Hi, Thank You. I'm asking You because i think that with very bright sources Linton's can be too sharp in trebles region (btw its not so nice) .With dark sources Linton's can be too muddy with too expansive midrange. In my opinion Linton's need neutral/little warm sounding amp with some EQ. Linton's respond very well to EQ.
I purchased the Linton's just about a month ago from Music Direct in Chicago. I have them paired with my Marantz 2270. The sales rep from Music Direct recommended Audioquest Type 2 Bulk wire. There are 2 red and 2 black in the cable. I just twisted the reds and blacks together to make 2 wires out of the 4. I was more than concerned about the gauge and the length of my runs but the rep thought I'd be fine and I am. They sound pretty good with the 2270 and sound a bit on the warm or mellow side. I had no problem installing the wire on the spring clips or attaching them to the speakers. The rep discouraged me from banana plugs as did one of their customer service reps when I called them with an installation question. In their opinion there was no need to add an extra element between the speaker wire and the speaker.
I hear what you mean... I like the Lintons tonal balance when paired with the 200 integrated, but I am not sold on this amp. It sounds too dry compared to the Marantz integrated. Therefore, I am going to keep looking for a class AB....
Hello all! first post here Been lurking for a little bit and have to say this is a great, very active forum full of knowledge (and opinions ) Question for Linton owners: Grills on or off? I've had mine for about a month and can't decide if there's a noticeable enough difference to go one way or another. I feel the high end is a bit more focussed to my listening position with grills on but LOVE the looks with grills off.. #Decisions
I don't hear the difference, but always have the grille on because me and the misses like the old school looks .
With beautifully finished speakers like Wharfdale and Harbeth, in a way its a shame to hide the woodwork, but they probably do sound better with grills on.
The grills cloth is quite acoustically transparent. The frame enables to stop diffractions caused by the baffle, so it is better grills on
Some manufacturers explicitly state that their speakers are designed to be played with the grills on -- eg., Harbeth. However, it's not like the mattress & grill police show up from the UK if you decide to play your Harbeths sans grill.
Interesting, I've never had a pair of Harbeths. Does Wharfedale say the same for the Lintons? My Reva 2s are much better with the grills off
I'm wondering if the Lintons would be a good choice for Prog-Rock and Metal music? (Tool, Rush, Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Steven Wilson, etc) I already have a pair of Klipsch Heresy IV with an SVS SB-3000 subwoofer as my main setup in the basement, but I want to buy another pair of speakers for my living room.
Yes, because speakers are built narrow nowadays to avoid diffractions, and they are better without grills... With the linton's, we're back to old school
I just think you'd want speakers that are more optimized for metal and hard rock, ie., faster, tighter, more extended high end, and less laid back presentation. Then again, in college, I listened to the acid rock (!) on a pair of big, boxy, rolled off New England sound Advents, and I was plenty happy. Your Klipsch are pretty cool, BTW.
I agree with your points. I have to admit that I was looking more at the Lintons than other brands of speakers because of their vintage look. Yes, the Klipsch Heresy IV are amazing and a match made in heaven with my music.
Thanks for the replies, more testing with grilles on and off last night and there definitely benefit from having them on. I love the look of them without grilles but on they go My 9YO daughter even noticed the difference saying with the grilles on 'the speakers were talking directly to her, with them off they are just talking to the room' which makes sense. Loving these speakers! I've actually used them to check/finalise mixdowns of my stuff before sending off to mastering and they are more neutral than I expected. I have a treated studio at home with room correction and a professional 2.1 setup (Genelec) and whilst the Linton presentation is quite different and less clinical, there's no huge gaps or boosts in the frequency range. The Wharefedales are exactly what I wanted for a living room system to just get lost in the music I use a sub to fill out the frequencies under 45hz FWIW, Anyone else using a sub with these?
If the goal is to keep the elusive magic of the Wharf's "talking to you," I would not use a sub. By that, I mean the intimacy of looking into the sound-stage created by the speaker, and keeping the bass within that sound-stage. If I wanted more bass with my Harbeth 30s, which are of the same British school as the Wharfs, with similar limitations on the true low end, I'd bite the bullet and go for the Harbeth 40s, which cost twice as much. If one could keep that "you are there" magic with a $1,500 sub, Harbeth wouldn't make the 40s. Same principal with the Wharfs, which are lovely, convincing speakers just as they are. Other's MMV.
Just my 2€ : when you get them set up in your room and you’re seated in your favourite listening spot, only you can decide whether you want the grills on or off. Other peoples opinions including mine are just that. I’ve had Linton’s for about a year now and have tried them with multiple amps and I must say good amplification is much more important than anything I’ve tried so far. I don’t believe the Linton’s are a speaker that you can be analytical about. They do nothing really perfectly but overall they’re just a nice speaker to sit back and enjoy the music. All the talk about speaker connecters, grills on or off, speaker cables larger than 16 gauge all of that stuff is ok when you’re trying to get the last 1 or 2% of gain in sound which most people cannot even hear. A good receiver or integrated amplifier from the 70s in good working order will be far superior to anything in the $2000 range of today. I’ll probably get a lot of flack for saying that, but if you’ve been around as long as I have, playing with audio, you know it’s true. Just say’n Enjoy the music
Not giving you flak I'm with you in spirit on a lot of what you say, but that is simply nostalgia talking as far as the amps. Like you, I loved those old amps in their day, and even blew up a few of them up. But $2,000 bucks today buys you a far better amp than all but a precious few of those old-timers.
Of course! as mentioned I've been through the process and decided to keep grilles on as they benefit their sounds. Amplifier choice, room and of course, the MUSIC you play obviously has a much larger impact on sound compared to grilles etc.. Not gonna dive into vintage amps vs new
Agree with you in some ways but if a speaker doesn't represent the full vocabulary of the music you're playing then you may be missing something on some tracks. I think I've found a sweet spot on the subwoofer placement, crossover and volume that doesn't interfere with the soundstage too much to my ears... I feel that if a sub calls attention to itself in a set up like this it's probably too loud or placement is off... I notice when it's gone but not when it's there if that makes sense. As a reference, my studio sub is eq and phase corrected to the room + other speakers and sounds glorious.. but turn off room correction and what a mess! I tried to attempt similar integration into my living room to keep the sub as discreet reinforcement. BTW I'd love to hear some Harbeths one day... might be dangerous to my wallet though
