain or softness. On the other side of the spectrum the poor little Falcons are doing all they can to slam and pound out every little bit of low end they can muster, the LM is not cutting them any slack nor allowing them to slouch 
The soundstage is pleasantly deep and so full it’s even forward a bit of the speaker plane, height is not overly exaggerated and i’m not getting any “big head” imaging, the voices are tight in the stage. I know there is some tube hiss when i crank the volume knob past the 3’oclock but i have yet to go past 11 on the knob so it’s a moot point. There’s no smearing, it’s a tight image, not crystalline and razor focused like my Yamamoto A08-S can get. This amplifier is no where near as “midrange sweet” as my Decware 341.5 ‘Sarah’, it has really good weight like the Alan Eaton monoblocks with more extended highs but not as extended as or razor focused as the Yamamoto A08-S can get. The more i think about it, it’s similar to the Lance Cochrane Scarlet VII, while it’s operating in Ultra-linear mode but with even greater “umph & weight” behind it. It softens up in Triode mode and the 6550 tubes seem to warm and sweeten it up further when swapped in the stead of the KT88’s.
I remember it used to have an annoying ground hum, that’s gone completely and I’m attributing this and a good bit of the amplifiers better than average performance for what’s considered an inexpensive amplifier, to all the front end upgrades I’ve made over the years and since the last time i had it near speakers.
I keep thinking nothing in this hobby will sound great if its cost doesn’t feel excessive and I’m happy for the slap across the face today to remind me otherwise. I’m not reviewing anything, i’m just talking out loud and documenting my own experiences w/ the Line Magnetic 216 IA amplifier because more than likely i’ll forget this listening session and probably not put the amp into rotation till the next time I’m tempted to sell it off 
Next time though i can hopefully look up this thread and compare the experience.
Gratuitous photos to give you something to take your mind off my run on sentences 
