I know my job is to tell you what the Linn Athenaeums sound like. If I had to put it very succinctly, I’d say they sound a lot like they look, that is they sound big, like live music sounds. They have the ability to transport you to a live performance in a way no other speaker has in my room. The music is energizing, life-size, and powerfully moving, in a way that is similar to how live music draws you in than most other speakers.
I know that if you play them with certain popular, though not all, transistor amps, they can sound bright and thin, Still, with my equipment they are ever so slightly on the dark side of HP’s yin and yang analogy. They are ever so slightly warm overall, but with a midrange that is incredibly alive sounding. The high frequencies sparkle nicely and the bass is deep, taut, and articulate. All of this comes out of an incredibly black and rich background. With my equipment, voiced for my room, the Linn Audio Loudspeakers have a big, rich, colorful tone, and a very natural presentation that is surprisingly agile and transparent. This is a sound I had not expected from a speaker in a 225-pound, dead cabinet with a crossover. One of my common complaints about modern speakers in dead cabinets is that they seem to have to work so hard to get the sound out into the room. While this is not a problem for the Athenaeum speakers, they still do not have the speed and micro-dynamics of my Teresonic Ingenium.
It is amazing how visceral the music is played on this system. Unlike my reference speakers, you can literally feel the music flow over your body in a very tangible way. This visceral experience is not limited to the bass; it’s that way across the full frequency range. Another amazing thing about the Linn Athenaeum speakers is how loud you can play them. I can honestly say I have never heard them sound strained, and remember I’m just using 10 watts per channel to drive them. On the other hand, while they play really loud they don’t start to come alive at very low volumes. On a recording that goes from really low volumes to really loud, I found they didn’t get quite as loud as some speakers do.
A few more general observations before we get to the meat of the review. A very odd, and for me, a very good thing is that I don’t remember once thinking about the soundstage. The space just seemed right. Singers sounded the right size and seemed to occupy the right space in such way that I just listened to them instead of thinking about where they were on the soundstage. Same thing with jazz bands, or even orchestras, the music just seemed big and powerful and I found myself much more enthralled in the music, not the stage size.
Now, don’t think this means they were poor at doing the soundstage thing. With them placed eight feet apart from center of one speaker to the center of the other, they completely disappeared in my room. I just never thought about it. Truth is, I didn’t think about it until I was re-reading this review and realized the words soundstaging, imaging, width, or depth had not appeared once on the review, so I went back and added these two paragraphs.
One last thing, I also noticed on rereading the review I have not used the word “transparency” a single time. This is quite amazing considering how important transparency is to me. Yes, the Linn Audio Loudspeakers are transparent, but not in a way that makes you say, “Wow, those are transparent!” Instead, I found myself listening to them in a more organic and holistic way. Now back to the review.
Specifics & plucked stringed instruments
Ok, it’s time to talk about how specific instruments sound over this system and then play some specific musical tracks.
I’m talking about guitars, basses, harps, and the like. The Athenaeums play these instruments in a way I have never heard before. They are a kind of combination of the best traits of the Teresonic Ingenium XR, the Audio Note AN-E, and the Shindo Speakers. They aren’t quite as fast on the leading edge as the Teresonic speaker, nor do you hear the decay and air inside and around the instrument quite as well as with the Teresonics. Still, they compete in these areas with Audio Note E speakers that cost as much as the Linns. What is so special about the Linn Athenaeums is how the plucked strings have such beautiful harmonics and tonal colors. Neither the Teresonic or the Audio Notes can quite match this. These tonal colors of strings are really something magical and rather hard to put into words. Now, what I don’t know is whether this is indeed a coloration or if it is what’s on the recording.
This incredible character of the sound is just as true when listening to a great guitar player. I have listened to Wes Montgomery, John Williams, Hendrix, Clapton and Chet Atkins for hours later than I meant to stay up. As different as each of their instruments and styles is they each sound beautiful and natural, with those great tonal colors.
I have developed quite a taste for bluegrass and again the Linns play dulcimers and dobros like no bodies business, with this beautiful tone but not as quick or with as much air as I would like. The same tonality, harmonics, and beauty talked about above still make for some of the most enjoyable classical listening sessions I can remember.
Violins, Violas, Cellos, and Most Importantly Fiddles
To me, bowed strings are a big test for any speaker. The Linns played these strings with the sweetness and air of real life. For example, one of my favorite recordings is King of the Cellist, Starker plays Kodaly. This is one of the most beautiful recordings of a cello I have heard. I find Starker’s playing to come across as quite intense, but full of feelings. When listening to this recording over the LAL, the cello was warm, maybe a little too warm, sometimes I felt I could hear it coming from the horn and the woofer. Also the cello sometimes showed the fact that I was listening to a two-way design.
Now, violins and violas sounded just as good as the cello, without the coherency problem. They were very sweet, at times downright liquid sounding, but never bright or strident. The emotions relayed as the bow is slowly pulled across the strings were very involving. They allow you to hear different layers and textures of the tones of the strings as you hear bow passes over each of them, though not quite as well as the Ingeniums. Massed strings were very visceral, full-bodied and extended while never being abrasive. The strings were both powerful and relaxed. It is simply amazing the powerful sound the string bass section of an orchestra can have when played through these speakers.
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