So there you have it, consensus as usual! ;0)
Look, you can't ask a question like are 'Linn speakers good'. It's like asking 'is food nice'. It can be but people like different things and food varies a lot.
I think the mistake you've made is in assuming that Linn have always had some kind of deep design ethos that underpins their speakers and results in a family sound. It's not really like that. I doubt if Ivor Tiefenbrun even knows how to design a loudspeaker. Actually, I don't know if he knows how to design a turntable but I digress, the point is that Linn just employ a guy who knows how to design speakers. He'll get told to build a speaker that costs 'X' that we can sell for 'Y' and we want to sell 'Z' many of the things.
Over the years they have had different people with very different design philosophies so their speakers have been very different. Linn don't want them to sound a certain way, they just want them to sell!
So what are you left with? A rather mixed bag. The current Linn speakers I can't comment on at all but the ones I've heard fall broadly into two camps. You've got the coloured but exiting ones. Very musically candid and involving. I like these guys because, while colouration is not desirable, in my experience you get used to it. You notice it a lot at firsts but you soon acclimatise and it becomes a non-issue.
The other speakers are less coloured but also more boring. Unfortunately, you don't get used to that. No amount of listening to a boring stereo will make it fun and exiting.
So if you want funky music you could do worse than Linn's old classics. But if you want something more neutral and laid back, maybe a later Linn speaker will do. Even there you've got a problem as other brands do clear and neutral better than Linn. Kans however, well, it's hard to out-kan a Kan! ;0)
