Pinouts of xlr connections between Linn LK1 and Lin LK280 required

[Gary F]

HELP

Pulling my hair out here 🤪

thanks
Gaz

[MartinS]

Hi Gary
If the equipment follows the accepted practice then 1 is ground, 2 pos, and 3 neg. Both plugs and sockets follow the same convention. Hope that helps.
Martin

[Gary F]

Thanks Martin but I think there's more to it than that
Looking at the back of these units it appears that I need some kind of splitter cables.....I just can't find any info on the net

[Frazeur1]

I had LK1/280 combo years ago, and it was just a standard pair of XLR’s, one for each, left and right channels from preamp to amplifier. No special cables/splitters etc. they should just be straight through cables.

[Beobloke]

Looking at the pictures I can find, it seems that the LK1 has two sets of XLR outputs, both of which carry left and right channels, but the LK280 has two separate XLR inputs - one for the left channel and one for the right. As neither are carrying any balanced signal and the pinouts of the input sockets on the LK280 differ between left and right channels it looks like you will need special leads for the left and right channel connections, or a Y-lead.

Which is bloody ridiculous, but that's just my opinion...

[Blackdog]

On the LK1 pin 1 is ground (earth), pin 2 is left channel, pin 3 is right.
The LK280 has the same thing, but you need two separate cables for left and right. In other words the cable leading from the LK1 to the LK280 is a "Y" cable.
I've attached a picture of the LK280's rear panel. You can clearly see that Pin 1 is ground on both channels, but pin 3 is connected on one input and pin 2 is connected on the the other.
Confusing as hell.29177

[Barry]

I have enlarged the image for you to make matters clearer.

https://theartofsound.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=29177

You will either have to buy the specific Y cable from Linn (likely to be expensive), or buy the separate XLR connectors and single core screened cable, and make up the cable yourself.

I can see no reason why Linn should have chosen this unique pin-out, save to prevent accidental transposition of the left and right hand channels.

[Blackdog]

It is rather dumb the way they did it. I ran into this a couple of years ago with a customer who wanted to try out one of my line stages. I ended up having to make him some customs cables. Fortunately going from separate RCA outs is a lot easier than the Y cable.

What makes it even worse is if you have the Sneaky power supply version. It too uses male XLR's to connect the power supply. Recipe for disaster.

[Barry]

I agree, it also flies in the face of the convention used in Europe: that sources use male XLRs for their output.

But then Linn (and Naim) always were a law unto themselves.

[Frazeur1]

Thinking back on my LK1 and LK280-which later became an LK280-Spark, I do recall there being two separate XLR cables, but no "Y" cable. It is a bit fuzzy but I do recall the XLR cables being marked specifically for left and a right cable, so maybe the ends at either pre or amp were wired to make this up looking at the various back ends of images on the web. You might want to check with Linnfomainiac over on the Pink Fish, he would probably know, he is obviously quite the Linn guy and has seen quite a few variations of amps and preamps.