LINN Akubarik Katalyst Upgrade

I attended the Akubarik Katalyst demo event at Sound Gallery tonight, in High Wycombe.

First,  thanks to the gents at SG for hosting the event and for their hospitality. Also good to meet Stephen from Linn sales who was completely inscrutable when it comes to Akurate Exaktbox Katalyst!

The set up tonight was different to other collective demo evenings I've attended, and I think the better for it. Despite the system being in room that could've held 8 on dining room style chairs (for those of you who know SG, its the long narrowish room at the far end of the upstairs corridor),  SG opted to keep just a pair of comfy chairs in the room and run a series of demos for 2 people at a time. The room is carpeted and has (drawn open) curtains over 2 small windows behind the speakers.  There is no obvious attempt at treatment so it resembles a pretty normal living room. There was just the one system comprising a KDSM and the Katalyst equipped Akubariks, the exisiting shop pair that have had their modules upgraded. There were no standard Exakt Akubariks available for back to back comparison.

So thoughts on how they sound are based on memories for comparison, which is not ideal, but I've heard at least 4 pairs of Exakt Akubariks in the past at various different locations to recollect how they sound. Several pre-determined tracks were played and then we were offered the opportunity to select a track of our choice each. A nice balance.  The demo system was running with SO and our host, Ronnie, had spent the previous evening tweaking away to the nearest 0.1dB or thereabouts. So nice to have a dealer putting in so much care and effort.

The first track was from a very popular female vocalist for whom I have very little time and who's records are typical of today's compressed recordings which was a very brave choice, but I'll come back to that later. Almost as surprising a choice were 2 Craig David tracks. I was not familiar with either of them, but I'm familiar with the multi-tracked vocal technique. These tracks gave the system the chance to shine in seemingly contradictory elements which became a theme throughout the listening. David's multi-tracking is very clear to hear, yet flows together as one vocal. That probably doesn't make much sense, but its difficult to describe. Across all the tracks the instruments and vocals are clearly separated, just as you would expect of Exakted Akubariks, but the main difference is the way they flow much better together as one piece of music.  However, this is not the shmushing together and blurring of the sound that some systems seem to pass off as an attempt at a joined up musical message. In that regard, Katalyst seems to bring to Akurate the same attributes it brings to Klimax. There's a certain kind of effortlessness to the Katalyst presentation, be it Klimax or Akurate.  We had a McCartney track where the acoustic guitar and percussion were crisply rendered but not in a forceful way - there's a sense of naturalness to the music. A really stunningly performed and recorded track from the high res Nils Frahm album 'Piano Day' was next up. The emotion in this lilting, slightly melancholic (but positively upbeat by Frahm's standards) flowed into the room and dragged me in. The instrument very well portrayed, full of flavour and richness with a believeable scale in the room.  Have a search for this album, its downloadable in high res on a 'donate what you like' basis.

My co-listener chose Peter Gabriel's 'Philadelphia' track. Its not something I'm familiar with. I only enjoy a limited selection of PG's material but this one hasn't been added to that list. My co-listener seemed to really enjoy the way it was played. I chose 'Till Tomorrow' from Yello's 'Touch' album. The breathy trumpet playing was superbly presented - out in the room and full of subtleties and feeling. Underneath, the bass lines are full and lush but without flabiness underpinning the flow and timing superbly. I suspect some excellent  SPACE Optimisation skills at play here. The limited vocals on this track had complexity and some subtle inflexions that I've not heard before. Was it all good? Not quite, there's still some of that Akubarik tendancy to hold back a bit, to consider a good time to be something that's just not 'the done thing'.  But its a minor point and won't be an issue for many listeners.

So is this iteration of Katalyst a success? In my view its a resounding 'yes'. If I had a pair of Akubariks, I'd be trying to find the funds for the conversion ASAP.  As it is, roll-on the Exaktbox version please Linn...

Oh, and that first track. Adele. 'Hello'. I still don't like it, but the Akubariks made it tolerable rather than shouty and unpleasant. High praise indeed!

Linn Exakt and PMC Twenty.26. World First Review Part Three - Set Up and Listening

Part Three of a Three Part Review

Part One Here

Part Two Here

If you’ve read the above first 2 parts of this mini-saga, then you’ll be aware that we’re part way through the story of moving Audiophile Musings’ system from passive Klimax electronics into Majik 140 speakers towards Linn Akurate Exakt and PMC Twenty.26 speakers.

The Exakt kit was a mix of new and ex-demo and consists of:

• Akurate Exakt DSM (an Ethernet connected streamer, digital pre-amp and box of tricks that converts all digital signals into Exaktlink protocol before passing this along to the Exaktbox) – AEDSM; 
• A Cat 7 cable to connect AEDSM to Akurate Exaktbox 10; 
• Akurate Exaktbox 10 (a digital crossover which contains 2x Linn Exakt engine processors and 10 independent digital to analogue converters (DACs) and outputs 10 channels of analogue ready to be amplified) – AEBOX10; 
• 6x Linn Silver analogue interconnects connecting the AEBOX10 to the power amps; 
• 8x channels of Linn Akurate 4200/1 power maps (4200 has 4 channels so after moving from M140 speakers to PMCs, 2x channels are not used for the stereo parts of the system, the 2 spare channels are used to power the centre speaker of the complete 5.1 set up) – A4200/1;
• 4x 2.5m of Linn K400 speaker cable to connect the power amps to the speakers (initially for the Majik 140s);
• 2x 2.5m of Linn K600 speaker cable to connect the power amps to the speakers (later, for the PMC Twenty.26 speakers) 
• Linn Konfig software running on a Windows laptop.

Trevor of the House of Linn came to set up the system, starting with the Majik 140s. We had to do that as the Linn Exakt software filters for the PMCs weren’t available at the time – see Part One of the story for the thinking behind making the jump to Exakt, even before the PMC filters were available. After all the Klimax gear was disconnected, we started on unpacking all the boxes for the new kit and did a bit of shelf dusting whilst we were able. One of the aspects I really appreciate about Trevor’s work is the attention to detail around taking care of the kit. Everything is handled with care and respect, he removes his watch and nothing is left to chance in terms of laying everything out in a logical order etc.
So the DSM is set up on the rack to replace the KDS/2 streamer and the power amps and Exaktbox are installed on the centre rack between the speakers, under the TV. Of course, all installed on Cyrus Isoplats. The Linn software and documentation give diagrams on connecting up the power amp channels to the back of the Exaktbox. Because there are 10 channels on the Exaktbox and because there are many different speakers supported by the software, the connections to the power amps are very much dependent on the speaker in use. So the back of the Exaktbox is just labelled channels 1 to 10 – it’s the diagrams in Konfig that show you how to connect up. Konfig then needs the speaker serial numbers entering and it downloads the correct filter profiles for that particular make and model of speaker. The filters apply all the correct frequency cut-offs and phase corrections tailored through software for the speakers in use. For the Majik 140, channels 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 are used. These Exaktbox outputs were hooked up to 2x Akurate 4200/1 4 channel power amps using Linn Silver interconnects (these have silver coloured sleeves, but the conductors are copper). One power amp was used per left / right channel.

Akurate Exaktbox 10

 
Linn Konfig is fired up on the laptop and work starts on configuring the system. First up is to select the speakers for the Exaktbox – select the model from the drop-down lists and then enter the serial numbers – choosing which speaker (left or right) will use each set of channels (1 to 4 or 6 to 9). Then all the room information for SPACE room optimisation can be input (dimensions, materials, window positions etc etc), or the existing room information is retained, which is the position we were in. SPACE was left switched off and we spent the best part of an hour re-positioning the speakers in the room. There was only about 10-15mm change in position in the room to get the best sound from their previous position.
At this point, SPACE optimisation was calculated and applied. It was pretty much spot-on – a result which is markedly better than using SPACE in a non-Exakt system. In Exakt, the optimisation is called SPACE+ and is applied in the Exaktbox (rather than in the DS in analogue systems). This uses fewer compromises (for example, the position of individual bass / mid-range drivers and the bass ports are much more accurately modelled in SPACE+) and seems to give a great result. We messed a little with the SPACE settings, but ended up back at those calculated by the system. Impressive.
So the Exakted M140s using Akurate level electronics are a major improvement on the same speakers driven passively by the higher-up-the-range Klimax electronics. Some may find this difficult to take, particularly those heavily invested in Klimax gear. But here we have a system that performs both musically and technically far better and by selling on the Klimax components, actually left me financially better off. Why do I find it better? Well tighter timing, massively better imaging, bass control, a naturalness to the vocals and completely involuntary foot tapping. Given that Linn equipment already sounds very well controlled – to the point where some listeners find them too controlled and lacking in liveliness and wanting them to “let go” more – then its possible to see how Linn have developed Exakt to take this one step further. Did the electronics improve over time? Did they “burn-in”? I’m not sure that they did. Certainly, not enough for me to have noticed. But then it was only the AEDSM that was new – the Exaktbox and power amps were ex-dem and as such would’ve experienced “burn-in”, if such a thing exists with these systems. What is noticeably though, is the warm-up effect. The system sounds great when first switched on, but there’s definitely an improvement at somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes of use. The sound “fills out” and becomes both warmer, deeper in the bass and yet just as controlled. It’s a nice effect, but it would be much better if the system sounded this way from the start. I try to find the time to run the system for a while before sitting down to a focussed music listening session.

What of the PMCs? Well at this point I was kind of thinking the M140s would be around for a while longer whilst saving up for Akubariks. But it wasn’t long (about 3 weeks) and the PMC filters were released. So time to give it a whirl. Some correspondence with Linn suggested that they had found the PMCs a little bright and tiring too and had tailored the Exakt filters to take out a fair amount of treble energy. So the work was done to convert the speakers (see part 2 here), the M140s were replaced by the PMCs.
But its not a straight swap of course – everything was powered down to start with. First, documentation was consulted and the PMC wiring diagram was identified. Now channels 1-3 and 6-8 of the Exaktbox are in action. 2 channels of the power amps were disconnected from the Exaktbox and the speaker cables were changed out from 2x K400 for K600 (3 pairs of cables in one sheath). Next the AEDSM and Exaktbox were powered up (NOT the power amps) – once they were visible on the network then Konfig was opened on the laptop, the correct PMC speakers (curiously, there is choice of 1x Twenty.26 or 2x Twenty.26 available – this is for those who wish to use one Exaktbox per channel – apparently for sound quality purposes, but I doubt that’s something I’m going to consider in the near future – one of the major benefits of the PMCs is the ability to run them off one Exaktbox, including the 6 channel Klimax version). So 2x Twenty.26 was selected and SPACE switched off. I then connected up the bass power amps to the bass drivers and powered up, listened to a couple of minutes of music to check bass information was coming out of the bass drivers. Then the mid-range was added, checked and finally the treble was connected up and checked for treble output. This sequence is important to make sure that drivers are not damaged. The great news was that everything worked as it should. A major relief that the speaker conversion has been a success.
The system was then played and speaker positioning commenced, taking about an hour to start with, then tweaked again after a couple of hours. Like the M140s, the .26s ended up positioned only 10 to 15mm away from their position when using a traditional system.

So a little time was spent listening with SPACE+ turned off, then the position of the PMCs entered into the Konfig room information and SPACE+ optimisation was applied. Like the M140s, the PMCs benefitted from the improved modelling in SPACE+. The room optimisation notches applied by the Linn calculations are excellent, again I found that tweaking them made no improvements, in fact, deviations messing stuff up really. After a few weeks of use, the only change I made at the room optimisation end of things (ie the bass) was to add a 0.9 dB bass “shelf” to add a little weight over the full bass range. What of that sometimes tiring top end? Well the effect of the Linn Exakt filters are easily spotted – with the treble much more in keeping with the rest of the frequency range. A nice change and one I stayed with for a week or so, but eventually dialled in a -1.8dB treble shelf (after much experimenting with values above and below this). Now we have, to my ears at least, a well-balanced frequency range.
One more area that didn’t sound right to me was a harsh edge on vocals – particularly female vocals. There’s nothing to play with here on Linn Konfig so I experimented with a few cables and found something quite astonishing – the supposed perfect digital signal going along the Exaktlinks makes a difference. This doesn’t make much sense, but its probably about noise getting into the Exaktbox – I’m sure its nothing to do with data corruption. So changing from a standard Cat 7 ethernet cable between AEDSM and the Exaktbox to a Chord C-stream (their most basic streaming cable) lost the sharp edge on the vocals and I can’t hear any downsides. Strange but true.

So what of the overall sound of the system? Well at this point, with SPACE+ set up and the cable change above, what we have is a very musical result. The changes I noted going from M140 to PMC in the traditional system are all relevant here, but without any noticeable downsides. The PMCs go deep but are better controlled, vocals really come across with nuances and texture and treble is both full of detail and subtlety. On top of this, Exakt brings a sense of the recording space, speed, masses of information and a step change in the separation between instruments. And I can listen for hours. And hours. And hours, and I do so.
From what I remember of the Exakted Akubariks (at this point about 5 weeks ago in a different room, and about 3 or 4 months ago in Canada), then the PMCs are at least their equal in terms of detail retrieval and subtleties. But they have a different approach to life – they’re very much more lively – they drive a rhythm along with more conviction and a sense of fun, but they do this without being out of control or aggressive. Perhaps the PMCs don’t go quite so deep as the Akubarik, but this is very room dependent so there’s no real direct comparison here. So all was well, but the story doesn’t stop there.
About 3 weeks after Exakt conversion, there was a new software release (for the detail people, it was Exakt compiler version 16). This made no changes to the filter settings for the PMCs, but it changed the way in which the Exaktbox processes and applies those filters. At first, I didn’t quite believe what I was hearing. It took the best part of a day to get past the initial size of the change. That this magnitude of change could happen through software, and to move on to all the little subtle changes that came with this release is an eye-opener. First, and most obviously, was the massive improvement in the sense of imaging and space of the sound. I’m guessing that this is down to much more effective phase alignment processing and it is astonishing in its effect. The speakers truly disappear and instruments and voices are absolutely defined in space – very stable and very believable. The context of the recording is much more obvious – particularly live tracks where the sense of the recording space is portrayed into the listening room. I would liken the size of this software driven improvement being equivalent to moving from ADS/1 to KDS/1. And it was free. Remarkable.
But all this separation, sense of space and believability allows through so much more detail and subtlety. And it’s across the frequency spectrum. Bass lines on Daft Punk’s "Giorgio Moroder" (from the Random Access Memories album) reveal themselves to be even more complex than before and as the crescendo builds at the end, all that complexity remains in control with no tendency towards harshness. Throughout the track there are numerous synth sounds that move from bleeps and blops to being clearly identified sounds that evolve within each note – adding texture and flavour to the track. At the end, the click evolution is much more obviously about a note generated with a very “square” profile. " Get Lucky" (also from Daft Punk's Random Access Memories) is revealed as being much more complex than just a good bit of dance-pop. The lead vocal is clearly more “breathy” with words like spinnin’ now being spinnin-uh, with the uh part only just discernable, but clearly there. Midway through the track the bass line drops out and there’s a buzzy synth underlying the main theme – but it is now audible as a vocoder vocal sample that’s been stretched and twisted. These might seem like minor points, but together they add up to a track that’s much more musically enjoyable – one worth sitting down and concentrating upon rather than being some kind of background or party track.
The echo of the venues on Fink’s live album (entitled "Wheels Turn Beneath The My Feet") is both more obvious and decays away for longer without crashing into or blurring the following notes. The sound of hammer on anvil is right there about 3 feet out from the speakers, just left of centre and about 3ft off the ground in Funkerman’s "Speed Up" (ATFC Remix from the Speed Up EP). Mary Gauthier’s hatred and ire in "Falling Out of Love" (on the "Mercy Now" album) are laid bare whilst the heat pipes hiss. On all of this music, even though there is this very clear separation of individual instruments, there’s no doubt about this being a presentation that still hangs very much together as a joined up performance. Very soon, you get wrapped up in the messaging and mood of the music, enjoying the expressions and flavours, ignoring the hifi, which tends to just disappear.

As you might have gathered, I’m very impressed with the implementation of Linn Exakt with PMC Twenty.26 speakers. The approach Linn has taken to produce digital crossover filters, phase correction between and within drive units and time-aligning the signal has paid massive dividends. The combination of Exakt and PMC really pushes these speakers to compete in a price bracket two or three above where they are as a passive speaker. They sound different to, but very much in the same performance league as Exakt Akubariks. And they’re different in a way that brings more life and fun to the music, but in a way that’s not tiring or wearing – but listenable for hours. And boy do those hours fly past quickly!

 Now we can look forward to Linn releasing this as an official conversion – it’s a pity that the Twenty.26 will be in the shadows a little now that Twenty5.26 is about to hit the market – the gestation time seems too long to have hit the market at the right time. On the flip-side, think of all those traded-in Twenty.26s that will be hitting the market ripe for the transformation that Exakt can bring to them…

For those that heard Exakt in the early days and weren’t impressed, or for those who thought/think that a Klimax badged system MUST be better than an Akurate badged system, I urge you to think again and give Exakt another listen.

Post Script: Since the initial implementation, my Klimax Twin amp has been added into the system – I use this for the mid-range where it seems to bring the best improvements, having tested it across the board. Taking the mid-range from Akurate level to Klimax level amplification has helped at a little more subtlety and detail, but its not a huge uplift – more of a nice to have, given that the amp was already in my possession. If another becomes available at a sensible price I would add it into the bass before the treble.

Now with added Twin

Post Post Script: I'm now wedded to the PMCs for the longer term, so Twenty.21 have replaced the Linn Katans (formerly there were Linn Majik 109s prior to this recent wholesale change) as rear speakers and a Twenty.C has replaced the Linn Tukan (again, formerly a Majik 112 for a number of years) as the centre to complete the 5.1 set up. I must say, the Twenty.C is in a different league to the Majik 112 - a very impressive centre speaker

Canadian Systems - A Visit To Vancouver

It's a long way to go to listen to some hifi, but that's not really why I was there.  Or maybe it was.  I was there due to hifi, but not because of hifi.  P lives in Vancouver and he's been over to the UK a couple of times for Linn product announcements and that's where we met.  He's a very amiable type of chap (do they have "chaps" in Canada?) and gets on with folks very quickly.  An opportunity arose to call in on P in Vancouver, when I happened to be in North America on business - the trip was extended and a few days holidays booked.  We did the tourist thing and fitted in some music listening too.

In P's apartment, there lives the very latest in Linn systems - featuring Linn's current best speaker (IMHO), the Akubarik.  Here they are fed from an Akurate Exakt DSM streamer and they have the integrated Exakt DAC / amp module bolted to the back.  So one box of electronics and a pair of pretty elegant speakers and you're done.  Unless you're P.  When you're P, you need an Oppo multi-format disc player, a substantial Classe surround processor, another couple of power amps and centre 225 and rear 212 speakers.  But P is "famous" on the Linn forum for another aspect of his system too, and that's a bordering-on-the-obsessive attention to mains power supplies.  So the total system is powered from an Environmental Potentials 2460 waveform corrector, the sources and processor add to this a Shunyata Triton conditioner and all parts are connected by several Shunyata pythonesque (actually, Zitron Cobra) mains cables.  They're big. And chunky, and its a good job there's a fair chunk of furniture to hide them behind.   The Netgear 108T switch has been treated to a Friwo SMPS power supply and the NAS and its associated UPS are fed from an Environment Potentials portable digiplug wave form corrector too. Anyway, much more on that system later.

Exakt Akubarik system

Whist out and about in Vancouver, taking in the sights, we happened across a newly opened record shop.  Whilst neither of us use a turntable as a primary source (P doesn't even have a turntable), we both thought it is a healthy development for Vancouver.  They have four turntables so that punters can check out the latest in vinyl.

New Vancouver record shop

HIFI SHOP VISITS

We visited P's usual dealer (The Hifi Center) who did actually have some Linn kit in stock - a nice top spec LP12 turntable and Akurate electronics which were connected to some B&W speakers.  We were offered the chance to listen to whichever system we liked, from a choice of 6 listening rooms - this is one big shop.  An additional room was in use with a customer, a further dem room dedicated to built-in home cinema.

The shop is very well presented - the front desk is first up, with a huge array of (mainly Audioquest) cables and other accessories.  Moving into the main part of the shop, there are central glass cases (rather like a museum) with smaller items of kit such as headphones, small DACs, cartridges etc. Along one wall of this main area is a row of floorstanding speakers and wall mounted turntables on display, all readily available to roll into one of the dem rooms that radiate off this main area.  As you can see in the following pictures, each of the dem rooms has been given a heavy dose of room treatment.

Colourful decks on display

Dem Room with LP12, Linn Akurate, some Classe and B&W's latest Diamond Range speakers

P had been at the shop a few days earlier for a B&W Diamond Series 3 launch evening, but wasn't impressed with the sound - but he had been near the back of the room which had about 25 people sitting in it.  So we chose to go to the B&W 802D3 room to give them another chance.  I must admit I've not been a fan of the look of these new speakers, but they do look better in the flesh than in the pictures. They're beautifully finished and although better in the flesh, still not to my taste.  Our host moved a set of speakers out of the way, then left us to get on with listening to some music - selected from the touch panel on the room wall.

B&W 802D3 - better in reality than it looks in the pictures

We listened using this Bryston Streamer and admired the new Marantz turntable's looks

Serious Bryston monoblocks driving the B&Ws

Bryston Amp, B&Ws and polystyrene room treatment

So what did we make of this system?  Well, it was, to put it politely, a mess - but keep reading. Treble was sweet and vocals were in there somewhere, but the whole thing was absolutely swamped by massive, bloated, unruly and muddy bass.  Yuk.  I asked P if we had much lee-way to mess about, and it seemed that it would be OK.  First up, we dragged the sofa (that was hard up against the rear wall), about 4ft into the room towards the speakers.  A major step forward, but still too much loose bass.  We then made the best of the B&W's wheeled bases and moved them from about 1ft from the front wall to about 3ft from the wall and brought them a couple of feet closer together.

This was real progress so we sat down to listen to some choons.  The system still wasn't gelling perfectly with the room, but now it was listenable and you could hear a tune in the bass.  This was about 10 minutes worth of adjustment, so I suspect there was more to come.  Using tracks such as "In For the Kill" by La Roux and some London Grammar meant that the bass never really had a great deal of chance without more work, but at least we could hear the crystal clear top end and female vocals were absolutely stunning.  Imaging of the mid-range was top drawer too - as it should be in such a heavily treated room.

Discovering new (to me) music on the control panel

So not exactly conclusive, but a reasonable introduction to these new speakers.  Oh for more time, or a Linn front end with SPACE adjustability.

Also in the B&W / Bryston Room

A closer shot of the new Marantz deck

Pro-ject Carbon

More Bryston - note each shelf of the rack is suspended on coil springs

One of the rooms was adorned with trad US brand McIntosh:

Some pretty chunky Rotel kit in the "more affordable" dem room

The shop also has a purpose built home cinema room, equipped with an acoustically transparent screen and a 5.5 system that has a subwoofer per channel - they're in-wall (custom install) versions of the B&W 800 series speakers CT8LR, CT8 CC, each with the CT8 SW subs.  All of this is built into the room, and apart from the screen and projector, the speakers are all hidden behind black cloth normally - but they're all flood lit for those times when you flick on the lights and impress your mates!  The audio kit is all in a rack in the main shop space.

We got a completely different reception at the other smaller hifi shop we called in on.  We went to listen to some Magico speakers, but they'd been sold.  We weren't offered an alternative listen, so after a quick browse around the shelves (there weren't many of them), we left after about 5 minutes - I didn't feel very welcome here.  Good luck to them :(


FORUM VISITS

We managed to squeeze in visits to a couple of Linn forum members systems too.  It was a busy weekend!
The first visit was to L who doesn't normally live in Vancouver, but visits frequently and stays with a relative in the city.  Back home, it sounds like L has some impressive systems spread across his home. Here in Vancouver, things are a little more modest given the "visitor" status of L - its impressive that he's allowed a system in the Vancouver house at all really.  He must be a very welcome house guest.
That visitor status is important, as it completely dominates the choice of system we listen to.  A Linn Klimax DS/2 is tucked under a couch, lying on its top, there's a Manley tube pre-amp and a very rare power amp, a First Watt SIT-2. Design pursuit is of Class A single-ended, zero feedback amp with a single gain stage (the simplest circuit ever in a solid state amp).  This system feeds into a pair of Omega single full range driver speakers - the mid-bass section of this driver is made of hemp and there's a "whizzer" cone in the centre to produce the higher frequencies.  The whizzer section is unusual in its size - its not far short of the main cone in size, and in the way it curves to almost run parallel with that main cone.  In a nod to the visitor status, these are quite small floorstanding boxes, very shallow and placed close to the wall, despite their rear port. They're MaxHemp Alnico with 8" drivers:

From www.omegaloudspeakers.com

The speakers were sited in what seemed a less than ideal position, and I'm sure L would find a better position if the circumstances would allow.  But here's the great thing about this system.  At low volumes (ie in the way it has to be used), it's dynamic, the music flows well, there's absolutely no shoutiness nor harshness and there's surprising quantities of both frequency extremes.  Turn the volume up and things are less coherent. L didn't demonstrate this, but if you go up to what most audiophile listeners would say is starting to get to a listenable volume, apparently things don't go so well with the cones struggling with higher power inputs.  But that's really not at all important here. What L has achieved is a fantastic sounding system that works exceptionally well at low volumes, it's very discrete, plays music and keeps the home owner happy.  Marvellous.

Apparently, according to L, the system has a flaw - its incapable of distinguishing the difference between speaker cables of under 100ft in length.  Sometimes it's difficult to spot when L is being controversial or when he's just winding you up!

We are joined, during this session, by another forum member F.  We listen to some music from various sources - CD rips, high res and vinyl drops, before moving out to the curry house.  Over a very good and flavoursome spicy meal, we discuss audio technology, music, the forum, some specific threads and member inputs and the time goes very quickly.  We say our farewells to L and head over to F's place for some more tunes.

Now here we find a complete contrast to L's system.  We have what is pretty much a large dedicated listening room, vinyl as a source (LP12 - Kore, Cirkus, Ekos2, Trampolin, Lyra Kleos cartridge, t-kable, Lingo, Linto), plenty of amps, big fat cables and a pair of Linn Keltik speakers.  A long way from the wall, large, black, and dominating the space.  But they're no ordinary Keltik - they're what's known on the forum as Killer Keltiks, rather modestly.  Being a facsimile of a pair developed in Scotland by another frequent forum contributor, they feature the standard Linn isobaric bass drivers, but much more modern mids and tweeters.  Being driven actively allows for the power amp attached to each driver to be tweaked in output to allow for the new drivers having different sensitivities to the originals.  Pre-amp is Classe CP-800 Power amps are Bryston 9b sst for the bass, Lejonklou Tundra Stereo v1.2 on the mids with the treble being driven by a Tundra Stereo v2.  We also listened to some digital via  Ifi ilink and Ipower (USB digital correction) from a Windows PC based source running foobar2000.

It wasn't too long ago that I heard a fairly standard pair of Keltiks (albeit with the later model 038/2 tweeter that was never fitted to production Keltiks) at the Linn factory event, but they were driven there by Klimax electronics and ended up using the Linn Exakt system.  So a very different front end and amp to F's more traditional incarnation of an active system.  Recent changes have been to positioning - winding the spikes out to provide full clearance from the floor covering, and bringing the speakers further out from the wall. We listen to a few discs and this is a very different experience to P's and L's systems - maybe sitting somewhere between the two.  Not the immediacy and speed of the Exakt Akubariks, but neither the gentle politeness of L's system running the Omegas.  The Keltiks are much more "solid" to listen to and carry real weight to the bass - probably more than the Akubariks, but its a softer, more rounded sound.  The mid drivers deliver some great, smooth vocals and the tweeters avoid some of the slight grittiness of the original drivers. It would've been good to stay a bit longer here, but it was late and F has a family to prioritise.

It was great to meet L and F - both very different characters, rather like their systems.  It only dawned on me later that their systems did reflect something of their personalities, or maybe the beer at the curry house had me imagining this!  A very enjoyable evening and really good to put faces and characters to the names on the forum.  When you meet these guys, its much easier to understand their forum posts and you can map the words to the character and therefore much better understand the intent they are trying to purvey.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN EXAKT LAND...

So the rest of this post won't be in any particular chronological order of what happened when - mainly because I can't really remember, but also because it doesn't really matter.  The subject will be P's Akubarik Exakt system pictured below.  In the main, we listened to music a number of times of the weekend, but also dabbled with some surround sound music too.  Sessions ranged from about an hour, up to the longest which was about 4.5 hours.  4.5 hours of uninterrupted music listening - what a luxury!

P's Neat Looking System - after tidying of disks from floor :)

Each time, before listening, the system was played for about 20 to 30 minutes and the room was "treated".  This involves covering the TV with towels, moving the acoustic panel (seen leaning against the window in the picture above) to the left of the left speaker, and, when its going to be a long session, a blanket on the coffee table.   The room extends well beyond the left speaker and the acoustic panel helps to simulate a more "regular" room shape.  More on this later when considering room optimisation stuff.

Paul has put much effort into his system, and used the David Brailsford approach, which I very much approve of.  David Brailsford (and his team of coaches, nutritionists etc.) have been responsible for the very rapid rise of world class cycling in the UK - both the national team and Team Sky, taking several Olympic Golds and a few wins at the Tour de France.  Much of this success is attributed to optimising every single small aspect of the team's approach to the sport.  Training, diet, team coherence, every nuance of the bikes, stage by stage analysis and tactics, measuring, monitoring testing etc.  And its been very effective.  Small optimisations all add up in a compound way, effectively making the whole approach more than the some of its parts.  So what's this got to do with P's system?  Have a look at the "full frontal" picture below, consider the use of towels on the TV screen, the portable acoustic panel and you'll start to get the picture.  How much of this is effective I can't say because we didn't tweak this stuff whilst I was there, but P has messed about with it extensively.

Some examples can be seen in the picture.  The most obvious is the mains cleaning equipment. Being a condo probably makes this is potentially more important than in other types of accommodation. Bottom left under the cabinet is the medical grade Environmental Potentials wave correction box that feeds the whole system.  The AEDSM, Oppo and Classe processor feed from this via the lower centre mains conditioner which is from Shunyata.  The power amps and the Akubarik modules are fed directly from the EP box, not using the Shunyata. Not seen in the picture are the upgraded mains cords from Shunyata.
Under many of the components there are P's isolation devices - they're IKEA bamboo chopping boards, no less.  Inspired by the proliferation of bamboo in hifi at the moment (for example Quadraspire racks, the Booplinth for the LP12), P gave these a try and is happy with the changes they make to the sound.  But there's more - how they are supported in the cabinet has also being experimented with - a number of materials tried, but the current "hook side only" of some chunky Velcro strips are the preferred solution for the electronics - for the centre speaker it's 4 discs of Sorbothane.  It the picture above, its possible to see the isolation platforms underneath each of the speakers - these are essential for P to be able to turn up the wick a bit.  The condo structure has a habit of transmitting bass into the other apartments - in particular the apartment 2 floors directly below.  So the platforms are Subdudes - essentially 2 cloth covered boards with a sponge type absorber between them.  P reports that not only do they help the neighbours, but they improve the system sound too.  Result!  Apparently the position and toe-in of the speakers has been amended a number of times too - partially as a result of the speakers "running in" and partially in response to some of the software updates Linn have applied to the Exakt filters that determine how the speakers behave in terms of crossover points and slopes, phase correction of the drive units etc,

Full Frontal Exposure

So how does it all sound?  Well, in a nutshell, its stunning.  The seating position isn't very far from the speakers and fairly close to the rear wall which has some curtains and some absorbent treatment, so its not something I'm aware of when listening (unlike the B&W room at the hifi shop!).  The Akubariks tend to be pretty good at keeping control of the bass in a more conventional active system, their downward firing driver being good at dispersing the bass rather than firing it at walls and therefore emphasising standing waves.

I'm very familiar with the Akubariks in their original analogue active configuration - having heard them in numerous systems and locations - and I'm very fond of the way they sound.  However, in Exakt terms, they've been OK, but not the huge step on from analogue active that I was expecting. Until now. P's system simply demonstrates that Exakt and SPACE room optimisation really have to be set up with some care and attention to deliver their potential.  I'm not sure Linn have got their heads around how to get this message out to dealers as yet, or to train them fully in the benefits of spending some time on this stuff.  P's boxes are loaded up with the latest in firmware from Linn on the DSM and the Exakt filters and whatever Phil Budd has done with those bass roll-off filters just before Christmas 2015 is staggeringly effective.  Bass is amazingly deep for such compact floorstanders (I'm pleased P doesn't use a subwoofer - it would be overkill and probably unpleasant in this compact space) but it is also very very well controlled - punchy, tight, tuneful, full of subtleties and nuances.  I select a good few tracks over the weekend in an attempt to find a way to trip-up the bass, but its just great, all the time.  The tightness, slam and tune of (what appears to be) a bass guitar in Funkerman's "Speed Up (ATFC Remix)" is both driving and compelling to listen to.

Add on to this the expected sophistication of the 3K array and that's the frequency extremes and female vocals sorted. As usual with the array, there's oodles of detail, but it has this great balance of immediacy and speed, mixed with a subtle sense of delicacy.  No nasty edges, no shoutiness.  The complex cymbals in "Dark Day" by Blues Company are clear, distinct and shimmery.  And there, right there.  That's right the imaging is the best I've heard from any pair of speakers.  With the right recording the vocals stand proud of the mix and hang in the air above the coffee table.  Its almost surreal. And, just to note, P is essentially teetotal, so there was little to no additional relaxant involved in these listening sessions!

We listened a lot to music as the system delivers just that.  I know there are those that are concerned about all the processing going on, and they've probably heard some less than well set up systems that will reinforce those concerns.  But here it is all about the music and the emotional messaging.  Great stuff.  Is this the best system I've heard?  No, but then it does have a lot to compete with, particularly the Exakt and Solo powered Linn Komris, or the Exakt and Solo driven Kudos T-808.  But it wipes the floor with so many much more expensive (and less expensive!) systems I've heard at shows in the past.

P asked a number of times over the weekend about what I thought needed tweaking.  I couldn't think of anything - but then that's often the way when you hear a great system for the first time.  Its only over the weeks that sometimes flaws gradually work their way into the listeners conciousness.  We did mess with a couple of areas though.  First it was the ethernet cable to the streamer.  P uses some cables built locally but they're essentially unbranded but selected components - connectors and cable and I think they're Cat 6.  I'd taken along my Chord Anthem cable and we tried that in and out of the system a couple of times.  It drops the noise floor (one of those noise floors that you don't really notice is there until something takes it away), adds some more subtle details to vocals and bass lines and takes nothing away.  For me, this was a success.  We also tried a number of combinations of Audioquest Jitterbugs in the USB ports on the NAS.  If these made any changes they were extremely subtle and perceived changes weren't repeatable.  We conclude that there's no benefit from those devices in this system. The blanket on the coffee table makes a nice difference too.

We talked extensively too about how to get the best out of Linn's SPACE room optimisation tool. It does an adequate job of calculating room bass nodes and then notching out the appropriate frequencies to negate the boominess they cause.  But it really is only a starting point and P has spent a lot of time and effort changing and gradually improving the way they work in his room.  The room is an awkward shape and doesn't fit easily into Linn's room measurement requirements.  The left side of the listening space is open to the rest of the room which is essentially L shaped, but the far wall isn't a straight wall and has steps in it, plus there's a kitchen area that adds complexity.  So P has gone with some basic set ups, then performed tone sweeps from 30 to 250Hz, measuring the relative volume across those 1Hz steps. This has lead to some changes to the node frequency centre points, the width of the notches in addition to the depth of those notches. Also some ability to play with custom filters in the 120 to 140Hz range to experiment with the effect on vocals and any upper bass / lower mid harshness.  By way of demonstration, P tweaked a couple of settings by very very small amounts - such as 0.01 of an octive combined with 0.3dB of notch depth.  Its surprising how much difference these small adjustments make to the sound.  I need to get stuck into this with my own system.  At the same time, it emphasises the need for Linn to ensure their dealers understand this stuff and the impact it has as the potential for awful sounding systems is enormous, matched only by the potential for some great results too.

Environmental Potentials

Apart from the fantastic sound of this system, the main thing that has stuck in my head of the past couple of weeks since returning home, is the 4.5 hours solid listening time. Completely immersed, enjoying the music, the time flew by and at the end of it, absolutely no sense of fatigue or "that's enough".  It was a case of being dragged away really.

What of the other bits of kit then?  Those Linn Akurate 212 rears and 225 centre in particular?  P likes to listen to music recorded in surround whenever the format is available an these speakers, combined with the Oppo player, the Classe processor (upper centre) and additional Linn Akurate 4200 power amps (far right in the cabinet) provide those extra dimensions.  They will do a great job with movies too of course.  The rears are probably a little compromised by the dimensions of the room, being essentially next to the listener rather than behind, so sitting forward onto the edge of the sofa helps a little with the overall effect (see picture below).

Bringing Up The Rear - Linn's 212 Speaker

P spins up some surround discs of concerts, DSOTM, some studio tracks and I try to get dialled in.  It works best with the eyes closed, to remove visual distractions to help with the illusion.  In some tracks I really get this - for example a Steely Dan track where the extra dimension is used to spread the band front to back in front of the listener - this really works well.  But on the very next Steely Dan track you're plunged into the middle of the band and I just don't get this, it feels very false.  And the worst is when you're plunged into the middle of the band, as if you're on stage with them, but the band is the wrong way around.  An example is where the singer is in front and the drum kit is behind me  (so I'm behind the singer, facing the audience then) - yet the drum kit is still arranged as though it's in front of me, with the hi-hat on my right and the toms on my left.  Maybe I'm too picky, but that's just a distraction from the music for me.  P really loves it though, and its great that he's found a system that does this for him.

But lets not end on that note, lets go back to the stereo music and the day I was due to fly back.  P likes to ensure there's plenty of contingency time when doing stuff like catching planes and had decided when we needed to leave for the airport to make sure I would be there with oodles of spare time to spend my cash in the terminal.  But we didn't stick to that.  We were very much into the "one more track" groove.  I still got away on time to catch my flight, but not with P's very generous amount of contingency time.  It was difficult to drag ourselves away.  And that's a big compliment for any system.  Well done P, your set up, tweaking and tuning has paid handsome dividends.

With many thanks to L, F, Hifi Center and particularly to P for their welcomes and warm hospitality. An excellent weekend of visiting and music. And to P, L and F for their excellent editing duties on this post.

Glossy Black Towers. PMC Twenty.26

PMC? ATL? Not a letter K in sight?  What's going on here?

If you've been paying attention (hopefully!) then you'll be aware of Linn's movement towards their Exakt proprietary technologies.  These are, inevitably, focussed heavily on delivering to their own range of loudspeakers - either built into the speakers or delivered via Exaktbox digital crossovers / DACs which permit the use of any kind of amplification. However, as with the SPACE room optimisation algorithms, Linn is planning to support non-Linn loudspeakers.

So there's a bit of long term planning to be done before future system changes - see the review of the Kudos Super 20 from a few weeks ago which describes how I've gone from active to passively driven speakers to open up the options, which was the first of those longer term steps. So what of Linn's own speakers as options?

Well the Akubarik is a speaker I've been keen on since it was launched about 3 years ago, and something of an aspiration. It used to be available in passive (any amplifiers you like and make it active with Linn amps if you wish) and an active version with the active crossovers and amps built into a module on the back of the cabinet.  It comes with Linn's Exakt technology now - you need an Exakt compatible DS or DSM, so its not a straightforward speaker upgrade, its a complete system change (although many existing DS/DSM products can be upgraded to Exakt by Linn).  And the standard active version is locked to Akurate DACs and Majik+ amps.

My Klimax DS/1 was upgraded to KDS/2 in 2015, part of that upgrade includes the addition of an Exakt output, so that part is future proofed to an extent (I say to an extent, because I would need a music only system to use that function, as it stands, using Exakt on my DS would not integrate into my 5.1 requirements). Now, when thinking about Exakt options, I would really like to stay with Klimax level DACs, having been used to them for some time.  In Linn terms Klimax > Akurate > Majik in sound quality.

Why is this relevant to choosing speakers?  Well, the Akubarik (the obvious and desirable direction to go within the Linn range) has 5 drivers in each speaker cabinet.  For Exakt, that means a 5 channel Exaktbox (which would include 5 DACs) per speaker and 5 channels of amplification per speaker.  The Akurate range includes a 10 channel Exaktbox which would do the job, but, of course, only includes Akurate DACs.  To stay at Klimax level DACs requires a Klimax Exaktbox which only comes in a 6 channel version.  So that means 2x Klimax Exaktboxes.  Plus 10 channels of amplification of course - which, in Linn terms is 5x Twins or 10x Solos. Gulp. Double Gulp.  Not really sure that the room is big enough for 12 boxes of amplification and crossovers.  And that's before considering the costs involved in that lot.

My concern is this:  Exakt Akubariks at Klimax level has ceased to be aspirational, it has become something that could be achieved with a lottery win, but otherwise is highly unlikely to be attainable for me, even after a few years and used examples becoming available.  So whilst Exakt is impressive technology (I've heard it sounding good and not so good - it seems to be very dependent on a good installation / set up process), it doesn't look like an option whilst staying with Linn speakers.

I mentioned earlier that Linn are looking to extend Exakt to non-Linn speakers.  So perhaps there is still an option out there to progress the system that remains attainable and doesn't exclude Exakt as an option for the future - or maybe even makes it more possible than with Linn's speakers?  This is a limited range at the moment - B&W 802, Kudos T-808, Kudos Super 20 are the ones that are available.

A PMC Twenty.26 option is due to be announce in Feb / March 2016.  The B&Ws are out for three main reasons - they're big and I don't particularly like the look of them, they're very expensive and I'm not a big fan of the super smooth sound they make.  The T-808s I've heard a few times and really like them, but they're also too big in 2 dimensions - physically and financially.  So the Super 20s were tried a few weeks ago (results here - thanks again to Richard for their loan) and here, its time to give the PMCs a try.

How do either of the Kudos or PMC options mean that Exakt is still an option, when Linn's own speakers don't? Simple - fewer drivers.  The Kudos have 2 drivers per speaker, the PMCs 3 drivers.  So a pair of either of these can be supported by a single 6 channel Klimax Exaktbox and 2 or 3 Twin amps.  Still a lot of dosh, but significantly less than demanded by a pair of Akubariks.  Plus, they're not locked into Linn and keep other options open.  One more thing to mention here - Kudos don't yet produce a dedicated centre channel speaker, but they do offer to build a single C10 with horizontal branding for use as a centre.  PMC offer a dedicated centre speaker. Linn don't offer a centre speaker at all, above Majik level - very short sighted.

PMC Twenty.26 with drivers exposed.  Masking tape in place to indicate the position of the Majik 140 speakers - helps as a starting point and helps when re-positioning the Linns in the room

Any confidence in the PMCs before getting them into the listening room?  Yes and no.  PMC speakers haven't been on my list of favourites in the past.  The transmission line seems to have delivered a slightly detached bass, leading to confusion of the musical timing.  However the Twenty.26 has been at quite a few of the hifi shows reported on here on Audiophile Musings.  First at the Bristol Sound and Vision show for their launch back in February 2014 when they sounded excellent and to me, more enjoyable and musical than PMC's own FACT 12 demonstrated on the same day on the same system with the same music.  The FACTs were more detailed, probably a little faster, but most definitely not as much musical fun to listen to.  At the other shows I've heard them they've acquited themselves well too.  Which is as good as it gets for hifi shows as (read the reports elsewhere on here) they're often very challenging for the room hosts and most certainly for show visitors.  Getting a good sound at a show seems to be rare compared to the rooms that struggle to get a good result.  So bringing them into the pretty much exclusively Linn system at home wasn't a worry - its also interesting to see that Linn are supporting this speaker for Exakt, seemingly without PMC's support (although that's not an official position from either company), so there must be some respect for what they do, up in Glasgow.

Shiny cabinets installed with industrial looking drivers.  Not so obvious from this picture are the 2x large foam covered transmission line vents at the base of each cabinet 

With the help of Paul at Hifi Lounge (dealer visit report on here soon), even though I was a completely new potential customer for them, a pair of demo Twenty.26s were made available to take home for a week.  They're in "diamond black" (PMC speak for piano black) which wouldn't be my first choice of finish, but the best they do in terms of fitting in at home - the other finishes are Amarone (a reddish wood), walnut and light oak.  They're about 50mm taller than my current Majik 140s, but they look much taller than that - I think its the visual effect of the narrower front baffle emphasising their height.  At least their height means that the top is not visible from the listening position - so at least the dread "dust on gloss black" won't be obvious when listening.

I'd prefer a matt black (black ash perhaps), but the quality of the piano black finish is absolutely superb - faultless in fact.  They lean back about 5 degress (the stand extends out the back to provide apparent stability, but its really an illusion as the spikes are directly under the corners of the speaker cabinet, not the back corners of the stand) to provide a degree of time alignment of the drivers.  It was this lean back that caused most of the "domestic acceptability" discussion, rather than the finish itsself. Once the grilles were fitted that is. With the grilles off, the 3 different drivers and their mounting bolts lend a rather industrial look.  The grilles are full length, feature a PMC badge near the bottom and are held in place by magnets which are both very strong and very accurately placed which ensures the grilles align perfectly with the top and side edges - they're very well done.  With the grilles on, the speakers are quite discrete, despite their size.  PMC themselves are a much larger and older company than Kudos, with a wider range of products and their origins in the professional world, not that is particularly relevant really.

Having picked up the loan speakers from Hifi Lounge (with a week available to play with them), they were unloaded at home, which was no mean feat as, although they're not massively heavy, their boxes are very large and therefore challenging to manoeuvre.

Unboxing

Having watched Paul box up the speakers, it was easy enough to unbox them.  The key thing is not to lay them on their front at any time as that would be disastrous for the dome drivers.  Their box is sturdy, they're wrapped in a fleece cloth bag with the stands separate.  With the speaker upside down on a towel, the stand goes on easily with 4 allen bolts - allen key and spike spanner are included.  The instructions on tightening the stand bolts are very explict - after the bolts stop turning by hand, just turn them one half turn - this is to prevent crushing the large but thin cork washers that sit between stand and speaker - they form some kind of decoupling / damping role.  The stand is a substantial lump of MDF in matt black finish - makes me wonder what a stand like the sold metal M140 stands would do.  Something for later experimenting perhaps. Much later. Four substantial and nicely machined stainless steel spikes are provided.  These were left off during room positioning.

The rear is where the terminals are - there are 3 pairs of substantial gold plated posts that accept 4mm plugs, bare wire or spades - this allows for bi/tri wiring/amping.  As standard these three pairs are connected by gold plated solid rods to allow a normal single wired connection.

Around the front there is a 27mm dome tweeter right at the top of the cabinet (somewhat above normal seated ear height), a large 50mm mid-range dome (at around ear height) and a smallish 155mm bass driver with a large 90mm dust cap.  They all look well made and finished with the cabinet cut outs perfectly machined.  Well presented in terms of quality and finish, but rather industrial.  The pair of rectangular transmission line exit holes at the base of the cabinet are filled with a very rigid foam and not the most attractive of features. We preferred the look with the grilles installed - less distracting that way.

Looking much smarter with the grilles in place.  This is how they stayed

Positioning

These are probably the least position sensitive floorstanders I've had in the room.  Perhaps this is a contrast to the Majiks which have large rear ports, the PMCs are front facing and subject to a lot of damping /  absorption / tuning as the soundwaves travel along the 3.3m internal advanced transmission line (the ATL in the opening paragraph above) - with only very specific frequencies making it to the outlet.  With Linn's SPACE optimisation switched off, Van Damme 4sqmm cables connecting the Klimax Chakra Twin/Dynamik power amp to speakers and starting from where the M140s normally stand, they worked very well in the start position and moving them back and forward by up to 150mm has some effect on the bass response, but not as much as normally experienced.  Settled on them being about 100mm further forward than the M140s, but due to the sloping of the baffle, this ended up being only about 5mm further forward when measured at the top of the cabinet (although the cabinet itself is deeper than the M140).

Best imaging was experienced with a little less toe-in that the Linns.  In my room I don't get the ideal equilateral triangle of speakers and listening seat.  So toe-in (or not) is critical to getting the best imaging.

Once the positioning was complete, spikes were installed and each speaker levelled.  Levelling needs to take place on the stand, which is good for not having to put a spirit level on that piano black lacquer.   A small spanner is provided for tightening the spikes.  Seems that this is deliberately short so as not to over tighten the spikes.

SPACE Time

Linn provides for the Twenty.26 within their ever expanding list of speaker options for room optimisation, so that was easy enough.  the laser "tape" measure came out and the new speaker positions entered into the settings in Konfig.  The algorithms do their stuff and the usual result - 4 room nodes and too much attenuation at each frequency position.  The result was a bit flat and distinctly lightweight.  About 3 hours of messing with the settings (using Linn's guidance instructions) gave me this set of notches.  I think there may be a bit more to do, but this is working well for now. The light grey are the calculated settings, the blue dip at around 25Hz and the green dips are the settings I ended up with.  Perhaps this is a reflection of how these speakers are not massively position dependent in my room:

Listening

Lets get on with some proper listening.  Again, as per the Kudos review, I will make comparative comments to my M140s, the Kudos Super 20 and the Linn Akubarik - only the Akubarik hasn't been in my room, so those comments are based on hearing them many times in many different rooms and configs. Not perfect, but that's often the way it goes with this hifi lark - perfect and back to back comparisons are not always possible.

The speakers are the demo models, are about 15 months old and as such, should be run-in, if such as thing is necessary for them.   What are the initial impressions?  Well, a certain amount of solidity to bass notes, a very even treatment of all frequencies and lots and lots of fine details.  There's a sense of speed to the sound too - something more immediate than the Linns, but not as insistent as the Kudos. Without the grilles there's something edging towards sibilance - but never actually getting there - the grilles tone this down a touch.

I leave them playing to themselves for a bit at moderate volume.  Each time I return to the room, there is something very striking about the continuing even treatment of the full frequency range. Even at only 40 (out of 100) on the volume control (normal, properly focussed listening volume is in the 60-65 range in my room), there is that serious and solid bass going on.  Nice, I like that - good for when the kids have gone off to bed.

So, once they'd been playing a while, a selection of choice choons get loaded up into the playlist and some proper music listening gets underway.  Nils Lofgren, Deadmau5, Yello, Thea Gilmore, The Black Smoke Orchestra, Ian Shaw, Tuung, Jamie Woon, Asa, Daft Punk you get the idea - a fair amount of variety gets thrown at the PMCs.  And there's one clear aspect of them that stands out time after time  - their ability to play a bass line that's solid, stable, tuneful, complex and, when needed, visceral.  Evaluating using Tune Dem (for those Linnies out there) is no challenge at all.  Following the tune is child's play, but I'm quick to realise that the tune can be much more complex than I'm used to.  Towards the end of Daft Punk's Georgio Moroder track (on Random Access Memories), there's a crescendo section that builds and builds in volume, but the bass guitar's part also builds in complexity and speed.  Its a revelation - playing this far more clearly than the Kudos, with resolution the 140s can only dream of, and from what I remember of the Akubarik, the 26 plays it with a greater sense of timing and boogie factor.  At the end of the track as the "click" slides down the scale it ends deep, rich and solid in the room. Goosebumps!

Black Books from Lofgren's Acoustic Live album is a favourite track and again, the guitar playing is demonstrating many more subtleties, attack and complexity. Where has all that information been hiding? Asa's Bibanke (from the [Asha] album) lilts along beautifully - again that tuneful bass is clear - on the M140s the double bass is playing a simple few notes but with the 26 there are a good few extra (but very quiet) in-fills in between the main bass line.  Those extra elements enable the tune to be followed that bit easier.  On this track, the drums are played with wire brushes - now the drums are not only distinct, but the kit seems to have a space to itself in the mix, with the floor tom responding to a hit from the brush with the usual thud, but its preceded by the "bong" of the taut drum skin. Impressive.

What about imaging?  Well, its different to both the Linn and the Kudos.  Its more precise and stable than the Linns, just as deep, but it projects only a little into the room, but further back behind the speakers.  I think the Kudos has the edge on image depth, but the 26 is a little more stable.  Its easy to place instruments in 3 dimensions, on a well recorded track.  Playing some Nitin Sawhney and some Ficci demonstrates the ability to throw sound as if its coming from behind or the side wall - there's some clever processing applied to these tracks.

And vocals?  Stunning.  Perhaps that mid range dome is doing something clever here (both the Kudos and Majik 140 use quite large drivers for the critical mid-range) - with less crossover involvement in the vocal range.  Hugh Masakela on Stimela (Train Song) live is full of subtleties, dynamic contrasts and nuances.  Snappy when needed, smooth and fluid in the quieter passages.  Giovanni Georgio's voice stands out in his Daft Punk opening monologue, but the chatter behind him is still clear, as is the tune of the underlying bass line.  There is still a hint of sibiliance that never turns out to be delivered - but this may be a facet of the Klimax Twin amp as much as anything else - as I noted when comparing this amp the the Lejonklou Tundra, in mid 2015. On The Weeknd's Can't Feel My Face, there is a breathiness to the chorus vocals that just doesn't exist on the Linns.  The voice remains distinct throughout the tracks too, rather than being partially obscured by the instruments. Funkerman's Speed Up (Alix Alvarex Remix) has strong, deep, solid bass lines, but they underpin the driving nature of this track, they don't overwhelm it.  There's quite some authority here.

These speakers also deliver exceptional detail in the treble.  But its subtle - the ability to hear the difference between strokes /  hits on a cymbal, clicks and pops in electronic music such as Yello or Trentemoller snap and crackle but don't grate.  A great example of this is demonstrated on Funkerman's Speed Up (ATFC Remix) there are some castanetish sounds that clatter in space around and in front of the speakers - clear as you like. There's a world of difference between a speaker that does exceptional treble information, and one that throws treble energy out there to make it seem like there's loads of detail.  The difference here is difficult to describe - but lots of treble content isn't the same as lots of treble information.  This aspect is one of the Majik 140's best attributes - detail not quantity, the PMCs doing something similar but with more subtlety, faster transients and extra finesse. And more details.

As with the Kudos Super 20s, Richard kindly loaned his Naim Super Lumina speaker cables, so they were put into the place of the van Damme 4sqmm blue cables and more listening was done.  These cables allow yet another level of detail through - they're not revolutionary, but they do work well. Those bass lines are given an extra level of solidity - on Deadmau5's Avaritia (from While 2>1) the main bass rhythm hits like its in the room.  Is there a downside to these speakers?  Yes. Its an intolerance for severely compressed music.  If you like that ultra compressed pop stuff, then these are not the speakers for you.  They show it up for what it is - a travesty.  Mild to moderate compression (most stuff, lets be honest) is fine, but there's no hiding rubbish production values here.

So there we have it.  I guess I could go on more about the various aspects, but it would be more of the same really, just different tracks.  These speakers have authority, control, articulation, detail, superb image stability, and a sense of effortless delivery, at least when fed by my electronics.  So, it looks like, after 25 years of Linn speakers (only Keilidhs and Majik 140s, but with different passive / active configs and a number of different amps), a choice has been made. How would I characterise them? Well - using the Linn line - imagine the subtlety, detail and finesse of the Akubarik, but with the joy and boogie factor of the Linn Keilidh.  So the Akubariks are no longer an aspiriation. The PMCs won't be going back to the shop.

Grilles on, position finalised, and they're not going back to the shop

For those interested, please visit http://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=6 where the Linn speakers, amps and active cards are available for sale  :)