Hello
I am hoping someone can give me some advice on the following.
I have recently acquired a vey nice clean pair of Linn Isobarik speakers. These are the later ones with the crossovers in the stands. They do not say PMS or DMS on them.
I was wondering if i can use the following Naim equipment with them:
Nac 72 pre
Hi cap
and 2 nap 140.
My questions are would the two amps be powerful enough?
And if so how do i connect the amps to the speakers?
I guess i will have to cut some of the links on the crossover?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
What year were the Briks made, or what serial are they?
The serial numbers are 006933 / 34
OK, they defo have the 4ohm crossover - wasn’t 100% sure if that coincided with the move to external stands.
I was using a single 140 yesterday no probs. Even a 110 will drive them but will be a bit thin sounding and stuggles when things get busy. Obviously an olive 250 is worth trying cos of the synergy with the 72 and it will give you all the control you will ever need and more resolution. To be fair, I’ve not tried 72/HC/140 which I’m guessing will sound quite well balanced as well.
I never got on with bi-amping - better sound, worse music, but you should defo try yourself as some folks like it
Great thank you for the information. Do you know what i would have to do to the crossovers to use the two 140’s?
I have no idea how you bi-amp Briks but don’t understand why you would need to modify the passive crossover. Bi-amping means you’ve got one amp for each channel, leaving one channel unused in each amp.
If you’re worried about power/control and then a single 250 should be much better than 2 x 140s. A serviced olive 250 should not be much more than the cost of two 140s.
EDIT: thinking about it, don’t you just take two feeds from the Hi-Cap and plug one into each amp. I’m sure there is a 2-amp option on the rear. Best wait for someone to confirm, such as @Richard.Dane
Yes i see what you mean. I am getting a bit confused!! I thought i could use one amp for the bass on both speakers and the other amp for mid/high. This would mean i would have to separate at the crossover i.e cutting the link between bass and mid/high.
Briks are 3-way so the passive crossover splits the signal between the treble, mid and bass units.
The only way to do what you’re thinking of is to go active where an external crossover unit (i.e. SNAXO) splits each channel in 3 (left treble / mid / bass, and right treble / mid / bass) before sending to the power amps.
The Hicap provides up to three stereo pre outs via the DIN4s.
Thank you i think i am starting to understand. So if i was to biamp i would only use one channel of the amp output per speaker. Does it matter what channel you use?
Nope.
ok, would it still be stereo?
I think best to wait for someone to confirm that’s done it, but thinking about it, each amp must be getting the entire signal for each channel, so you’d need to connect the left channel on amp 1 to the left speaker, and the right channel on amp 2 to the right speaker. but like I said, best wait for someone to confirm
Will do. Thank you for all the advice you have given me.
Biamping is something different. You are talking about using one amp for each channel. You’d simply connect the Ch1 of one 140 to the left speaker, and Ch2 of the other 140 to the right speaker. Whether it sounds appreciably better than a single 140 is something you can easily find out. In theory it should be a little better.
The 140s really aren’t up to the Isobariks. If you are planning to keep the speakers you’d be best selling the 140s and getting a 250 or a pair of 135s.
great, thank you all for your help
For what it’s worth, and I know nothing about the bricks. The 140 was not enough to drive the Spendor D9 satisfactory so if the bricks are as much of a load or more than I’d agree with @anon4489532
I still have my Isobariks DMS with the crossovers in built. I used to drive them CB 32.5, Hi - Cap and 250 for over 30 years but although I still have the Isobariks and have moved on the amplification front.
The Naim amps did wonderful service in all that time.
Regards,
Martin
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.