Nice to see a new Linn review on TH-cam….long overdue. Here in the US, so few dealers are Limn dealers today. I bought into Linn For Life and am still there with some great Linn electronics. Cheers!
Hi Katie, I enjoyed your recent Axpona interview and insights on TH-cam. I’ve been a Linnie since 1982. I have 3 vintage Linn systems, 2 driven by the LK140 / Kolektor and 1 with the LK85 / Kolektor. I also have the Genki CDP. All before your time at Linn. Over the years, I owned 3 LP12’s but no more, being a 100% digital fan. Unfortunately the new Linn streamers are outside my budget. Unfortunately I can’t recommend my local audio dealer as Linn’s current price points would never fly in this small town. However, I will say than Linn really needs to carve out a better presence in the pubs (Stereophile, Absolute Sound, etc.) and most definitely among the key TH-cam audio reviewers to heighten Linn awareness and consumer consideration. Stepping up your targeted marketing efforts is critical. Cheers!
Hi Ricky, we (Basil Audio) is a Linn Dealer and recently received our 360 PWAB (Passive with active bass). Linn have gone to great lengths to make this the reference speaker (for us - replacing the ATC SCM150 passive for now) regardless of electronics. It is on a different planet from any other passive speaker we've heard. Yes, absolutely, can fit into any non-Linn system. The phase alignment of bass lines in the music is completely unlike anything we've ever heard.
Nice to see Linn embracing some long known science in speaker technology. It took a while but they got there. This may be the first Linn speaker with respectable measurements. The word salad of the reviewer is a tad disappointing. Linn finally made a speaker with low distortion in the part of the HiFi chain that adds most distortion - welcome to the 21st century!
So eliminating the passive crossover didn’t help? There’s quite a lot Linn have been doing over the years, exakt etc to improve the signal chain. This isn’t their first attempt
Linn Hi Fi is absolutely amazing I would love to upgrade but the resale value of my linn equipment isn’t going to help get anything like I paid for it So I’ll dream on Great video
From WhatHifi "Two versions of the 360 are available, too. The first is the Exakt Integrated variant (£87,500), which as you might guess houses all the crossover, DAC and amplification circuitry within the speaker, and is designed for use with a Linn DSM network player. The second, meanwhile, is the Passive with Aktiv Bass (£55,000), designed for use with a non-Linn amplifier or an all-external Linn Exakt system using Exaktbox."
I think what's important here is a step change in the way manufacturers are designing there speakers . More and more are realising that the room is primarily critical in terms of good or bad accoustics . This is a good thing
@@ofir5000 Congratulations on your love to a country that has killed over 14.000 people including 4000 babies in 6 weeks while enforcing collective punishment on 2.1 million civilian people. I hope we all in the future can enjoy good sound together.
@@1337ghomri Congratulations on your ignorance and not knowing the difference between the n@zis of Hamas killing 1400 JEWS and beheading babies , and the only democracy in the middle east protecting itself form said n@zis I live in Israel , you can teach me nothing about the truth or the facts any other questions ?
Some Linn dealers will have difficulty embracing this Linn venture into speaker science. Budd's directly addressing loudspeaker concepts many of those dealers have rejected for years (even the Linn dealers who've pushed JBL speakers yet wholeheartedly denied the science behind them - like the ex Linn dealers on the Lejonklou forum). Budd might be castigated as heavily as the usual ex Linn speaker designer.
Are these speakers ported or sealed box? I'm eliminating phase distortion by using 1st order crossovers and positioning my speaker drivers so that they are equidistant from my listening position. It's lot cheaper method and with nothing added to the signal path when compared to Linn's Exakt route to doing this. He talks about large woofer excursion as if it's a good thing. That cone excursion was laughable. That's a lot of distortion right there. When compared to 18" or larger woofers twitching to produce the same bass instruments at the same volume. My understanding is that the 360's use Seas drivers, with them costing in the region of £3000 for all the drivers for a stereo pair. In my opnion Seas are good, but they wouldn't be my choice for a World Class by sound quality speaker. Low efficiency drivers don't do it for me. Too much moving mass for the electromotive force on offer, resulting in compromises to dynamic freedom and clarity, especially in the midrange.
First order filters introduce 180 degrees of phase distortion at the crossover point. L-R second order introduce 90 degrees allowing the trick of connecting the upper driver 180 out of phase to the lower drive so there is no phase discontinuity but still a 90 degree phase distortion at a limited frequency range. Exakt uses a very high order filter (24 or more vs 2 for passive L-R and 4 for analog active L-R) so effectively a perfect "brick wall" crossover with essentially no phase distortion.
@@jeremybicknell8925 Do you know if the 360's are ported or sealed box? What do you think of the large woofer excursion shown in this video? What do you think of the retail price of the 360's?
Bravo! Bravo to you Alan, and to Linn. I now will turn my hand to sophisticated cyber crime and attain the means to attain! Seriously, I have been looking for a replacement for my active Linn Espek speakers, and, well, here we seem to be.
I find it fascinating, and out of my limited understanding even somewhat futile, to address distortions in the sound chain after the source inputs which are inherently distorted. I refer to tracking error on most vinyl playback systems, and the missing bits due to digital sampling on digital recordings. They may be inherently unhearable, I have limited experience. But with reference to tonearms, I can hear a clear difference between a Thales statement tonearm with the same cartridge and turntable, on the same piece of music, versus a Thorens or RB300 tonearm which often sound the same to me. I don't always hear a difference depending on the instrument, but as a classical guitar player and using that as a reference, even the most expensive system set-up cannot reproduce a cheap guitar 100% accurately. Let's be clear, with age the ability to discern has diminished significantly, so I speak from the memory of younger years. I have always told a story like this to younger players, especially beginners; if the hours and money they put into their stereo systems had gone into a quality guitar (or any instrument) and playing time, they would be maestros and have perfect source sound (dedication and commitment go a long way toward overcoming a lack of talent so keep at it). Nevertheless, it is pleasant to hear a well balanced stereo play back music which I enjoy. And the first time I ever experienced the layering of music playback was on a Linn system about 30 years ago - the music was Yello when the line "My name is Norman" literally jumped out of the system into my face. Nearly fell off my chair...never forgotten, seldom experienced since although the Jazz album by Ry Cooder has some great imaging too. So I am a Linn fan... Just my thoughts and limited experience and to sum up - when will the inputs be more perfect so we are not trying to correct a signal which is distorted to start with?
Thanks for doing this, I reckon we can safely say that there is no loudspeaker out there like the Linn 360. Is it the best for everyone?, maybe not, but this is way cool 😎 My dream speaker has the magic of a small standmount, but scales endlessly like a huge statement floorstander... I know two speakers that can possibly do that but they cost way more than Linn 360 🤐 You seem to be really sold there Alan, The Glaswegians are on a roll 😍 The good thing, these speakers can fit any room 💝
What’s wrong with it ?..That’s easy like all Linn products ( fancy a turntable at £50k ) its the outrageous price . They might be good , ought to be good , but even without hearing them , they ain’t worth the 💰 £ being asked ..Bang for buck is not Linn or Naim for that matter , lots of brilliant equipment available as good if not better for a fraction of the cost
While bias current, as Phil noted, is proportional to crossover distortion in linear powered amplifiers--idle current may serve a more appropriate term for class d amplifiers, or in Linn's case, their Power DAC dsp controlled class d amp. Bias in both designs prepare the transistors for the "handoff" from N to P/P to N at the ground plane. Increased switching frequency and speed of newer class d circuits can take advantage of higher idle current, albeit requiring increased heat sinking to maintain parts tolerances for the faster switching times. The result: class d can sound as good or better as linear powered amplifiers. Hence, why not use class d for the 360 array, the drivers positioned above the woofers? In either case, I feel bad for this engineer having to pander to Linn's marketing department as he speaks in circles around--then returns to--stating candidly, the adaptive bias control is little more than biasing the output transistors with an amount of current considered to be optimal. Geez! Still, I would like to hear them. No doubt some will like them, others will like something else. Alan comes across as genuine and kind (refreshing in a world of puffery and pretense). Thank you for your commentary! I smiled at your single malt mention, however, please avoid the single malt when reviewing audio products. It's important to remember that even the smallest amount of alcohol or "attitude adjusting" drug will alter our senses, thus compromising one's ability to provide a clear-headed review.
For all their tech-look, speaker drivers are ugly! The product has an unfinished appearance, especially at the price they’re selling for. B&W 800’s & Borresen’s, & many others share this disturbing look. I simply rule out buying any of them, regardless of how good/great they sound. Put grills on them! Acoustically transparent cloth has no audibly-restrictive artifacts.
yes it does, any kind of so called transparent veil is a refractor, and a refractor vail is a vail no matter how thin or holy it may be. Putting anything over drive units affects sound coming from the drivers units. Same thing with the quad esl, and the same thing with mesh protectors on tweeters or midranges. You may have deaf ears, but the changes to direct sound are still there. The difference of putting any kind of acoustic cloth or mesh over drive units . You don't want anything to mask radiated sound from bare drive units to your ears . There is absolutely nothing that is truly acoustically transparent with any kind of veil materials. Any kind of materials have an effect of the direct dispersion from the drive units with the effect of diffraction characteristics, while mesh has the effect of back radiated reflection refraction onto the drive units . The effect is that of the same as light, as it bends and defracts direction with a piece of transparent glass that is in it's way . I think you need to do some studying, and don't believe every thing you read or taught .
@@ianjohnhorwood2605 it not a one size fits all approach, crossovers can be designed to make up or minute changes with the addition of covers, and not all covers will be audible. Despite a speakers measurement quite often some of these frequencies aren’t even audible, so it really doesn’t matter.
Speaking as a former Kan owner I cannot imagine many Kan owners preferring LS3/5As, but nor can I imagine them disparaging them in the way you have disparaged Kans. In spite of their physical similarities they have different strengths and weakness as well as opposite placement requirements: LS35As sound best in free space whereas Kans sound best very close to a solid rear wall.
these are ungodly expensive... 100k usd?? wow. top of the line Genelec is much much cheaper, only 30K usd and truly full range. the Genelec is monstrously ugly though, so maybe if you have the extra 70K, go for it!! this makes the new powered Dynaudio look like a bargain!
I remember the Klymax speaker..then again I’m still rocking my 90’s LP12 😁
Thanks for Phil interview your experinces of hearing them.
Nice to see a new Linn review on TH-cam….long overdue. Here in the US, so few dealers are Limn dealers today.
I bought into Linn For Life and am still there with some great Linn electronics.
Cheers!
Any non-Linn dealers you'd recommend in the US?
Hi Katie,
I enjoyed your recent Axpona interview and insights on TH-cam.
I’ve been a Linnie since 1982. I have 3 vintage Linn systems, 2 driven by the LK140 / Kolektor and 1 with the LK85 / Kolektor. I also have the Genki CDP. All before your time at Linn. Over the years, I owned 3 LP12’s but no more, being a 100% digital fan. Unfortunately the new Linn streamers are outside my budget.
Unfortunately I can’t recommend my local audio dealer as Linn’s current price points would never fly in this small town.
However, I will say than Linn really needs to carve out a better presence in the pubs (Stereophile, Absolute Sound, etc.) and most definitely among the key TH-cam audio reviewers to heighten Linn awareness and consumer consideration. Stepping up your targeted marketing efforts is critical. Cheers!
That's an oxmoron. 😁 "Great Linn electronics".
The name is "Linn" NOT "Limn".
Just a simple typo.
What is the frequency response? I don't see it online.
Can it match with any component or does it just match with Linn equipment as usual
Hi Ricky, we (Basil Audio) is a Linn Dealer and recently received our 360 PWAB (Passive with active bass). Linn have gone to great lengths to make this the reference speaker (for us - replacing the ATC SCM150 passive for now) regardless of electronics. It is on a different planet from any other passive speaker we've heard. Yes, absolutely, can fit into any non-Linn system. The phase alignment of bass lines in the music is completely unlike anything we've ever heard.
Nice to see Linn embracing some long known science in speaker technology. It took a while but they got there. This may be the first Linn speaker with respectable measurements. The word salad of the reviewer is a tad disappointing. Linn finally made a speaker with low distortion in the part of the HiFi chain that adds most distortion - welcome to the 21st century!
So eliminating the passive crossover didn’t help? There’s quite a lot Linn have been doing over the years, exakt etc to improve the signal chain. This isn’t their first attempt
dude, you are out of the loop... maybe educate yourself before spouting nonsense.
Linn Hi Fi is absolutely amazing
I would love to upgrade but the resale value of my linn equipment isn’t going to help get anything like I paid for it
So I’ll dream on
Great video
From WhatHifi "Two versions of the 360 are available, too. The first is the Exakt Integrated variant (£87,500), which as you might guess houses all the crossover, DAC and amplification circuitry within the speaker, and is designed for use with a Linn DSM network player. The second, meanwhile, is the Passive with Aktiv Bass (£55,000), designed for use with a non-Linn amplifier or an all-external Linn Exakt system using Exaktbox."
I think what's important here is a step change in the way manufacturers are designing there speakers .
More and more are realising that the room is primarily critical in terms of good or bad accoustics .
This is a good thing
I love Israel 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
@@ofir5000 Congratulations on your love to a country that has killed over 14.000 people including 4000 babies in 6 weeks while enforcing collective punishment on 2.1 million civilian people. I hope we all in the future can enjoy good sound together.
@@1337ghomri
Congratulations on your ignorance and not knowing the difference between the n@zis of Hamas killing 1400 JEWS and beheading babies , and the only democracy in the middle east protecting itself form said n@zis
I live in Israel , you can teach me nothing about the truth or the facts
any other questions ?
Some Linn dealers will have difficulty embracing this Linn venture into speaker science. Budd's directly addressing loudspeaker concepts many of those dealers have rejected for years (even the Linn dealers who've pushed JBL speakers yet wholeheartedly denied the science behind them - like the ex Linn dealers on the Lejonklou forum). Budd might be castigated as heavily as the usual ex Linn speaker designer.
Are these speakers ported or sealed box?
I'm eliminating phase distortion by using 1st order crossovers and positioning my speaker drivers so that they are equidistant from my listening position. It's lot cheaper method and with nothing added to the signal path when compared to Linn's Exakt route to doing this.
He talks about large woofer excursion as if it's a good thing.
That cone excursion was laughable. That's a lot of distortion right there. When compared to 18" or larger woofers twitching to produce the same bass instruments at the same volume.
My understanding is that the 360's use Seas drivers, with them costing in the region of £3000 for all the drivers for a stereo pair. In my opnion Seas are good, but they wouldn't be my choice for a World Class by sound quality speaker. Low efficiency drivers don't do it for me. Too much moving mass for the electromotive force on offer, resulting in compromises to dynamic freedom and clarity, especially in the midrange.
First order filters introduce 180 degrees of phase distortion at the crossover point. L-R second order introduce 90 degrees allowing the trick of connecting the upper driver 180 out of phase to the lower drive so there is no phase discontinuity but still a 90 degree phase distortion at a limited frequency range.
Exakt uses a very high order filter (24 or more vs 2 for passive L-R and 4 for analog active L-R) so effectively a perfect "brick wall" crossover with essentially no phase distortion.
@@jeremybicknell8925 Do you know if the 360's are ported or sealed box?
What do you think of the large woofer excursion shown in this video?
What do you think of the retail price of the 360's?
pistonic motion is not inherently distorting, its how sound generation works! @@lint8391
Bravo! Bravo to you Alan, and to Linn. I now will turn my hand to sophisticated cyber crime and attain the means to attain! Seriously, I have been looking for a replacement for my active Linn Espek speakers, and, well, here we seem to be.
I find it fascinating, and out of my limited understanding even somewhat futile, to address distortions in the sound chain after the source inputs which are inherently distorted. I refer to tracking error on most vinyl playback systems, and the missing bits due to digital sampling on digital recordings. They may be inherently unhearable, I have limited experience. But with reference to tonearms, I can hear a clear difference between a Thales statement tonearm with the same cartridge and turntable, on the same piece of music, versus a Thorens or RB300 tonearm which often sound the same to me. I don't always hear a difference depending on the instrument, but as a classical guitar player and using that as a reference, even the most expensive system set-up cannot reproduce a cheap guitar 100% accurately.
Let's be clear, with age the ability to discern has diminished significantly, so I speak from the memory of younger years. I have always told a story like this to younger players, especially beginners; if the hours and money they put into their stereo systems had gone into a quality guitar (or any instrument) and playing time, they would be maestros and have perfect source sound (dedication and commitment go a long way toward overcoming a lack of talent so keep at it).
Nevertheless, it is pleasant to hear a well balanced stereo play back music which I enjoy. And the first time I ever experienced the layering of music playback was on a Linn system about 30 years ago - the music was Yello when the line "My name is Norman" literally jumped out of the system into my face. Nearly fell off my chair...never forgotten, seldom experienced since although the Jazz album by Ry Cooder has some great imaging too. So I am a Linn fan...
Just my thoughts and limited experience and to sum up - when will the inputs be more perfect so we are not trying to correct a signal which is distorted to start with?
Sadly no price is mentioned but these will no doubt be for the rich or super rich only.
A review without any price is not a review...
As it's Linn it will be massively overpriced
Thanks for doing this, I reckon we can safely say that there is no loudspeaker out there like the Linn 360. Is it the best for everyone?, maybe not, but this is way cool 😎
My dream speaker has the magic of a small standmount, but scales endlessly like a huge statement floorstander... I know two speakers that can possibly do that but they cost way more than Linn 360 🤐
You seem to be really sold there Alan, The Glaswegians are on a roll 😍
The good thing, these speakers can fit any room 💝
What’s wrong with it ?..That’s easy
like all Linn products ( fancy a turntable at £50k ) its the outrageous price .
They might be good , ought to be good , but even without hearing them , they ain’t worth the 💰 £ being asked ..Bang for buck is not Linn or Naim for that matter , lots of brilliant equipment available as good if not better for a fraction of the cost
While bias current, as Phil noted, is proportional to crossover distortion in linear powered amplifiers--idle current may serve a more appropriate term for class d amplifiers, or in Linn's case, their Power DAC dsp controlled class d amp.
Bias in both designs prepare the transistors for the "handoff" from N to P/P to N at the ground plane.
Increased switching frequency and speed of newer class d circuits can take advantage of higher idle current, albeit requiring increased heat sinking to maintain parts tolerances for the faster switching times.
The result: class d can sound as good or better as linear powered amplifiers.
Hence, why not use class d for the 360 array, the drivers positioned above the woofers?
In either case, I feel bad for this engineer having to pander to Linn's marketing department as he speaks in circles around--then returns to--stating candidly, the adaptive bias control is little more than biasing the output transistors with an amount of current considered to be optimal.
Geez!
Still, I would like to hear them. No doubt some will like them, others will like something else.
Alan comes across as genuine and kind (refreshing in a world of puffery and pretense).
Thank you for your commentary!
I smiled at your single malt mention, however, please avoid the single malt when reviewing audio products.
It's important to remember that even the smallest amount of alcohol or "attitude adjusting" drug will alter our senses, thus compromising one's ability to provide a clear-headed review.
For all their tech-look, speaker drivers are ugly! The product has an unfinished appearance, especially at the price they’re selling for. B&W 800’s & Borresen’s, & many others share this disturbing look. I simply rule out buying any of them, regardless of how good/great they sound. Put grills on them! Acoustically transparent cloth has no audibly-restrictive artifacts.
Wilson over B&W any day.
@markmallinson935 remember when the designer said "cybermen in the room " I think he was referring to the ugly as fuck Wilsons .
@@mikemcguinness1304 Depends on the model, There in a different league to B&W’s
yes it does, any kind of so called transparent veil is a refractor, and a refractor vail is a vail no matter how thin or holy it may be. Putting anything over drive units affects sound coming from the drivers units. Same thing with the quad esl, and the same thing with mesh protectors on tweeters or midranges. You may have deaf ears, but the changes to direct sound are still there. The difference of putting any kind of acoustic cloth or mesh over drive units . You don't want anything to mask radiated sound from bare drive units to your ears . There is absolutely nothing that is truly acoustically transparent with any kind of veil materials. Any kind of materials have an effect of the direct dispersion from the drive units with the effect of diffraction characteristics, while mesh has the effect of back radiated reflection refraction onto the drive units . The effect is that of the same as light, as it bends and defracts direction with a piece of transparent glass that is in it's way . I think you need to do some studying, and don't believe every thing you read or taught .
@@ianjohnhorwood2605 it not a one size fits all approach, crossovers can be designed to make up or minute changes with the addition of covers, and not all covers will be audible. Despite a speakers measurement quite often some of these frequencies aren’t even audible, so it really doesn’t matter.
A lot of jitter
> a dozen Er, um, um, ers
in thirty seconds
🤔
I'll stick to the magazines thanks
$$$$$??????
Basically, despite all of their slippery patter, the cult of Linn never improved on the Kan, and that was a poor relation of the LS3/5.
Speaking as a former Kan owner I cannot imagine many Kan owners preferring LS3/5As, but nor can I imagine them disparaging them in the way you have disparaged Kans. In spite of their physical similarities they have different strengths and weakness as well as opposite placement requirements: LS35As sound best in free space whereas Kans sound best very close to a solid rear wall.
these are ungodly expensive... 100k usd?? wow. top of the line Genelec is much much cheaper, only 30K usd and truly full range. the Genelec is monstrously ugly though, so maybe if you have the extra 70K, go for it!! this makes the new powered Dynaudio look like a bargain!