Linn Sara’s

[deserter]

Naughty to go off on a tangent I know but I’m intrigued by the diversion in to discussion of Kans, and the abilities or otherwise of small bass drivers.

I owned for my second system early and medium period Kans back in my Linn/Naim phase and I could never really listen to them for long without getting frustrated at the lack of bass and the fierce top end, and they really didn’t have any bass to speak off which on many pieces of music is a serious issue.

The reason I mention this as that my main system currently terminates in Shahinian Larcs. These are about the same size as Kans and the bass driver actually looks smaller, but the bass goes remarkably deep , far deeper than the Kans ever did . As I live in an old flat with thin walls, I can no longer have deep rumbly bass but these provide a good thump on a bass drum, and a bass guitar sounds like a bass guitar, which Kans never did. Is this about improved driver technology or clever cabinet construction? I have no idea but it works

 

[Mr Pig]

I wasn’t impressed with the Sara’s, even driven by the NAP250 and a full Linn LP12 front end. I genuinely preferred the Kans.
what did impress me was the Briks and their ability to play music but sadly well out of my budget then.

They are all good. You can't really judge them one one dem as they will all play great music in the right context but none are easy to get right.

 

[Craig B]

I recall reading a Gramophone interview with Ivor Tiefenbrun in which he said that part of the design intention with Sara was to make a speaker that fit within an LP12 carton (which they do), and that they had decided to called it Sara after his then new daughter who was small and made a lot of noise.

P.S. A pair of Kans came in the same sized carton.

 

[Craig B]

Naughty to go off on a tangent I know but I’m intrigued by the diversion in to discussion of Kans, and the abilities or otherwise of small bass drivers.

I owned for my second system early and medium period Kans back in my Linn/Naim phase and I could never really listen to them for long without getting frustrated at the lack of bass and the fierce top end, and they really didn’t have any bass to speak off which on many pieces of music is a serious issue.

The reason I mention this as that my main system currently terminates in Shahinian Larcs. These are about the same size as Kans and the bass driver actually looks smaller, but the bass goes remarkably deep , far deeper than the Kans ever did . As I live in an old flat with thin walls, I can no longer have deep rumbly bass but these provide a good thump on a bass drum, and a bass guitar sounds like a bass guitar, which Kans never did. Is this about improved driver technology or clever cabinet construction? I have no idea but it works

Not as naughty as Mike and I have been.

Sister Mary Bridget would have gut us like fish.

 

[Miss Ariel]

Naughty to go off on a tangent I know but I’m intrigued by the diversion in to discussion of Kans, and the abilities or otherwise of small bass drivers.

I owned for my second system early and medium period Kans back in my Linn/Naim phase and I could never really listen to them for long without getting frustrated at the lack of bass and the fierce top end, and they really didn’t have any bass to speak off which on many pieces of music is a serious issue.

The reason I mention this as that my main system currently terminates in Shahinian Larcs. These are about the same size as Kans and the bass driver actually looks smaller, but the bass goes remarkably deep , far deeper than the Kans ever did . As I live in an old flat with thin walls, I can no longer have deep rumbly bass but these provide a good thump on a bass drum, and a bass guitar sounds like a bass guitar, which Kans never did. Is this about improved driver technology or clever cabinet construction? I have no idea but it works

Interesting observation on Kans
That's the very reason I got some AE 1's as they had the transient speed of Kan's but went lower with their bass - mid drivers.Also a much better soundstage and all the speed of Kan's.
I did find the soundstage with Kans slightly letter boxy.The AE 1's didn't suffer from this at all.
Really enjoyed my time with them and sold them to a good friend who loves them...so still hear them !
Swithched to some old JM Lab (Focals ) Floorstanders. 2 - 7" drivers and a tweeter inbetween them and love them.Smoother than the AE 1's and 93 db sensitive as opposed to the AE's 87 db sensitivity so a really easy load.
I have run them off a Denon PMA 250 SE intergrated ( 30 watts ) and they where fine.But the synergy with my Bryston 12 B - 2 B is magic.

Apologies to go off topic

 

[Mike Reed]

Naughty to go off on a tangent I know

Not as naughty as Mike and I have been.

Apologies to go off topic

If anybody did an analysis of pfm threads over a number of years they'd probably find them meandering by page three and going distinctly off piste by page four. Symforum variations, analogous with symphonic variations in classical music if you will. By page 6, splinter groups would be forming.

 

[Gervais Cote]

You are correct on both points. I have never seen a pair of Tins and suspect that they never got beyond the prototype stage. Would be great to be wrong on this as I would quite like to hear a pair.

Not a Linn Tins but rather a IMF Super Compact mk 1, probably similar I guess :

 

[flatpopely]

Since we are posting pics.

These are my refurbished (by YNWOAN) SARAs with external crossovers.

There were one or two myths about the construction of the SARAs we debunked during the refurbishment. The main one being to get to the inner driver you need to destroy the the front one..............not if you remove the bolt under the label on the back!

 

[DaveMc64]

^^^^ Wow - they look superb!

 

[Radfordman]

Not a Linn Tins but rather a IMF Super Compact mk 1, probably similar I guess :

Think wrong tweeter and mid units in here, I believe tweeter should be a Peerless soft dome, and the mid an EMI with a heavily doped paper cone.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Since we are posting pics.

These are my refurbished (by YNWOAN) SARAs with external crossovers.

There were one or two myths about the construction of the SARAs we debunked during the refurbishment. The main one being to get to the inner driver you need to destroy the the front one..............not if you remove the bolt under the label on the back!

I’m jealous ! These are masterpieces making me wandering why we spend all that money on contemporary speakers that prioritize details before music.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Think wrong tweeter and mid units in here, I believe tweeter should be a Peerless soft dome, and the mid an EMI with a heavily doped paper cone.

You’re right. The midrange driver was dried out and the tweeter was half dead so I had to replace both. The actual tweeter is a Morel MDT 29 and the new mid is a polypropylene Peerless.
Many tests/trials and errors to find the right ones but the results are simply stunning.
The original tweeter was an Audax and was a bit harsh so I got rid of this problem with the Morel and the transient improved a lot in the midrange with the new driver.

 

[Miss Ariel]

I’m jealous ! These are masterpieces making me wandering why we spend all that money on contemporary speakers that prioritize details before music.

Flatpopely,

Beautiful wood on those Cabinets - Very nice pics !

 

[Enfield boy]

Those Saras look great. It's nice to see a thread with some love for the old Linn speakers, had my briks for 34 years and wondering if I could/should get the XO changed to the 4th order version from the year after mine.

 

[kanwar]

As a Kan user for 5 years,years ago - Absolutely concur with Charlie_1.
I always remember my first dem of them at Grahams Hi Fi in London it was a large room maybe 20 foot wide and 25 foot long and I think the floor was concrete and the walls.
The sofa was maybe 15 foot away.Naim 32 - 250 driving them and a LP12...what else
Anyway they played Walking In The Rain by Grace Jones and for their size I was blown away the sound was so fast - leading edges...Prat like on steriods !...Shut your eyes and it was no way is this sound coming from such a small box !
Enjoyed them at home a great deal.
The only down side was they didn't really go low enough.
Then brought some Tannoy DC 2000's bigger speakers.They where OK.
Then went down the small speaker thing again with AE 1's which I had for the next 10 years....went that bit lower than the Kans.
Kans are very marmite I know,but as so many people say here great fun !

That could only have taken place in Studio 2. It wasn’t by chance a good looking (days long gone) Indian guy that did the demo for you?

 

[Tony L]

I genuinely preferred the Kans.
what did impress me was the Briks and their ability to play music but sadly well out of my budget then.

I always felt the Kan and Isobarik sounded very similar aside from bass and scale. The Kan very obviously a small Brik, but with better focus, which is unsurprising given the same drivers. The Sara just didn’t. It was something else entirely, though I don’t think I’ve ever heard them at their best. I certainly never felt it was the mid-point between a Kan and Isobarik.

I’ve still got a lot if time for the Kan, I owned the MkII for a very long time and more than once as I often went back to it as it is a speaker I know I can get to sound very good in a tiny room. IIRC I owned a black pair of MkIIs from 1989 to 98, and the a lovely teak pair from 2000 to 2002. That’s 11 years, which is not far off the length of time I’ve owned Tannoys now.

 

[flatpopely]

I had Kan MKIs and in the right room they were superb, just a shame that room was not my listening room. At the Wam show I had them with a NAIT 1 and MDAC and it was a magical sound. In that room they were hard up against a solid wall and the room shape suited them to a T. Had they sounded that good in my house I may have not gone back to SARAs. As it is SARAs work perfectly in my listening room so it just goes to show how important the room is when choosing speakers.

 

[wow&flutter]

Since we are posting pics.

These are my refurbished (by YNWOAN) SARAs with external crossovers.

There were one or two myths about the construction of the SARAs we debunked during the refurbishment. The main one being to get to the inner driver you need to destroy the the front one..............not if you remove the bolt under the label on the back!

I remember reading the full conversion story, there really was some exceptional craftsmanship involved.

 

[Miss Ariel]

That could only have taken place in Studio 2. It wasn’t by chance a good looking (days long gone) Indian guy that did the demo for you?

No he was British but extermely charming and helpful....A fabulous dem room though but only went to Grahams twice and a very distant memory but a lovely business.
After that a best friend started working for The Cornflake Shop and did all my buying there instead.

 

[jimmymcfarrell]

Since we are posting pics.

These are my refurbished (by YNWOAN) SARAs with external crossovers.

There were one or two myths about the construction of the SARAs we debunked during the refurbishment. The main one being to get to the inner driver you need to destroy the the front one..............not if you remove the bolt under the label on the back!

These were the inspiration / instruction manual for doing something similar to a pair myself. However, with no hope of achieving such a spectacular finish & being wary of the potential to accidentally do something undesirable & irreparable to a really nice pair that I’d shelled out a stack of money for; I only had the balls to attack a slightly rough pair - however the results are impressive to listen to. Having done this once & got a feel for how they’re put together makes me want a nicer looking pair to do the same to again; there’s things I’d do differently (better) but still won’t be worrying the ones pictured above for quality of finish.