Here's a forced ranking of all the speakers I have owned, from my most favorite to least favorite: 1) Magnepan 1.6QR, 2) Eros MKII (Wayne Jaeschke design), 3) Linus 2, 4) Vandersteen 2Ce Sig, 5) Klipsch Cornwall, 6) Vandersteen 1C, 7) Bottlehead Straight 8, 8 ) Infinity Reference 2000.3, and 9) Bose 201 Series IV. The Linus ranking at #3 assumes it's set up with a subwoofer. With no sub it would fall between the Vandersteen 1C and the Straight 8.
Except for ranking the Bose last, it was hard to do this ranking because each of the above speakers has its own unique personality, and a lower ranked speaker might be far better in one area (e.g. midrange clarity) than another that I ranked higher. To further complicate matters, some speakers, like the Vandersteen 2Ce, are like a good B- student; they do nothing exceptionally well, but they don't do anything badly either. Others, like the Bottlehead Straight 8, do some things very well, but they have an Achilles heel (in this case a very obnoxous 10dB treble peak at 3khz, which Bottehead later fixed with a revised crossover design after I had sold mine).
Back to the Linus. It's a budget speaker in one regard: it uses inexpensive drivers ($20 woofers), which predetermine that it can't perform at the potential level of a speaker that use far more expensive drivers, like the Eros, ($60 woofers), the Excellarray, etc. But the Vifa woofers and Silver Flute tweeters used in the Linus are very good budget drivers, and the well designed Linus 2 crossover using quality components does minimize the disadvantages of low-priced drivers; THe Linus 2's don't sound like budget speakers. I hear only two characteristics I would like to improve: 1) With some program material the lower midrange sounds a bit too warm for my ears, and 2) The F3 point is in the 70's, which requires a subwoofer to experience the full impact of most music. However, I was able to mostly overcome the midrange issue by carefully choosing a synergistic amp to drive them (the Consonance Ella tube amp) and by lining the cabinet interior surfaces with eggcrate acoustic foam in addition to the recommended polyester stuffing. The low bass limitation is overcome with the addition of a subwoofer, and the good news here is that the Linus' sealed cabinet design enhances the transition from main speakers to the sub.
Now for the things I like about the Linus:
Soundstage: They sound really big. With the volume cranked up for the Saint Saens Organ Symphony #3 it's not exactly like being in Notre Dame cathedral, but it's the the closest I've heard with any two channel stereo system. Very much like the bigger Magnepan models in this regard. In spite of this impression of size, on some more intimately recorded disks, like Patricia Barber's Modern Cool, the sound is very focused. Her voice comes from dead center with no hint of sound from either speaker. The sweet spot is large. Even when I sit directly in front of one speaker, the center image, though not a focused, is still clearly between the speakers.
Freedom from distortion: There's someting to be said for ten woofers moving in and out one tenth of the excursion distance a single same-sized woofer cone would be moving to product the same level, especially when listening to music played loudly. Additonally, the Silver Flute ribbon tweeters have that characteristic ribbon sound (or the lack thereof). They are not quite up to the quality level of the Magnepans or the Eros' $80 Scan Speak 9500 tweeter, but they do surpass the Vandersteen's treble clarity by a considerable degree.
Efficiency: The 95dB efficiency rating understates how loud these speaker really do sound at typical listening distances. The Ella amp does 20 watts in triode mode or 40 watts in ultralinear mode. I have not found the need to use the 40 watt mode with any material including large scale symphonic, choral, and organ music.
Dynamics and speed: They surpass all the other speakers in dynamics, and all but the Magnepans in speed. I'm especially impressed with the attack sound of plucked strings, like the acoustic guitars in Nils Lofgren's Acoustic Live album. It has much more impact than any of the other speakers I'm using for comparison.
Ease of construction: This is important with a line array. The Linus sealed design with braces between each two woofers, but single layer 3/4" mdf construction, is simply a process of building a long narrow box and routing holes in it. Additionally, the single layer mdf construction means they are light enough for my wife and I to carry one up the stairs by ourselves. A 200 pound speaker that I couldn't move around wouldn't be much use to me.
Price: Twenty Vifa woofers, sixteen Silver Flute tweeters, plus decent quality crossover parts for $900 would be hard to beat. The total cost, including $150 of veneering, was about $1,250. I did replace the supplied Solen caps with Northcreek Zen and Harmony caps, and some of the Madisound air core inductors with Jantzen copper foil inductors. The Northcreek caps offered a clearly audible improvement over the Solens.
Appearance: Men say "WOW". Women ask my wife, "You let him put those big things in here?", to which I have trained her to reply "Size does matter, you know!"
Dealer integrity: When I called Rick Craig to ask some pointed questions about such things as the audible effect of the low priced drivers, the relatively high F3 point, etc. I expected a sales pitch, but was surprised by his honesty. He did not present the Linus as "the world's best speaker", and the way he described the sound was exactly the way I hear them today after taking the plunge.
These speakers definitely are keepers.
