The “reviewer” also says they no longer have their Bartok, so how exactly did he compare them???
I have ordered the Lina headphone amp today. My regular dealer is not able to deliver it, as he is not part of the “select dealers” in the head-fi trade. He is not at all happy about that!
So in due time I can make an assessment of how the Rossini + Clock + Lina sound, with a direct comparison of the Lina and Benchmark HPA4, both with Abyss 1266 TC and Susvara.
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We’ll look forward to that!
Yeah, I wonder if dCS will get pushback from dealers unable to carry Lina.
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I’m very much looking forward to that comparison, Erno. Thank you for spending the money! I have one question:. How will the Lina fit into your system, given that the HPA4 is both a pre-amp and headphone amp, but the Lina is only the latter?
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I think I know how that dealer feels. Just like that customer of a Bentley car dealer who can only buy a special version of that brand at the Rolls-Royce dealer. Or am I seeing that wrong?
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I think they will. But on the other hand, dCS is offering the opportunity to head-fi companies to market their own head-fi products, without competition from the “traditional” 2-channel market.
For the traditional dCS customer this is not a ideal situation, at all.
HPA4 will just act as a pre-amp, Lina as head amp, with a downstream selector in between them (Rossini DAC → either to pre-amp or head amp), with additional pair of XLR cables. Lead time for selector is however very long, so will have to do it manually for the time being. Lead time for Lina is not confirmed yet, but suggested is: pre order now, get it from 27th June.
dCS recognise, I think, that the (a) future of hifi is in the younger generation, which is much more head-fi oriented.
I read somewhere that High End Munich this year had less than 20,000 visitors…
To add: for myself, as both a traditional ánd head-fi customer, it is very inconvenient not to be able to order at my 40+ years dealer. A well trusted relation is at stake. Trade-in position ruined.
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Thank goodness that I won’t be around when this hobby becomes headphone centric. Then again with the price of entry for high end gear I can see why the driving forces of this hobby are looking at headphones.
@Ermos I am also looking for a high quality switch selector to switch between Lina and Power amp coming out of Bartok on XLR. May I ask which selector you have ordered?
Hi @mpantazis
I have a Dodocus 1in 2Out Box available, which was replaced by a Dodocus 3x3
If you are interested, send me a PM
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The one that Rudi just referred to, in black.
Congrats with your Lina! Did they indicate when it actually will be delivered?
Not yet, I’ll let you know when I know.
Thanks, I have the Lina amp on order to use with my Barton first before I order the Lina Dac and Clock and sell my Barton as I am now a Head-if only guy at the moment.
I a bit confused on what I need to simply connect the Lina amp to my Barton? More than just the interconnects? How will control work? Volume using the amp etc?
Set the Volume Out of your Bartók to max, 0.0dB (unity gain), set your Bartók output voltage to 6V.
Connect with Lina amp preferably with 2 XLR cables to the unbuffered XLR ins of the Lina.
Now read page 14 of the Lina amp manual (or even better, read the entire manual ! ):
My dealer just informed me that my Lina headamp is supposed to be in the first batch, end of June, and that it looks like dCS will manage it to be on time.
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Exciting……I have one on order as well to pair with my Barton ( Barton is the one with the amp) but wanted more power for Abyss and Susvara cans.
Dealer did not advise yet as to eta
CanJam Chicago 2022 Impressions:
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I find this quite a helpful review of the dCS Lina system:
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Anyone receive there yet?