Усилители мощности моно — Linn Klimax Solo 800

The Klimax Solo 800 is a mono power amplifier built by Linn in Scotland, priced from USD 51,190 in its United States catalogue. Two units are required for a stereo pair. Linn states that its engineers returned to first principles with consistency and accuracy as the design targets, with the goal of an amplifier that can drive any given loudspeaker optimally under any conditions.

Key specs that matter

Maximum output is 400 W into 8 ohm, 800 W into 4 ohm and 1.2 kW into 2 ohm. Linn quotes THD+N at 1 kHz as 0.0004% at 400 W into 8 ohm, 0.0005% at 800 W into 4 ohm and 0.0006% at 1.2 kW into 2 ohm. Output impedance is 0.01 ohm at 1 kHz, and maximum input power is 2 kW. Connections are a single balanced XLR input alongside one RCA phono input, a matching RCA and XLR passthrough pair, and two sets of speaker terminals of the binding-post type, also usable with banana or spade connectors. The chassis is 350 mm wide, 268 mm high and 412 mm deep and weighs 27 kg, finished in silver or black anodised aluminium.

Engineering and use context

Bias in the output stage is handled by Linn Adaptive Bias Control. The current supplied to each of the sixteen output transistors is measured, sampled and digitised, and a digital control loop then sets and keeps adjusting the ideal bias for every individual transistor in real time. According to Linn this cancels crossover distortion at any temperature, volume or dynamic change for the whole life of the unit. Power comes from the Utopik switch-mode supply with precision-regulated rails, rated at 2 kW maximum. It uses soft switching, where a resonant tank circuit lets the voltage across the switch fall to zero before the switch is thrown, lowering switching noise and raising efficiency; Linn adds that the rail output stays steady when the mains input varies. The amplifier and supply circuitry are mounted directly on large machined heatsinks, so the design runs without any internal fan. A roundel on the front shows operating status through 100 cool-toned LEDs.

Pairing

The passthrough sockets let one source signal be looped from the first mono unit to the second, or on to further amplifiers. Linn suggests combining its power amplifiers with the Exaktbox intelligent crossover, where each drive unit of a loudspeaker receives its own channel of amplification and hardware and software filters align the system in phase and time.

Alternatives

Within the same Linn mono range, the Klimax Solo 500 carries the Linn label of reference compact mono amplifier, priced from USD 32,380.