Linn Sara’s
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Tony L
Administrator
Linn Saras sound exactly like Linn Saras. Fun on the right stuff, but quite hard to drive. I nearly bought a pair back in the ‘80s, but went with Kan IIs as they just fitted my crappy little flat better, plus I only had a Naim 140. I later moved to a far smaller flat and bought Isobariks...
Saras are great and have strengths of their own that can better both Kans and Isobariks in some ways.
The midband is lovely and has a tunefulness often absent from their big and little brothers, who use the often squawky smaller driver. The bass is almost as deep and tight as Isobariks.
Downsides. They don't sound as fast as Kans, they're ugly and they're harder to drive than Isobariks and don't go as loud yet command more or less the same amount of floor space.
Personally, I think they're great and have a pair in the shed system. A Creek 4140 S2 seems to be doing a passable job of extracting life from them.
The midband is lovely and has a tunefulness often absent from their big and little brothers, who use the often squawky smaller driver. The bass is almost as deep and tight as Isobariks.
Downsides. They don't sound as fast as Kans, they're ugly and they're harder to drive than Isobariks and don't go as loud yet command more or less the same amount of floor space.
Personally, I think they're great and have a pair in the shed system. A Creek 4140 S2 seems to be doing a passable job of extracting life from them.
ex brickie
pfm Member
Great fun speakers but when I had them they were monsters to drive. I started with an Audiolab integrated but ended up buying an LK280 to supplement it.., very unusual combination
Hazelberry
sister
I haven’t heard them in years. Then, they were driven by a Nait 3 and sounded quite decent to me. Vastly more enjoyable than a Brik/5-pack I heard recently, which, except for the amazing bass performance, was like being repeatedly smacked round the head with a cricket bat.
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
They were one of my OMG moments in my hifi journey, listening to someone elses system. I bought a pair years later but the simply didn’t work in my room, despite also being driven by a NAP250.
Miss Ariel
pfm Member
Only heard them once at a Hi Fi show in 1984 or 5 in the Linn or Naim room;can't really remember.
I think they where Active with 4 - 135's @ 32.5 - LP12 - Ittok - Asak T.
What I do remember was they where playing a Siouxsie and the Banshees album and a track called Christine.Never heard anything so communicative from a system...fabulous !
One of those audio memories that I will never ever forget.
I think they where Active with 4 - 135's @ 32.5 - LP12 - Ittok - Asak T.
What I do remember was they where playing a Siouxsie and the Banshees album and a track called Christine.Never heard anything so communicative from a system...fabulous !
One of those audio memories that I will never ever forget.
Gervais Cote
Predator
Heard them with a Linn LP12/NAC 32/NAP 250 CB and they were outstanding. Dynamic, punchy, deep and very well controlled bass. They were too expensive for me back then knowing they need at least a NAP 160 to get excited but this would have been my all time favorite in this era.
Had both the original crap crossover ones and the much better Sara 9's. I traded them for SBL's which was worse.
As mentioned above, they where fun and had rather good bass for the size. The Nine version even had a tolerable midrange.
Actually, from memory, they sounded quite like my big 1970's JBL monitors, only some decibels less!
As mentioned above, they where fun and had rather good bass for the size. The Nine version even had a tolerable midrange.
Actually, from memory, they sounded quite like my big 1970's JBL monitors, only some decibels less!
david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
I have a pair of piano black sara9 with ninka tweeters if anyone needs a pair.
Tony L
Administrator
I think they flattened the response a bit and arrived at the same time as the Kan IIs, which did similar. I have no experience of the Sara variants, the ones I tried were the type with the XLR input (Sara 9s were bi-wired with 4m plugs). I do very much prefer Kan IIs to the originals, though I’ve never heard the first MkI version with the proper LS3/5A cabs and Scanspeak tweeter. They may well be a lot better.
david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
Much improved bass and midrange response. Faster rhythmically and much easier to drive. I have never heard anyone thats actully A-B'd the difference describe it as a step back.
It came out of Linns then new ability to computer model crossovers and is a similar development to the Isobaric 4th Order crossovers.
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Sublime to ridiculous? Oddly enough, I've heard Briks in small rooms sounding good. One friend still has his, surrounded by records (he's a collector) and the other was at a dealer's when I auditioned a Xerxes etc. in the nineties. The 'wall of sound' effect is quite convincing in a small room.
One of the few speakers I bought brand spanking new after a demo at Grahams.
At home they were coloured, congested and slow.
I replaced them with Kans, which I thought were vastly better for far less wedge.
The best I heard them weas active, driven by four 135s, which countered their sloth to some extent, but that was a seriously expensive system.
At home they were coloured, congested and slow.
I replaced them with Kans, which I thought were vastly better for far less wedge.
The best I heard them weas active, driven by four 135s, which countered their sloth to some extent, but that was a seriously expensive system.
Tony L
Administrator
They were great fun. Picture a bedroom in a London flat big enough to get an Ikea futon, a pair of Briks, a rack of chrome bumper Naim (32.5/Hi/135s), LP12, CD player and a computer into and that was it. When extended for sleeping the futon was about 2” from the Brik stands. They sounded great, truly visceral as they pressure-loaded the room. The main negative was I was close enough to be able to focus on the different drivers (though Briks are not well integrated at the best of times). This was around the time Air’s Moon Safari and a lot of good electronica and post-rock was being released, so my memories are of that, Tortoise, Mogwai, Lambchop, Eels, LSG, Goldie etc. That sort of stuff. I didn’t have much vinyl at London, only what I was buying currently, everything else was in storage.
I didn’t have that system for long, it was just a ‘bucket list’ thing that I’d wanted to tick off since the ‘80s. At that point stuff was so, so cheap. I paid £350 for the Linn, mint in box with Ittok, and the Briks (late XO in stand types) were £500 mint in box (even the foam grilles were perfect!) plus my Kan IIs in trade (the seller was looking to downsize). It cost me nothing to own bar the investment, I got at least that back. Always fun to do audio that way.
nostromo
pfm Member
Saras, Kans, Bricks, if anyone at Uxbridge Audio back then brought out the size excuse they were told the footprint of the stands is almost the same for all three models.... Get your wallet out!
As said above Sara's were the hardest to get the best from, but when done right they were very rewarding, imaging was excellent. I had the Kans mk2 for ages, my switch to digital early on, exposed too much top end and had several tweeter repairs done (always on Vangelis being too loud) so drifted away from HiFi. Nowadays I use active Bricks and can rest assured I can get a fuller musical performance than from Saras or Kans... although I sometimes miss the speed of the Kans and image from the Saras.
As said above Sara's were the hardest to get the best from, but when done right they were very rewarding, imaging was excellent. I had the Kans mk2 for ages, my switch to digital early on, exposed too much top end and had several tweeter repairs done (always on Vangelis being too loud) so drifted away from HiFi. Nowadays I use active Bricks and can rest assured I can get a fuller musical performance than from Saras or Kans... although I sometimes miss the speed of the Kans and image from the Saras.