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View Full Version : Linn Isobariks - Worth anything now?



Lodgesound
13-12-2011, 18:05
I have a pair of Linn Isobariks with outboard passive crossovers and wondered if they were worth anything more than scrap value now?

They have new grills fitted and all seem to work ok.

Have had a lot of opinions on this but wondered what the more experienced folk on here have to say on the subject.

Welder
13-12-2011, 18:07
Nothing wrong with Linn Isobariks imo.
I certainly wouldn’t be scrapping them.

Thing Fish
13-12-2011, 18:14
I have always wanted a pair of isobariks...:drool:

PM sent...

Barry
13-12-2011, 18:16
I have a pair of Linn Isobariks with outboard passive crossovers and wondered if they were worth anything more than scrap value now?

They have new grills fitted and all seem to work ok.

Have had a lot of opinions on this but wondered what the more experienced folk on here have to say on the subject.

I know this will be not be of any help at all, and probably what you don't want to hear, but in my opinion the Linn Isobariks were one of the few designs that to my ears were the worse I have ever heard. I thought they were awful! I thought them worthless then, and I have not changed my opinion. :(

However the drive units are worth something, and no doubt the cabinets are well made. It could make an interesting project for someone to use these, get away from the isobaric design, and make a set of speakers that actually sound decent.

Ali Tait
13-12-2011, 18:36
If they are in good nick they still go for good money on ebay etc.

DSJR
13-12-2011, 19:21
I think the minimum a pair of passive 'briks has ever gone for is around £500 - £600 and later ones with the high-power mid drivers and better? cabinets should fetch rather more. If yours default to active easily, then that will give them a huge advantage, as the majority of passive examples I ever heard (from all periods) were most inferior - IMO.

Active drive of late ones is better if you leave the underpowered Naim amps out of it (six 135's will just about manage 108db before strain sets in when I tested a mate's "six-pack" set), but use a set of proper pro amps capable of 4 ohm drive and they should be pretty devastating.

The best Isobarik's I EVER heard were a 1977 chipboard PMS set driven by three bolt-up 250's, with early matching NAXO, SNAPS' and 32. Absolutely wonderful, this set were stunning on radio 3 as well as his LP12/G707 and Supex900E. An ittok and subsequent upgrades made the system sound worse IMO.

spamnap
02-05-2012, 17:04
My Isobariks are my pride and joy, they sound fabulous with rock and blues which is mainly what I listen to. They have a wonderful bass which I have not heard the like of from other speakers (I have owned quite a few) and whilst probably not the most accurate I think the most musical. I use a Naim 200/202 combo with them and have no problems driving them.

Jim

DSJR
02-05-2012, 17:55
It's the midrange that's the trouble, and those weaned on the better BBC derived monitors (not just Spendor BC1's but LS5/8's and LS5/9's too) and Quads just find the typical 'brik midrange hollow, tubey (on good ones) and screechy and fatiguing on a bad pair. Going active removes a fair old dose of this, but the bright balance remains, depending on the smoothness of the midrange drivers.

The 'brik box was highly resonant too in the upper midrange, the extra so-called rigidity built in, pushing the box modes right up to where the midrange driver took off. Stick your ear at the centre of the side panels for proof..

Not being very complimentary am I? Active late ones with smoother, non Naim amps could sound really good and the Linn Bingo-fitted crossover took the infra bass to another level :eyebrows:

Marco
02-05-2012, 18:02
My Isobariks are my pride and joy, they sound fabulous with rock and blues which is mainly what I listen to. They have a wonderful bass which I have not heard the like of from other speakers (I have owned quite a few) and whilst probably not the most accurate I think the most musical. I use a Naim 200/202 combo with them and have no problems driving them.


Hi Jim,

Welcome to AoS :)

On your next visit, please pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community, telling us your approximate geographical location, what system you've got, and what music you like, as this procedure is now required of all members.

Cheers! :cool:

Marco.

Barry
02-05-2012, 18:09
It's the midrange that's the trouble, and those weaned on the better BBC derived monitors (not just Spendor BC1's but LS5/8's and LS5/9's too) and Quads just find the typical 'brik midrange hollow, tubey (on good ones) and screechy and fatiguing on a bad pair. Going active removes a fair old dose of this, but the bright balance remains, depending on the smoothness of the midrange drivers.

The 'brik box was highly resonant too in the upper midrange, the extra so-called rigidity built in, pushing the box modes right up to where the midrange driver took off. Stick your ear at the centre of the side panels for proof..

Not being very complimentary am I? Active late ones with smoother, non Naim amps could sound really good and the Linn Bingo-fitted crossover took the infra bass to another level :eyebrows:

I found they had absolutely no focus at all, with a soundstaging and imaging that was so unstable it almost made me seasick! :spew:

:sofa:

Marco
02-05-2012, 18:11
But, but, they BOOGIE and have PRAT to die for!! Are you deaf, man? :D

;)

Marco.

Barry
02-05-2012, 18:19
But, but, they BOOGIE and have PRAT to die for!! Are you deaf, man? :D

;)

Marco.

Agreed they did boogie, and no doubt had PRAT, but I couldn't suffer to listen to them for long enough to appreciate that.

Tonal fidelity and imaging are more important to me than deep bass, dynamics and PRAT to the exclusion of all else.

Do you know of any recording studio, broadcaster or quality control monitoring suite that uses/used Linn "Army Barracks"? :scratch:

Marco
02-05-2012, 18:32
Linn Records? :D

Only kidding.

Marco.

Barry
02-05-2012, 18:53
Linn Records? :D

Only kidding.

Marco.

:lol: I hadn't thought of that - you could well be right!

Marco
02-05-2012, 19:12
Carol Kidd's dulcet tones, mixed on 'Briks - now there's a thought!

Marco.

DSJR
03-05-2012, 08:28
Carol Kidd was never mixed on 'briks, I can assure you :lol:

I've said it before, but I HAVE heard 'briks sound enchanting. Memorable ones were a bolt-up-250 active pair with original SNAPS and NAIC's (12S pre) and loads of listening on tuner as well as LP12/G707/Asak T. Our demo passive pair sprang to life on a Quatre/QMI Gain Cell amp with could give 800WPC into 2 ohms. Clear sound, not at all harsh and a proper ability to drive the 3 ohm 'brik loading. Driven thus, the 1979 vintage 'briks could out speaker the original 801 and KEF 105, which both tripped out their protection circuits..

A last special shout to Jimmy Hughes, who had a few pairs of PMS active 'Briks through his hands. OK with his bolt-up 250's, they sounded SOOOOOOO good with his three Krell KSA50's..

Passive isobariks with weedy Naims? Forget it, the amps just don't have the power, any of them, and a NAP500 may not drive the load if it's bridged for voltage drive, rather than double-mono'd (don't know) for current output.. Gawd, even Avondale are moving away from that 1950's RCA PA amp circuit..... :rolleyes:

Marco
03-05-2012, 08:50
The Carol Kidd thing was just a giggle... :D


Passive isobariks with weedy Naims? Forget it, the amps just don't have the power, any of them...


...which is why the best ones I heard were driven by 250W Stealth monoblocks, like these, each with a 1500VA tranny inside:


http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9129/stealthamp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/stealthamp1.jpg/)


http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/888/stealthamp2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/641/stealthamp2.jpg/)


They most certainly had no problem driving Briks, but which still 'farted', when certain bass-heavy material was played too loudly! :eyebrows:

I owned their ECS cousins, for a while, before they were ousted in my system by a 30W Chinese valve amp....

Marco.

Clive
03-05-2012, 09:08
I remember hearing 'briks at Congleton Hi-Fi, it was one of those demo evenings. Everyone in room coo'ed and was in raptures....except me. The sound wallowed in fat bass. Warm and cuddly - far more so than any moon-face Jensen capacitor! (sorry that's another thread). That's not to say they couldn't be great if setup and driven properly. All this demo showed was poor setup and the level of Linn indoctrination my fellow listeners had received.

DSJR
03-05-2012, 11:53
I bet the bass problem was the deck (LP12 in its most fruity period) and setup loosely on a Sound org table which magnified the plump bass and the 'briks were passive ones?

Clive
03-05-2012, 12:38
Passive briks and REALLY wobbly bass drivers so the LP12 was doing bad things. My 301 and Salvation don't do this!

DSJR
03-05-2012, 12:46
http://www.mickandviv.com/pfm/DMSHiFiforPleasureReview.pdf

Lodgesound
04-05-2012, 13:00
Mine have the outboard passive crossovers in the stands. I tried driving them with a class A Hill Chameleon power amplifier rated at 2Kw per channel into 4 ohms.......(the amp also functions as a handy room heater!)

They certainly sounded surprisingly good.

DSJR
04-05-2012, 13:53
Those in-stand crossovers are frightening and someone I know of is trying to drive them tri-wired from the amp with a NAP500 - silly billy......... :lol:

I did hear a pair as above with a Nakamichi PA7mk2 and it wasn't bad at all, but bass was a bit lumpy...

nat8808
04-05-2012, 15:17
All you need to do to see if something is worth anything is to google it...

Google 'Linn Isobarik ebay' or 'Linn isobarik sale' etc err, not hard to find out tbo, it's all at your fingertips!

Mr Kipling
06-05-2012, 19:27
Hi,

I do remember James Michael Hughes of Hi-Fi Answers changing his Krell-powered Isobaricks for a pair of passive Arcam Twos costing £199. Some thought he'd gone off his head.

Kind Regards,
Stephen

Darren
09-05-2012, 12:32
Hi,

I do remember James Michael Hughes of Hi-Fi Answers changing his Krell-powered Isobaricks for a pair of passive Arcam Twos costing £199. Some thought he'd gone off his head.

Kind Regards,
Stephen

But those of us who'd heard Isobariks knew it was just plain common sense.......

DSJR
09-05-2012, 13:43
Jimmy and I were firm friends at the time and he went through many speakers between his active 'briks and Arcam 2's.. His last pair of active PMS 'briks were MDF ones from march-April '83 I think and they sounded fine to me. He still had them in storage just before he married, but I have no idea if his wife made him have a clearout of all his unused audio stuff, of which there was a collection I think ;)

With decent and well set up anciliaries, I think most of you would be amazed at how good supposedly humble speakers can be. The Arcam 2's weren't a large speaker at all, but the drivers were competent, the boxes fine and of course Jimmy delved inside them and did all sorts to wiring and crossover parts, in the same way the 'brik tweeters were wired straight out with DNM I recall, these wires oozing from the goo around the top tweeter and down the back panel. He kept those little Arcams for a good few years before the Impulse ones came along, and then the bodging started all over again. I must admit the DNM amps he was using did sound rather fine in a delicately lit kind of way. Denis tended to modify them each batch though, but I understand all of them can be tuned up and serviced now to all but current specs and they fetch great money on the used market.

Darren
09-05-2012, 16:44
I remember reading in hifi answers how the editor (Keith Howard) was surprised by the level of resolution JMH was achieving with the Arcam 2 DNM combo. It apparently excelled when played at low volumes.

Darren
09-05-2012, 16:46
Didnt JMH use a Russ Andrews modded Linn LP12? I seem to remember a Torlyte sub chassis pre dating today's trick Linn bits by over a decade.

DSJR
09-05-2012, 21:47
Jimmy and I lost touch in the mid 90's and his main deck then was a "Belted" Roksan, the arm on which changed occasionally, although I think he used a Roksan arm on it latterly?. The LP12's were stock apart from the Valhalla kits sitting naked on the floor, his main one fitted with a much loved Zeta I remember.

Was it all twenty to over thirty years ago now? memories are vague on detail, but the vibe was like last Sunday when I look back. Happy innocent days for me...

Martyn Miles
24-04-2017, 19:53
Carol Kidd's dulcet tones, mixed on 'Briks - now there's a thought!

Marco.

When Calum Malcolm, the recording studio engineer, was setting up Castle Sound Mk.1 he was looking for a pair of monitors.
Ivor T. insisted his new Isobarik speakers would be the thing.
Calum said that after a few hours they sort of 'popped' given the rigours of the recording studio.
He told Ivor he thought they were crap.

I bet that went down well with Mr. T.

ff1d1l
02-05-2017, 23:30
Yes, I don't believe they were ever used as studio monitors, domestic or professional.

I had a pair way back when,well two pairs actually, and ended up running them with a Krell KSA100. Had this set up for over a decade.
They, on occasion and with the right music, sounded, I thought at the time, pretty good.
Then I lucked into a pair of 12" Monitor Golds, and stuck them in fairly rudimentary and resonant MDF cabinets.
Even driven with the Krell (subsequent amps pleased the Tannoys rather better) they absolutely demolished the Bariks, even in the bass, which was supposed to be Bariks forte. But the Golds (rubber surround) went lower and cleaner and with more definition. And were better in every other area - presence, dynamics, soundstage, PRAT (oh yes), and, the clincher, enjoying the music.

I sold one pair, and my parents have the other, so I still get to hear them regularly. They are relegated to my folks's conservatory system, as I gave them a tatty but excellent sounding pair of JBL 4410s (now they're PROPER studio monitors), and the Bariks were moved out and downstairs in short order as soon as they heard the JBLs.
They mainly have r3 playing through them when I go round, and its a lousy sound - not true to the instruments, and thin and reedy somehow. I heave a mental sigh of relief when it goes off.

I ended up putting the Golds in braced and plaster filled cabinets, and using silver crossovers with them. I've had them longer than the Bariks now. Do I miss the Bariks? No, I just feel vaguely resentful. You know those adds that say "no time wasters?" Sort of like that.