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LINN SARA / Isobarik AMP ? CLASS A or NOT ?

Hi Selya
I used isobariks with linn lk60 lk75 lk280 spark, passive bi-amp & active,but they never really sang untill i changed to naim active 3x 250 amps naim x-over 82-pre x2 hi-caps.Absolute awesome system some times i wish i had never sold it,i also tried six nap 135s
not as good as the 250s very harsh sound.
 
Resurrecting the thread....

What do you guys think , should I keep these speakers for future or not? I mean they have such a unique sound that will not be replicated in any other speaker.
Thing is I am abroad now and my speakers are home. I bought online and sent home Mark Levinson 27.5 and AYA TDA1541 dac with tube output.... ML goes perfect with say old KEFs say 107/2 or similar.... thing is Sara's use KEF woofers so I think , even though I have not heard it yet because I am still abroad, I think ML will have enough power and heaps of quality to drive them to utter sattisfaction...and add on top of that old school TDA1541.... Imagining the sound and everything tells me it should sound magnificent.

The issue is....
ML goes fantastically with JM LABs , and I was offered JM LAB Mini Utopias...by many best focal bookshelf with best bass from this company. So I will have amazing soundstage of JMlabs paired with great bass.... Im just short couple of hundred bucks to buy it, so Im thinking of selling Sara's but literally cannot do it because of uniqueness they offer.
So...
Should I go ahead with it or should I keep both...
And while you guys are at your keyboards please chime in on imaginary combo of old Levinsons with Saras or Focals.
My first choice was KEF 107/2 but these are literally impossible to find so...
 
rontoolsie said:
The Saras were the most enigmatic of the trident of Linn speakers. They had neither the snap of the Kans (partially because they went lower and pyschoacoustically slowed down the PRAT), nor did they have the sense of scale and slam of the Isobariks. I found their colorations to be more imposing then their small and bigger brothers. And coupled with the fact that they were by far the hardest speaker of the line up to drive made them difficult to get on with. I wonder how much the design was built around the fact that they would exactly fit an LP12 shipping box...maybe it was a case of function following form.
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Very interesting... I'm going to quote your conjecture as gospel...:D....makes a great talking point. BTW I agree with you.
 
Back in the day I had, sequentially, two pairs of Isobariks. I ran the first pair initially with Crimson Elektrik 170W into 4 ohm jobs, and times when a comparison with Naim was available, felt no need to change. I later upgraded to a Krell KSA 100Mk2, which saw off comfortably all the Naim line (then) up to a NAP250. The Krell stayed for many years with the second pair.

Fast forward to the present - my amp of choice now is, in the small system, the Luxkit Z504, which is class A up to 25W, and the larger Luxkit Z501 in the big system, which is class A up to 60W. Both represent an advance on a Krell in the areas I prioritise - clarity, and in the room presence. Bass performance on both is, as Rolls Royce used to say, adequate - deep clear and defined, but without the old Naim boof, sorry, I spelt that wrong, prat....

Jez is definitely right about Class A - you don't seem to hear a duff one. Whereas....

Actually though, the pre you use probably makes rather more difference...

I'm not saying that the Luxkit amps would work with your SARAs, BTW - they might indeed very well - but definitely an old Krell will work, and work extremely well.
 
Crimsons are good with old linn kit.

Some rate the Krell PRaT but I haven't been impressed with what I've heard. No unimpressed but not swept off my feet. I've like Spectrals if you want a big Yank.
 
I've owned a pair of Isobariks since 1984 and for 30 years used a 32.5, Hi-cap and 250 CB.

Then the last 3 years I've moved over to Avondale Grad 1, TPX2 and Witch Hat monos. The latter system by far better in every department.

Regards,

Martin
 
Briks do seem to like amps with a decent current drive capability. I am driving mine with 4x400W of class D amps, not for the full power but for the current drive capability. Very hard for a class A amp to get anywhere close.
 
A while back I bought a set of Saras as a spare and used them for a few weeks in my Linn system.

I also bought Atacama SL300 stands and filled them as per Atacama's suggestion 2/3 with their Atabites, the results were better than with the original Sara stands.

They sounded excellent, but then the Linn amp I use is quite powerful and very fast. However they are not as clear and as fast as my Shahinian Arcs, but then there is a huge price difference.

Would I sell them, doubtful, always liked them for the amazing sound they give from such a small box.

Just the same as I will never sell my LP12, just too much history not to mention they both sound pretty good when played together.
 
Hi,

It is the Linn 2250 with Dynamic Power supply, from what I understand it is a Klimax Twin in a regular case.

The Pre is the Majik Kontrol with the MM/MC phono stage, sources are a Majik DS and LP12/Ittok/Karma.

Have tried both Akurate and Klimax Renews but found the Majik DS to sound best in my system.

I have a friend who tried both the Renews and he found that the Sneaky DS was best in his Isobark system, which by the way is the best passive Isobaric system I have ever heard and he uses a Tortuga Passive Pre into a Musical Fidelity Power amp.

Cheers

John
 
Eyebroughty said:
Hi,

It is the Linn 2250 with Dynamic Power supply, from what I understand it is a Klimax Twin in a regular case.

The Pre is the Majik Kontrol with the MM/MC phono stage, sources are a Majik DS and LP12/Ittok/Karma.

Have tried both Akurate and Klimax Renews but found the Majik DS to sound best in my system.

I have a friend who tried both the Renews and he found that the Sneaky DS was best in his Isobark system, which by the way is the best passive Isobaric system I have ever heard and he uses a Tortuga Passive Pre into a Musical Fidelity Power amp.

Cheers

John
Click to expand...

The Dynamiked 2250 is indeed an excellent amp, and almost a hdden gem amongst Linn's amp lineup over the years.
As you say, it did use the original Twin main board, although the Twin was updated some years ago and in its current guise is a quite different piece of kit. I've owned both Dynamiked 2250 (three in fact!) and a latest spec Twin and the latter is noticeably better.

Mick
 
Thanks 4 great info guys :) lol
Seriously whaddaya think on old Levinson amps with saras...say 27.5 or 23.5 gems?
Also same question on better fit of DACs on Saras.... oldies TDA1541 kind or new ones ,say Crystals,Wolfsons etc...
Pretty much last one may as well be ...turntable or CD ? lol
 
Julf said:
Briks do seem to like amps with a decent current drive capability. I am driving mine with 4x400W of class D amps, not for the full power but for the current drive capability. Very hard for a class A amp to get anywhere close.
Click to expand...
Krell would disagree with you.
 
James said:
Krell would disagree with you.
Click to expand...

Not sure the Krell "variable bias" technology really qualifies as pure class A, but even then the highest current capability of any of their amps that I can find is the 22 A of the Solo 575 575 W mono amp, and that is still less than that of a hypex nc400.
 
Similar journey to me. I now run the Isobariks actively with Avondale M130s (same as the WitchHat Monos - right?)
 
Why not consider running your Sara's with a Klout or two? Even an LK280 which can be picked up for around £200 would drive them like they should be.
 
Julf said:
Not sure the Krell "variable bias" technology really qualifies as pure class A, but even then the highest current capability of any of their amps that I can find is the 22 A of the Solo 575 575 W mono amp, and that is still less than that of a hypex nc400.
Click to expand...
The old KSAs weren't variable bias.
 
ff1d1l said:
The old KSAs weren't variable bias.
Click to expand...

"Like both the '300S and '200S, the KSA-100S uses the Sustained Plateau Bias technology introduced in the Krell Audio Standard. This is a variation on the "sliding bias" idea, except that bias is changed in four discrete steps rather than continuously."
 
Naim are not the only game in town. Back in the day when the UK HiFi press would have it that an LP12, naim, briks was the only way to go, Linn went to South Africa. Naim didn't sell there, suddenly in RSA according to Linn dealers the only amp to use was a krell. How strange that they only seem to work in warmer climates.

Back in the real world and 30 odd years on, I think any amp with high current capacity will work. Carver, Krell, Yamaha, Meridian, Crown, Class D, the list is long. Many of these are inexpensive compared to even one nap 135.
 
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