advertisement


Linn Speakers, are they any good ?

linnfomaniac83 said:
Agreed!
Keltiks are a PITA to set up correctly, and need to be partnered with the hard to find Klimax Crossovers and good amps, but if you then like what they do they are extremely difficult to surpass.

.
Click to expand...

It's now possible to replace the 'hard-to -find' KXO with an Exakt digital crossover.
 
benfield said:
It's now possible to replace the 'hard-to -find' KXO with an Exakt digital crossover.
Click to expand...

Indeed!

Not a move I will be making any time soon though because firstly, I'm not that rich, all my kit was brought used, mostly at a favourable rate from a wealthy relative, no way I'd have been able to buy it new. Secondly, I'm genuinely happy with what I have.

My next and most logical move would be the radikal PSU for my LP12 followed by the ekos se and then the urika phono stage, that's a long term plan though.
 
WIJI said:
It would need to be !!!!

Because of my system layout, I would need 2 Tuneboxes (preferably Klimax ones to match all my other Klimax boxes), so not an inexpensive option :(
Click to expand...

Yes I can see that would make it rather expensive. But you could save £16K by using a single Akurate Exaktbox.
 
Some stuff about Linn speakers (M140 vs MIso, M140 update, active Katan at Scalford):

http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/actively-listening-was-it-majik.html

http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/majik-140-review.html

http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/hifi-wigwam-scalford-show-report-2015.html

http://audiophilemusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/scalford-system-2015-feeback-from.html

All the comments here about them being bland, well, that's the price you pay for accuracy and an even response - something the more modern ones do very well.

Pretty much all of them come alive when driven active. The cynical might say that the passive crossovers are deliberately poor to encourage active use. They are designed active then the passive crossover is designed afterwards - that's the priority they choose.

At the moment, M109, M140 and Akubarik are the pick of the range.

Previously it would be Katan and Ninka - Ninka being exceptional VFM at the moment. For £1k you can have an excellent active pair with amp and active cards.

I had my Keilidhs for 20 years - those that accuse them of being dull and / or flabby probably didn't here them with powerful amps (I used to use 3x RB850) and active. They weren't too accurate, but they really did boogie well.
 
The funny thing about Linn's modern active speakers (I've only ever head the higher end models) is that whilst smooth and controlled they haven't actually conveyed the emotion, rhythm or general gestalt of the music - ironic given Linn's adherence to the 'tune dem'.
 
YNWOAN said:
The funny thing about Linn's modern active speakers (I've only ever head the higher end models) is that whilst smooth and controlled they haven't actually conveyed the emotion, rhythm or general gestalt of the music - ironic given Linn's adherence to the 'tune dem'.
Click to expand...

Do you have Naim YNWOAN?

I find Naim kit sounds like the band are playing live but without so much practice whereas Linn sounds like the band have practiced over and over to get everything just so. Which you prefer, is, of course, a personal thing.
 
sunbeamgls said:
Do you have Naim YNWOAN?

I find Naim kit sounds like the band are playing live but without so much practice whereas Linn sounds like the band have practiced over and over to get everything just so. Which you prefer, is, of course, a personal thing.
Click to expand...

Yes I do, though not entirely standard these days. I think your description of the two characters is rather good with a lot of truth in it :).
 
Perhaps my biggest speaker 'heartbreak' ever, was when I tried out a pair of 109's a couple of years ago ... they seemed perfect for me: against-the-wall placement, non-fatiguing, good resolution, high 'fun factor', etc. ... until I played Nick Drake's Pink Moon, with his intimately-recorded voice and guitar ... it sounded wrong, like there was a midrange suckout. Sure enough, I later read the Stereophile review of the 109's, and there it was in John Atkinson's measurements: a 10dB hole from 2k-4k.

Don't Linn listen to their designs?!

So close ...

I tried Kans and Saras back in the 'flat earth' days, but they don't like digital sources or low-grunt amps. Shout!
 
I had a pair of kans in the late 80's during which i went on to Saras for a brief spell ending with the isobariks ( passive to begin with then active with 6 mono blocs)

Now I have the latest linn LP12, dsm and linn amps, but using the old linn crossover with the isobariks this time running 12 mono blocs). "Wouldn't change them for all the money in the world"
 
teachersrus2 said:
There are many different iterations of all the major Linn speakers along with many different pissing about "scenarios" to get them right. But when you do - oh my - and its not just me - given Linn are making the super duper exaxt digital crossover box thingy for... Keltic owners, well, then you know there are a stack of us out there that have got it right and will not change for anything.
Click to expand...

Well said!
 
James said:
Avoid the Nexus. Possibly the crappiest Linn loudspeaker ever made.
Click to expand...

100%. +1.

I have to say as you look back at the landscape of Linn loudspeakers they've done remarkably well at making boxes that are very pleasing, often musical, almost always smooth.

Their ceramic-coated aluminum dome tweeter (which was used in keilidhs, kabers, keltics, tukans, etc. etc.) for many years is one of the few metal-dome tweeters that I liked and could live with.

THeir drive units and cabinet construction never rivaled that of many other manufacturers....from all over the earth....but what they did do was put together packages that made sense and played music really well. When you go active you get an extremely refined bang for your buck.

Good designs on the whole, and very few screw ups....Helix/Nexus probably being the worst offenders, and truth be told, Keilidhs were probably the next down on that list. Great sellers, very pleasant initially, but pretty muddy, slow, and altogether not so sparkling.

A great track record on the whole.
 
iansen said:
I run a pair of Ninkas in active mode ie with two Linn LK140s. Love the way they sound.

But in passive mode they are pretty poor - whether biamped or single amped, biwired or single wired, and whether it be with Linn amplification or amps by other companies such as Marantz and Cyrus.

Quite strangely, in active mode the positioning of the Ninkas in the room doesn't seem to matter very much: having both speakers with a foot of each other and in the corner of a room still radiates a great sound.

They do need the polymer bases though (which I suspect were only "an optional extra" to keep the basic price of the speaker low). Without the bases the Ninkas really suffer.
Click to expand...


Totally agree. Run active & with the improved bases best speaker £ for£ I ever owned. Absolute bargain S/H if paired with for eg a chakra C6100 amp.
 
I had ninkas tri amped active with lk140 x2 and an lk85, I went to passive with a Lejonklou tundra stereo, it was a much more coherent, musical presentation that really got your feet tapping. I think they're aimed too much for active playback and you can get much better elsewhere, especially when you're not tied in to using their amps. They're heading more and more into exakt territory nowadays.
 
YNWOAN said:
The funny thing about Linn's modern active speakers (I've only ever head the higher end models) is that whilst smooth and controlled they haven't actually conveyed the emotion, rhythm or general gestalt of the music - ironic given Linn's adherence to the 'tune dem'.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I've always felt. Nothing I've heard has ever made the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stand on end, and I yet to be enthused by exakt, especially when you consider how much it costs in various guises, Neil raises a good point about the passive crossovers possibly not being that good deliberately, it's certainly not unfeasible. As a company they're heading more and more exclusively down the exakt route, which I think could be a dangerous move. There's less and less for people to dip a toe into the linn pool and that's not good imo. I know Neil's a die hard linnie, but even he doesn't use their speakers anymore. Me neither, and probably never will again.
 
Ninkas can sound awesome run passive, I have had them a Klimax Twin, awesome combo. The Ninka is definitely best bang for buck speaker ever to come from Linn IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top