Grayson Dere
Moderator
More
- Preamp, Processor or Receiver
- Integra DTR 7.8
- Main Amp
- Class D Audio: SDS-470CS
- Additional Amp
- Shellbrook Audio Hybrid Head headphone amp
- Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
- Sony UBP-X700
- Streaming Subscriptions
- Origin Live Aurora MKIII turntable
- Front Speakers
- Vandersteen Model 2
- Subwoofers
- SVS PB-2000
- Other Speakers
- Grado SR 325is headphones
- Screen
- Elite Screen 120"
- Video Display Device
- JVC DLA-X75
Over this past weekend I had the pleasure of taking part in the 360 speaker launch event (Saratoga, CA) for Scottish hi-fi brand, Linn. Linn CEO, Gilad Tiefenbrun, was present at the event and spoke at length about the various technologies, including some industry firsts, that make these speakers so profound in the hi-fi industry. There's a lot of detailed descriptions about what goes on inside these speakers on the Linn website, so I've included the 360 landing page link at the end.
Now for the fun stuff!
During the event, various music tracks were played (Qobuz streams), which covered a wide range of instrumental and vocal complexities, to show off how well the 360s could manage delicate acoustic guitar string plucks, heavy orchestral scores, intimate jazz vocals, and deep bass tremors of modern EDM. I've listened to many speaker systems in the past that convey great imaging and tonality, but the 360 speakers go beyond that and actually provide a sense that the musicians just entered the room to play. It was fascinating that no matter what genre of music was playing it all sounded fantastic and very life-like. There was zero listening fatigue at loud levels and at all times I was able to pick out and follow individual instruments from the mix, no matter how complicated the music was. I can't quite explain how the speakers manage to do that, but Mr. Tiefenbrun says it's a combination of features that result in extremely low distortion, which in effect produces very realistic sound. A number of engineering aspects including state-of-the-art cabinet design (ultra thin multi-layered curved Beech wood), Adaptive Bias Control, and Power DAC technology are key technologies in the 360s that allows them to convey realism and close to no coloration.
I could go on and on about the astonishing sound quality coming from the Linn 360 speakers but you really have to listen to them for yourself to understand the experience. Even if you're not in the market for speaker upgrades you should listen to them just to have a glimpse into how far speaker technologies have come to enhance our joy for listening to music. If I had $66,000 (pre-tax) to spend on a new setup, these would be the speakers I would run, not walk, to buy
Also, a quick shout out to Deondra and Jeremy of Basil Audio for hosting this wonderful event. Thank you, both!
https://www.linn.co.uk/us/speakers/360
Now for the fun stuff!
During the event, various music tracks were played (Qobuz streams), which covered a wide range of instrumental and vocal complexities, to show off how well the 360s could manage delicate acoustic guitar string plucks, heavy orchestral scores, intimate jazz vocals, and deep bass tremors of modern EDM. I've listened to many speaker systems in the past that convey great imaging and tonality, but the 360 speakers go beyond that and actually provide a sense that the musicians just entered the room to play. It was fascinating that no matter what genre of music was playing it all sounded fantastic and very life-like. There was zero listening fatigue at loud levels and at all times I was able to pick out and follow individual instruments from the mix, no matter how complicated the music was. I can't quite explain how the speakers manage to do that, but Mr. Tiefenbrun says it's a combination of features that result in extremely low distortion, which in effect produces very realistic sound. A number of engineering aspects including state-of-the-art cabinet design (ultra thin multi-layered curved Beech wood), Adaptive Bias Control, and Power DAC technology are key technologies in the 360s that allows them to convey realism and close to no coloration.
I could go on and on about the astonishing sound quality coming from the Linn 360 speakers but you really have to listen to them for yourself to understand the experience. Even if you're not in the market for speaker upgrades you should listen to them just to have a glimpse into how far speaker technologies have come to enhance our joy for listening to music. If I had $66,000 (pre-tax) to spend on a new setup, these would be the speakers I would run, not walk, to buy
Also, a quick shout out to Deondra and Jeremy of Basil Audio for hosting this wonderful event. Thank you, both!
https://www.linn.co.uk/us/speakers/360
