Line Magnetic

[NickMimi]

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

[NickMimi]

I just spent 2x 14 hour days working exposed in 100+ degree weather, my brain is well fried, parts of me are sunburnt and my kidneys aren’t fully recovered from dehydration but my ears work and I want to capture the essence of this very synergistic combination of equipment while I take the day to recover and just chill listening to music.

System today consists of Innuos Zenith mk3 streamer running ROON > (Nordost Tyr2 USB) > Ideon Absolute time USB regenerator > (FTA Callisto USB) > Line Magnetic LM32 DAC > Radu Tarta 4P1L pre > Firstwatt SIT3 > Charney Audio Companion speakers/ with Lowther DX65’s / REL T7/i x2
Music is mainly Delta, Mississippi & other slow blues.

Today it’s all about the DAC, I purchased my Line Magnetic LM-32 DAC new several years ago, there was not much information to be found on it, I read somewhere that the tube stage sweetened up the character a bit and that overall implementation was done well relative to its price point of +/- $3K US. I remember calling my dealer and asking him to send me one, he insisted a NAGRA HD DAC would be more to my pleasure, i assured him that I wholeheartedly agreed w/ this opinion BUT the price difference between the 2 was a wee bit more than my wallet could handle Anyway, since i had no spare healthy organs to sell, nor overtime i could work to take on a payment plan and despite his hesitation to send me sideways performance he caved and shipped an LM-32 DAC for me to play w/.

The DAC is equipped with ESS 9028Pro DAC chips. It is an asynchronous design that has separate power supplies for the analogue and digital parts, a toroidal transformer for the digital part and an EI transformer for the analogue part. It also has a separate rectifier with high-speed circuits for the digital part and a 6Z4 tube for the analogue part. With a bit of soldering skill the rectifier tube can be swapped to 6X4, I have yet to swap mine out, it’s a somewhat permanent modification.

Finally, it features an analogue tube output stage, which provides output via two 12AU7 tubes. It’s got a fair build, nothing fancy nor is it overbuilt, there are some name brand Mundorf Capacitors installed along w/ enough input style variety to fit most needs. (USB, SPIDF, BNC, AES, Optical)

I’m finally talking about this DAC after owning it for many years because I’m now comfortable enough in my own listening experiences to recommend this piece for the savvy shopper who is looking for solid performance under the $5k MSRP price point that also understands the sound character and performance they desire in a DAC.

The unit itself took several hundred hours to break in. I did not care for the stock JJ tubes it was shipped w/. I stumbled across some Tunsgram ECC82’s, installed them & forgot about them. Since I swap equipment allot I figure it took me close to 3 years to put enough hours of break in on the DAC before a slightly metallic sheen/glaze it had on the top end faded away. That’s the perception I had for a long time in various scenarios, both HP and speaker based. With the tube section on I have always enjoyed a very nice, warmer musical presentation. Good wide soundstage and respectable depth, imaging, background blackness and separation. Once the bright sheen off the top end dissipated, I really got into the the fully solid state mode and honestly it’s a 50/50 split nowadays between how often I power up the tubes and desire the warmer presentation or if I simply go full SS and enjoy the crisper more resolute abilities the DAC is capable of. I genuinely love having the option and it provides for great variety and value to one like myself who is always fiddling w/ the chain of equipment

To date, no single piece of equipment, and no combination has smitten me enough to focus my energies on building a long term rig for my listening pleasure. There are plenty of pieces of equipment both within my budget and many times tens of thousands well beyond what I would sanely spend that interest me but I just don’t have a room worthy enough to settle into one system so I randomly post about various experiences and go back to my words often to remind myself of good combos.

I’ve been at it for several hours today, peacefully closing my eyes and relaxing in a genuinely blissful music experience. It’s just liquid and lush enough to give me the impression of gently floating in a pool. My choice of music is just the right style to take maximum advantage of the character style presented. I’m in my smaller, quieter and slightly better treated room, the soundstage is more intimate, my seating arrangement is nearfield, I’m within the bubble of sound deeply and taking advantage of the richness the presentation has

Some days I purely listen to the equipment, more relaxing days like today where I am simply enjoying the music are not usually beneficial to writing about equipment but I figured since I’ve never said anything about the poor Line Magnetic LM32 DAC that I’ve held onto and enjoyed for 6 years now, I could open my eyes and type for an hour, if nothing else to remind myself why I hold onto such a variety of equipment. You can get a surprising level of performance well beyond expectations when the synergy is captured.