LINN: Sara speakers - a true story
HP writes:
I never really cared for or about Linn Sara speakers, but some reviewers did and that drove prospects through our doors at Subjective Audio, most of whom had already decided to buy them – so sales were pretty much a foregone conclusion.I carried out a number of Sara installations, never thinking to peel back the foam grille front cover to take a look at the drivers.
Unknown to me, Linn had applied protective parcel tape over the tweeter, and this was to be removed during installation. So a number of pairs were out there with the damn tape still in place. Yes, of course I listened to the speakers during the installation as indeed did the customers. But the Linn machine was so relentlessly effective in those days that we all took the view that if that somewhat muted top end was the Linn way, then who were we, any of us mere mortals, to argue?
One customer upgraded via us from his LP12 to a Pink/Breuer/Van Den Hul MC1. I installed it. I nearly refused to take his cheque. The top end was dismal. This Pink combo surely couldn’t be responsible? And then I remembered. When the customer left to make us coffee, I removed the adhesive tape. The sound improved and that was that. I didn’t tell him.
Progressively I worked through the installed base and depending on circumstances either removed the tape secretly (as part of the general tune up I occasionally offered) or came out directly and admitted my errors.
Many of the customers knew each other and to one I jokingly said that it was a prototype Linn treble filter using a unique mechanical interference technique via a secret material designed to anonymously look like ordinary parcel tape. It got around within the ‘circle’.
It’s worth noting that two of that group contacted me to ask me to replace the aforementioned albeit mythical ‘filter’ as on balance they really preferred the sound with it on. Both were using LP12s.
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