I also have an MHDT Labs Dac. Which one do you have? I have the Istanbul Eagle edition. It has been a winner for me.
Wow. The Stereophile review seems pretty spot-on (confirmed by J.A.'s measurements). Placement issues aside (maybe get some foam bungs from your dealer for the ports?) these seem like a great choice for folk who can't afford the bigger Harbeths, Grahams et al.
I read the review and am not surprised that they gave them such a good review- but for reasons other than the way they sound. No doubt these will be sold by the truckload- a very nice play by Wharfdale. As far as sound quality goes I would rather listen to the KEF LS50s any day of the week (all of a sudden Stereophile are critical of their class A darlings? ) Very interesting.
I got the MHDT orchid, along with WE396A. This is my first DAC I hope it’s a winner too! Well, the bass isn’t that great honestly. And I don’t think I can place them 3 or 4 feet from the rear wall. I have to play a really good source or pressing to like what I hear. Even tidal and Spotify sound not that great. Oh well, at least they are lookers!
Yeah, because Reichert never once said anything complimentary about the way they sound: "The properly positioned Wharfedales, driven by the 100Wpc Rogue Stereo 100 amplifier, loved Alice Coltrane. Her A Monastic Trio album (44.1/16 FLAC Impulse/Tidal), which features Pharaoh Sanders on bass clarinet and Alice on piano, has rarely been so easy to disappear into. The opening track on this reissue, "Lord Help Me To Be," is dizzying and hallucinogenic, but on a number of systems I've heard, it sounds strident and/or dynamically flat. Here, it sounded tuneful, supple, and dynamically alive. The bass was nicely detailed and robust—not "wobbly" at all. Already, I realized something important about the Lintons: When they were in the system, I found it quite difficult to have critical thoughts about sound quality. Every time I tried to analyze what I was hearing, my mind went back to the music. I wondered, Is this their defining trait?" And: "Those of you who venerate beryllium-dome tweeters may find the Lintons' high frequencies too discreet. But I thought the Lintons' tweeters delivered unobtrusive, well-described highs. They did extremely well at depicting the lifelike tone and tactility of Robert Marsteller's trombone. They made Roy D'Antonio's clarinet sound woody and physically tangible. With this simple recording, this speaker, and this amplifier — plus the Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue moving-coil cartridge — the Lintons disclosed their complete palette of audio wonders. With the Line Magnetic LM-518IA amp, the Lintons sounded so completely open and relaxed that they made the KEF LS50s sound unnaturally uptight." And: "The XA25-Linton combo brought the Érard's keyboard and soundboard into my room. The short decays of long-string notes were rousing and vivid. Short-string notes offered long decays. Melnikov's left hand was all impact and tone. Steel-string soundboard textures were explicit." And: "The LS50s play tight, super-coherent, and subjectively fast with a wide range of amplifier types. The LS50's bass is always taut and tuneful. But the overall sound leans to the left brain. In comparison, the Lintons sound less focused but much bigger and fuller and right-brain rich, with soul and good timbre. The KEFs play the sounds well, while the Wharfedales play the songs well." And: "With the right amp and careful setup, both speakers deliver truly exceptional flow, but the Lintons used this excellent flow to direct my attention toward melodies, beats, and subtle shifts in rhythm. The Wharfedales injected musical awareness directly into my consciousness, while the Magnepans encouraged me to sit back, relax, and let them impress me with their beauty, scale, and depth of soundfield. As I said earlier, the Lintons' chief goodness was in how they took my mind off the sound and put it on the performance. The Maggies do this also, just not as much."
I thought the Reichert review was very positive. Anything that makes you forget about sound, and just enjoy/appreciate the music/performance -- is surely what it should all be about ... right?
I was being sarcastic, in case anyone was wondering. Reichert talks about the sound of the speaker constantly and in glowing terms.
forget about the sound and enjoy the music? one of the most common say nothing phrases in audiophile jargon. if I hadn't listened to the lintons with my own ears and proclaimed them the worst sounding speaker at AXPONA (by far) I would be more inclined to take the review at typical review face value.
yes and now we have left brain / right brain speakers. hopefully our left brain is connected to our left ear or we are all in big trouble......
Show demos are most often bad. The Demo they did at Bristol UK received positive comments but I skipped the show this year. Comparisons via the dreaded Youtube video suggest to me that review v LS50 is pretty close. Wharfedale sounds more like music than the LS50's detailed deconstruction of a tune. I really don't like what I have heard from those KEFs. You aren't going to get real bass out of a small cabinet but a big wide box like the Lintons should have a good chance. I would expect a £4K speaker to be a lot better but given Chinese build and mass production the Linton's could be close. Maybe Harbeth should worry if it wasn't more to do with the badge than the sound for many buyers. I suppose this gives some idea how different these speakers sound.
A quote from the Stereophile review, "The KEFs play the sounds well, while the Wharfedales play the songs well. Personally in my audio journey I have reached the "Play the songs well" point. I've been restructuring my system to do just that and maybe I will still buy a pair of Lintons.
Sounds like she's singing through her nose with the Kef's. No body in her voice, she needs a good sub.
I felt they were one of the worst sound, or maybe most disappointing is better for me, at AXPONA as well. The Stereophile review though, especially JA's measurements, makes me want to hear them in a proper setting.
I have had the linton for a little over 2 months now, 10inch in front of the wall, and the bass mid-bass is very pronounced yes, but still well defined in my open space. To my ears, the lintons retain the sound signayure of tbe dentons 80, with stronger and deeper bass, much bigger soundstage, and they are much more holographic, and overall more refined. I have had the ls 50 also, which is a different animal, objectively smaller size and soundstage, more neutral, far less colored, but better ? I'd say one offers something than the other does not. A matter of choice of compromise in this price range.
meaningless audio review phraseology. all of a sudden the long running class A KEF LS50s can't play the the songs (music) well? I owned them and they played the sounds great and the music quite well. The lintons did neither when i heard them.
Possibly a re-do might give them a new light but if you can't make them sound decent for the biggest audio show in the US- why even bother. Too many other options out there.....
A couple weeks ago I went to audition a pair of M30.1s a local guy was selling. With my audition in his room, I was totally unimpressed with the speakers. To be fair to the Harbeths, he had just moved in and hadn't optimized his room. To make matters worse, he had them on 18 inch stands which I'm guessing was the cause of the muddy/boomy bass. He warned me about the stands so I brought a pair of 30 inch stands which made them sound worse. On the high stands female vocals by Ani Difranco were just plain hard on my ears. I thought briefly about asking to take them home so I could hear them on proper stands in a treated room, as they were pretty. On the bright side, I think I made a new audio friend, and he lives 10 minutes away.
