Isobariks in Leeds/West Yorks......anyone have 'em!!??

[Woodface]

Aaaagghh...you appear to be pointing me towards a £3750 speaker pair!!!
Many Thanks.....but Over...and OUT!!!

Actually £6800 in active mode but add up the cost of 3 or 6 power amps & attendant cross overs & power supplies.

I had nap250/SBLs which in real terms were similar money as a combined RRP.

 

[Ribs773]

Thanks for inputs...as O/P, I've now come to the conclusion that now isn't the time to go for the Briks.
Now wondering what might work well in a passive system with the JLH 80W mosfet Monoblocs.?
(That's probably a topic for another thread perhaps)
Thinking 'Big Box' here....why not, as I'm a Man Alone!!

Hi Kev,

Sorry, I hope I haven't put you off Isobariks, that was not my intention.

What are your listening room dimensions? Do you want/need Large Speakers? What is your budget? What type of music do you mainly listen to? What is the rest of your system?

Linn Saras could be an option, if they are not too small for you and you can find a good s/h pair. But only you can decide.

I'm sure there will be lots of good s/h alternatives to briks, from many companies, but to offer you suggestions just based on your amplifier is probably not a good idea.
Choosing the right speaker is always a bit of a minefield, and is always down to personal taste, (I do Love Briks, but have spent years tinkering with mine to get them right for me).

It is not really about "what speakers will work well in a passive system", lots of speakers may work well, but they have to reproduce the sound you like and have to live with. Listen to as many as you can before you choose.

You could look out for NEBO (The North East Bake Off) postponed from earlier in the year due to Covid. I am sure it will be rearranged again as things get back to normal. (The Progmeister is the guy to give you the info)
It is not too far from you (Teesside). You will find a lot of well informed people there, plus the opportunity to hear a good few different systems.

Hope this helps a bit

Kind Regards,

Rich.

 

[david ellwood]

I have been wracking my brain as to a passive speaker worth recommending and to be honest for the money (£1000ish) I can’t think of a passive speaker that offers better sound quality than isobariks.

Yes active they gain much but that doesn’t make passives a bad choice.

 

[Ribs773]

I have been wracking my brain as to a passive speaker worth recommending and to be honest for the money (£1000ish) I can’t think of a passive speaker that offers better sound quality than isobariks.

Yes active they gain much but that doesn’t make passives a bad choice.

Absolutely David,

Totally agree, but for someone who had no experience of them previously, it really was necessary for him to understand the difference.

After nearly 30 years of upgrades and prattin' about with room conditioning, Helmholtz resonators and more recently Space Optimisation, then driving them with a six pack of Akurate 2200s (dynamic), I wouldn't dream of sitting him in front of my system and let him think he can go out spend a grand on a pair of second hand passives, and get that level of SQ.

(I'm absolutely sure you didn't do that, but he did come away blown away with your system, and rightly so, but it is a long and expensive road to get where we are).

Kev, try to find someone with a pair of passives who will let you go for a listen. They may be just the right speaker for you, don't give up on them yet.

Kind Regards,

Rich.

 

[Ribs773]

Aaaagghh...you appear to be pointing me towards a £3750 speaker pair!!!
Many Thanks.....but Over...and OUT!!!

Kev,
Just had an email from the Sound Organisation in York. They have some ex dem & s/h speakers from the likes of Spendor and B&W in their summer promo offers, in the range
£799 -£1500
It might be worth dropping in there for a demo. Nothing to lose by listening I guess, they are also very helpful and could give you good advice.

Just a thought.

Rich.

 

[Tonewheelkev]

Hi Kev,

Sorry, I hope I haven't put you off Isobariks, that was not my intention.

What are your listening room dimensions? Do you want/need Large Speakers? What is your budget? What type of music do you mainly listen to? What is the rest of your system?

Linn Saras could be an option, if they are not too small for you and you can find a good s/h pair. But only you can decide.

I'm sure there will be lots of good s/h alternatives to briks, from many companies, but to offer you suggestions just based on your amplifier is probably not a good idea.
Choosing the right speaker is always a bit of a minefield, and is always down to personal taste, (I do Love Briks, but have spent years tinkering with mine to get them right for me).

It is not really about "what speakers will work well in a passive system", lots of speakers may work well, but they have to reproduce the sound you like and have to live with. Listen to as many as you can before you choose.

You could look out for NEBO (The North East Bake Off) postponed from earlier in the year due to Covid. I am sure it will be rearranged again as things get back to normal. (The Progmeister is the guy to give you the info)
It is not too far from you (Teesside). You will find a lot of well informed people there, plus the opportunity to hear a good few different systems.

Hope this helps a bit

Kind Regards,

Rich.

Hi Rich....
Really...you weren't pushing me at all....and I concluded for a variety of reasons!
Suppose the main one being that I wasn't prepared to invest at the level that would make the Briks 'sing'

Toying at the mo'...with going back a bit farther (further?) in time...and looking at some Transmission line designs (R50...etc)
Room is an odd size....4.8m x 5.5m....where the 4.8 is actually the length of the room into a sloping ceiling (Could post a pic later!)

 

[Tonewheelkev]

Oh....and having another Sara in the vicinity could be a step toooo far!!!

 

[Ribs773]

Hi Rich....
Really...you weren't pushing me at all....and I concluded for a variety of reasons!
Suppose the main one being that I wasn't prepared to invest at the level that would make the Briks 'sing'

Toying at the mo'...with going back a bit farther (further?) in time...and looking at some Transmission line designs (R50...etc)
Room is an odd size....4.8m x 5.5m....where the 4.8 is actually the length of the room into a sloping ceiling (Could post a pic later!)

Hi Kev,
That's ok then, I was starting to feel a bit guilty, thought I had destroyed the dream for you, haha.

Sloping ceilings, not sure, could need a bit of room conditioning. would like to see a pic of your listening area by all means.

I would be really interested to hear what you finally end up with, after all the input from everyone.

It would be nice to meet up for a listen to what you decide on sometime when the dreaded lurgi eases off a bit.. I am only about 45 minutes further North from David in York.

Where about in West Yorks are you?
Rich.

 

[Tonewheelkev]

Hi Rich
...it's Leeds for me....though as a 'Bachelor'....feel like I've let things go a bit recently...so plenty of notice required!!!

 

[Ribs773]

Hi Rich
...it's Leeds for me....though as a 'Bachelor'....feel like I've let things go a bit recently...so plenty of notice required!!!

Hi Kev,

Oh don't worry about that, but this Covid could be around for ages anyway.

It was just a thought, a few of us had a Linn listening club a few years ago where we went round listening to each others different systems.
I went as far as Hull (from Teesside) to have a listen, and a few people came to me, It kind of ran out of steam after a while, but it was really good whilst it lasted.

It might be nice to get something going again, but not just Linn, any keen listeners of any kit would be great.
But obviously no good a.t.m. It may be a year or two before anything like that could happen.

Cheers/ Rich

 

[david ellwood]

Richard

are you still using keltik bass units in your bariks?

you must have been a pioneer in this regard!

 

[Ribs773]

Richard

are you still using keltik bass units in your bariks?

you must have been a pioneer in this regard!

Hi David,

Yes, Keltik bass units and Ninka Tweeters,

The Bass units weren't something I tackled myself however (not brave enough), I'm fine with wiring/soldering, but messing with the cabinets is another matter, full respect to Richard Lines.

No these brik's were a one off (a.f.a.i.k), they were built (rebuilt) in the Linn factory 2/3 years after briks were discontinued (about 1995 I think), for a Linn employee who accidentally blew one of his B139s

Linn stripped them and fitted the Keltik Bass units with extra kustone and bracing, also they have a rare cabinet finish, forget now what it is, (like a light oak) but it wasn't a standard finish.

They also came with a smps powered Activ crossover also quite rare, they didn't make many of these, less than 100 I think.

I know because previously, (before I was lucky enough to come across these) I had one of the last standard pairs to leave the factory in 1992, when I went to order them I was told that they had been discontinued, but Linn had enough materials left to make a couple of pairs, so I managed to get a pair, with the crossover powered by a Dirak.

Much later when I heard about the smps crossover (which is a big improvement), I enquired to see if I could get the mod done, but was told that they only made a few and that they no longer had the drawings. This was the main reason I bought the current briks, the Keltik bass units and cabinet mods were an added bonus.

Now of course the Exact crossovers they have developed, will be streets ahead of the old Activ, but I use the briks for 2 channel duties mainly, they also form part of a 7.1 surround sound home cinema system using a Kisto.

To go Exact will probably cost well over £12K with all the channels I need, although I already have an Akurate DSM3 Katalyst. As I'm rapidly approaching 70 Years young, I have to wonder whether my hearing is good enough to justify throwing another huge wedge at the system.

There you go David you have my life story (It might be of some interest to a few die hard brikkies).

Kind Regards,

Rich.

 

[david ellwood]

+1 for the advantages of the smps aktiv, it really does make for quite a dramatic improvement.

I can’t see me investing in exakt any time soon but would be very interested in hearing the difference.

I use mine sans bingo as I like my speakers on the lean side.

 

[Ribs773]

+1 for the advantages of the smps aktiv, it really does make for quite a dramatic improvement.

I can’t see me investing in exakt any time soon but would be very interested in hearing the difference.

I use mine sans bingo as I like my speakers on the lean side.

I am told that exakt is a massive upgrade, I'm not sure how much I would benefit however, when this 'orrible Covid thing wanes somewhat, I might see if Hamish can set up a system, that demonstrates the difference. I would need 2 x 6 channel units plus the sub, I think.

Yeah I tried the Bingo, but my listening room is fairly large (31ft x 18ft 6ins) so the briks needed a quite a bit of driving to get to the right listening levels, and with the Bingo fitted the B139s kept hitting the end stops on some tracks, so I took it out. Was using 3 X Klouts at this point.

I also went through 15 tweeters in the first year, about one a month, with the original pair, until Linn refused to replace any more under warranty. (We are not talking excessively loud here) just realistic listening levels.(average 60-70 on the Kairn). In fact I could turn the system off one day with all tweeters working, and turn it on the next day and find one "missing" even before anything was played. (Checking using slight amplifier hiss here).

So after a much heated discussion with the dealer (you saw the room size before you sold me the system etc,etc), Linn sent me 4 Keltik tweeters down and that solved the problem.

With the new pair of briks, no end stop problems with the Keltik bass units ever, and no probs with Ninka tweeters either touch wood. (I've now had these 11 years).

Still don't like the Bingo however, made them sound a bit flabby in my room. Takes 'em down to 18Hz I think. Have never tried it with Space Optimisation to date. I use subs for that particular end of the frequency spectrum, but never when listening to 2 channel though.

We must get together sometime when (if) this virus thing fizzles out.

Kind Regards,

Rich.

 

[stuwils]

I loved the ninka treble units in my briks
Rgds
Stuart