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Active Isobariks the best ive experienced

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dspatterson

pfm Member
Finally finally i have got my recently aquired Linn Isobariks up and running actively. But rather than the usually Naim snaxo route i have used my Keltik active xover. Well what can i say. Bloody amazing, just what i always wanted, sledge hammer bass and presence. Never had this sound the Naim route, always too polite for me.
My main thought, WHY are people putting the Keltik bass unit into Isobariks to "upgrade" them. That B139 is perfectly capable of astounding low tight bass.
Blown away.
 
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Great outcome!

Active Ninkas sounded way greater than they had any right to with (polite?) Naim Nap 200s through a Linn Tunebox. Way back in time before I sold the Naim Nac 252 to fund a family summer holiday to Greece.
 
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Funnily enough i did the opposite route with my keltiks, isobarik 3/6 snaxo and all the required cables , sounded pants.
 
I think my NAXO into Klouts makes my Briks sound fantastic. I would love to try the Linn Crossover, but they are very hard to find. Plus I do so love having some classic chrome bumper naim boxes to look at.
 
suzywong said:
We’ve had Aktiv Briks for twenty years. All Linn electronics (LK series). My wife loves them.
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Same here, we bought a pair of Isobarik DMS 25 years ago and they're still going strong with All Naim electronics including Naxo 3/6. We still love them too..
 
dspatterson said:
Finally finally i have got my recently aquired Linn Isobariks up and running actively. But rather than the usually Naim snaxo route i have used my Keltik active xover. Well what can i say. Bloody amazing, just what i always wanted, sledge hammer bass and presence. Never had this sound the Naim route, always too polite for me.
My main thought, WHY are people putting the Keltik bass unit into Isobariks to "upgrade" them. That B139 is perfectly capable of astounding low tight bass.
Blown away.
Click to expand...
What power amps are you using now then?
 
What i think ive been doing over years is comparing Keltik with its Linn xover (Tunebox cards for me) and Isobarik with Naims xover.
Now trying Isobarik with Linn xoxer has raised my view of the Isobarik. Prior to this i would favour Keltik over Isobarik. I just never had the depth of bass and gutteral punch ive just experienced today and so clean.

I use a variety of amps on my active set, that i have chosen (stumbled over by chance more like)
"An Avondale Nc200 based one on treble, An Avi lab series on mid, and Rotel 991on bass duties. 2 for Keltik.

And for those turning their nose up on the Rotel, Klouts just cannae do what these Rotel do on Bass grip and power.
 
Rosewind said:
Great outcone!

Active Ninkas sounded way greater than they had any right to with (polite?) Naim Nap 200s through a Linn Tunebox. Way back in time before I sold the Naim Nac 252 to fund a family summer holiday to Greece.
Click to expand...

I’m a big advocate of the Ninkas, really, they’re one of Linn’s finest moments. I have a pair of active Ninkas which are basically playing about 8 hours a day, every day, and a pair of active Kabers sat up a corner because… Ninkas!
 
dspatterson said:
Finally finally i have got my recently aquired Linn Isobariks up and running actively. But rather than the usually Naim snaxo route i have used my Keltik active xover. Well what can i say. Bloody amazing, just what i always wanted, sledge hammer bass and presence. Never had this sound the Naim route, always too polite for me.
My main thought, WHY are people putting the Keltik bass unit into Isobariks to "upgrade" them. That B139 is perfectly capable of astounding low tight bass.
Blown away.
Click to expand...
You have me intrigued, I know where I can pick up a pair of late black ash Briks for sensible money, they want a respray and new grilles ideally but they’re functionally all good. I have a Tunebox and Keltik cards… I might bring them home for a play.
 
suzywong said:
We’ve had Aktiv Briks for twenty years. All Linn electronics (LK series). My wife loves them.
Click to expand...
The LK boxes are just so domestically friendly, small and elegant… and they happen to sound great too. I’ve lived longer with LK boxes than anything else… about 22 years, and I’m 38. I have had higher end Linn and various other brands in the house over that time, but I’ve always had LK boxes in use somewhere, love them.
 
dspatterson said:
Your set, Hiquifon needs a tweek up on the card settings compared to the tweeters the kelik cards are based for.
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If you don’t mind, I’ll get in touch for advice if I go down that route. These are the ones with the external crossovers, so need no modification to the speakers themselves, which is appealing. The biggest barrier is the physical size of them in my listening room.
 
Welcome to the activ Isobarik club. They really do rock and the bass depth, control and speed is something to behold, you'll always be thrilled by the bands performance and it will have you reaching to turn the volume higher.

The reason people chase the dream of putting in Keltic bass drivers into Briks is simple imho. Briks are so good they wonder if even more is possible. The Keltic bass driver looks more modern and capable than an old tired looking B139. The dimensions means it can fit fairly easily. That's why.

I would suggest that if anyone thinks their B139s could be improved, simply buy new replacements from Falcon (about £250 each).

I run a Linn activ crossover with 6 LK280s. The tweeters are newish OW1s. The speakers are rock solid on spikes standing on screws, they are leaning back a few centimeter, towed in with an almost nearfield arrangement and they always amaze me with what a rock band can sound like...at almost concert level sound. It's breathtaking hearing bands like Camel, Deep Purple, Rainbow, AlDimeola, Santana, Japan, etc.etc.

I'm really happy someone else has discovered active Briks. From my experience, enjoy it and wonder less about how much further you can take it.

PS I have an almost complete second system in storage just in case I break anything with the levels I play it at..
 
dspatterson said:
Ive still to try the Isobarik with the full fat 20hz roll off setting to see if it copes.
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I have two Linn Activ crossovers, one with the so called Bingo board which is supposed to take the bass down to 20Hz with about a 3dB roll off. I prefer the one without. I just feel it's faster and more agile on the bass (more like Kans) without the Bingo board.

Would love to hear your experience with your 20Hz setting.
 
Hi nostromo, folk round these parts will know i faf about with kit more than most.
Im always searching for that best sound per pound as im budget limited, and even more so now retired. Ive never bettered CDS11, NAC52 and 250.2s..and dont have an inclination to do so. I just cant justify.
I live in a perpetual love of the 70s and 80s lol.That includes my cars Minis.
Anyway ive now had 9 pairs of Isobariks from single cannon, Pms Cannon, Hatch in bottom, 4ohm external crossovers , never had a Qustone pair. From that i learned i just hate them passive, the balance of sound is too top end weighted for my likes, but as you said great for some rock. Ive said in the past my fave passive Isobarik experience was with Rush Moving Pictures, Neil Pearts (RIP) drums have never sounded more real or impactfull.
I like when my room just starts to become part of the performance and for that i need big speakers. Ie the sound is not from the speakers as such but a room felt experience, that does not mean blasting at crazy levels just that the speaker room interface is so much part of what i call a good sound.. And active Isobariks and Keltiks do that for me.
 
Not a big fan of limiting your bricks below 20Hz, you will have to throw away all of your organ records. Nothing else sounds as good with a vinyl organ recording IMHO

Rgds
Stuart
 
Does anyone know what the frequency response characteristics of the Linn aktiv cards and the Snaxo is? Are they the same?

When I reverse engineered my Ninka active crossovers I was surprised that they were just a text book LR4 response with a big wodge of bass added. There was nothing to accommodate driver characteristics i.e. they assume perfectly flat driver response to an octave either side of the crossover frequency.
 
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