For $5000 I wouldn't consider any of those. But I am biased against the old fashioned box on a basket form factor.
Greetings all, OP here. I have returned to this thread to share where my audiophile quest has taken me since I originally posted. About 14 months ago, I purchased a pair of SVS SB-3000's. Once integrated into the system properly, those proved to be a significant upgrade to the low end richness and extension of my setup. They provided enough of a positive change, that I initially gave up on the idea of replacing the Linton's. My hunger for more mid-range and treble resolution was still there, but I had already shelled out a significant chunk of change, and decided that any further upgrade would have to come in the future. The Linton's stayed in my main listening area for the coming months. In the time since, I toyed around with the idea of upgrading my front end. I contemplated replacing my pair of Vidar's with a pair of Schiit Tyr's. I also considered ditching monoblocks completely for a stereo amp known to be exacting in resolution - such as the Benchmark AHB2 or NAD M23. However, I kept coming back to the conclusion that the weak link (and most important link) in my system was the speakers. I am happy to report that I recently purchased a new set of KEF R11 Meta's! They arrived in my listening room last week...boy, what a change! They are exceedingly resolving compared to any speakers I have heard before. The mid-range and treble detail/resolution is astounding! Not only that, but bass quality has improved as well. Bass is tighter, faster, and filled with more texture than the Linton's could provide. The soundstage is larger and imaging is more precise. The R11's seem to have solved the issues I had with the Linton's, without causing any issues (such as listening fatigue) that I read about with other brands - looking at you B&W. With the Linton's, music was fun to listen to. The sound was warm, rich, tight and they provided enough detail to suffice - actually, to an untrained ear (like a lot of my non-audiophile friends) - they sounded very detailed/resolving. They still hold a special place in my heart as the speaker that truly introduced me to this hobby. However, the R11's have trumped them in nearly every way. The Linton's have moved into storage for now, but my eventual plan is to have a secondary system upstairs with them as the focal point. After living with the R11's for a week, I'm already wondering what further upgrades to my setup - as mentioned before - could provide... Go figure, it really is a disease at this point... LOL! However, for now, I'm gonna put a lock on my wallet and just stop and smell the roses for a little while. With the R11's in my living room, the roses smell great! Thank you all for your advice! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the entire 17 pages of this thread over again. Cheers!
Congratulations @iNeedItGreasy I think your judgements were correct... Even if you had made the proposed upstream upgrades you're likely correct... the resolution limits of the Linton's would've limited how much those improvements could be communicated. Like you I remain very fond of them but also ultimately decided to move on. Enjoy your new speakers.
My Linton’s replaced a pair of Focals. I remember at first thinking the Linton’s weren’t as detailed or as fun to listen to. Then I really compared the two back and forth for weeks with the same albums. The Linton’s just sound so natural and musical! Smooth and not analytical at all. Everything I play through them just sounds “right”. I have no desire to upgrade and that’s the first time I’ve ever felt that about this hobby.
Hello everyone. New here. Thought I'd revive this old thread since I read through the entire thing. I have a pair of black Lintons on order. I have almost cancelled them several times reading over ton's of comments and whatnot all over the various videos and forums out there. I am replacing some Elac UB52's. I'm going to be trying some cheaper A07 Maxs in bridged mode with them (They really made the UB52's come alive.) I also have a Emotiva A2m amp I can switch to if the Linton's prefer it. I've seen more divisiveness over the Linton's than any other speaker. But I've also seen more people say things like "this is my end game speaker" regarding the Linton's. So I guess it's going to be a real toss up. To the Original poster. I think looking back at all of this, you really wanted and craved the new age Hifi sound, and from what I read the Linton's are something different. Considering you went with the R11 META to suit your cravings I think this is quire a leap to a different signature, no? Anyhow I realize the UB52's I have are relatively neutral as the Linton's are supposed to be. I am a tad worried about this supposed harshness in the treble and I hope I don't notice it or that it doesn't affect my set. I can't imagine if it's that big of an issue that these would be as popular as they are with many claiming they are at "end game". I'm quite excited now to get them as my curiosity is peaked beyond measure. I could choose 100 speakers, and maybe even build by own Criton's for the price. But the Linton's now have me super curious. The black makes them look a bit more modern IMHO. I am going to pair them with Dual RSL 12s subs. As I've read, and hope they can indeed cover all genre's as I love everything.. My musical taste is very diverse these days. I can get down and dirty with hip hop, or excited to a symphony. And of course rock out.. What gear I also have and used are, Emotiva B1+'s. (Not a fan of the tweeter)., Sony SSCS5 (Amazing value and great with subs, but the bass sure doesn't add any pleasantries to the mix). And my faithful Energy RC70s.. Which also have Kevlar drivers as the Linton's. Let's hope I join the Linton lovers club very soon here.. Hope you all had a great new year..
I think the problem with the Lintons is that they look like $5K speakers but sound like $2,5oo speakers, and that people ignore the fact that a $1,500 speaker that sounds like a $2,500 speaker is a damn good deal no matter what it looks like.
I listen to every genre of music and get upgrade fever quickly. Let’s just say after a year with the Linton’s Ive had no desire to hear anything else. I absolutely love them. Punchy as heck, great bass, smooth treble, they sound good quiet or loud, and take to tone control adjustments very well. My only recommendation (at the risk of getting flamed) is not to judge them too critically until at least 100 hours. Burn in is definitely real on these. Keep a sound log. At first I thought the bass was super boomy and it totally lacked treble. I didn’t like them at all. Now it’s musical bliss! Enjoy.
wow … they’re … $6500/pair ???!!! Yeah I HOPE they’re better. wow … I haven’t seen that much divisiveness. Maybe I just haven’t read the naysayers. I’ve said my piece. I love them. Yeah, at >2x the price there are better speakers I’m sure.
yeah every genre sounds great on these. Right now im listening to Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather and right before it Dolly Parton - Jolene, both sound mighty fine on them
I don't think I've ever hear someone say that the Lintons have "harsh treble". It's also not my experience that the Lintons cause great divisiveness. The only 'divisiveness' that I've noticed is that some owners say they need to break in, while others say they sound great right out of the box.
This thread is much more informative about the Lintons Wharfedale Linton Heritage 85th Anniversary Speakers
Thanks for everyone's input. The talk of treble being grainy is perhaps the better word than harsh. I mean in this thread alone there is a poster who gave them up due to this. The divisive talk I mention is out there in the comments of various videos. Especially Linton deniers (lol) like Danny Ritchie at GR research and Steve Guttenberg the Audiophilliac on his own YT channel made a comment in the comment section that the Linton was dull in his very unenthusiastic review of the Linton's. I'm going to take a chance on them in the hopes that they are musicphile as opposed to audiophile. They look stunning in black, and frankly I think all this hype over small bookshelf speakers as mains is getting old. We'll see!
It's not really a big controversy if you cite Steve Guttenberg who just very recently said who much he liked the Lintons. Yes, in his review he said the treble is "maybe grainy", but firstly, I absolutely don't know what he means by that, and secondly, he didn't find the Denton 85 grainy, which uses the exact same tweeter as the Linton, only with a higher output. And again the same tweeter is used for the Dovedale 90th Anniversary and that speaker is listed for $7000. So if it's good enough for the Dovedale, it should be good enough for the Linton.
I see your point, but I think "grainy" is a very good antonym for "smooth" a term I easily understand in the treble context. Note also, that even if the tweeters are the same, the crossovers may not be, especially since the Denton is a two-way. I suspect that the Dovedale, which is a 3-way, has a more boutique crossover than the Linton could afford at that price.
They (Linton , Denton, Dovedale) all have what some crossover parts gurus would call "cheese plates". The sound is tuned with these type of parts, not with fancy boutique parts. I'd say, if you are happy with the sound, don't change it! I have both the Lintons and the Denton 85 and the treble of Linton sounds smoother (Denton sounds sharp and fatiguing, I have to use a resistor to bring down the nasty peak in the treble). I think Guttenberg, to be credible as a reviewer, merely felt he needed to balance his positive review with some mild criticism (or maybe he just like elevated treble).
Funny, I'm the opposite--i think the Linton top end gets a bit too in your face after a while, whereas the Dentons are drier and more controlled My only criticisms of the Lintons are that they aren't more balanced and that they can sound a bit mushy. But they're always super fun, and mate well with lots of amps.
That's a rare opinion (especially your claim that the Lintons have in-your-face treble) and one you can't back up with measurements. They are actually very linear, hence why I like them. Maybe to some listeners linear translates to "mushy? We are talking about the Denton 85, right? They have more clarity but that's because of the treble peak. The brilliance area (around 12 kHz) is exaggerated, which cause sharpness. Some people may like that. BTW, I'm not entirely sure whether I've seen the crossover of the Dovedales ... I might confuse it with the Mission 770. So I have to take back my comment that it's another "plate of cheese", you know, the cheap yellow and white components (which I have no problem with).
One thing I stopped bothering with is the treble and bass tone controls on my amp with the Linton’s. I used to obsess about finding the perfect all around setting and then I realized that because the Linton’s were delivering the source material so well, that I was changing the settings for each album. I happily now just let the Linton’s give me whatever the recording has baked in and I’m comfortable thinking that I’m hearing it the way I should be. Other speakers I’ve had were not this way at all.
