Brikin' It !

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Charlie1
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Brikin' It !

Post by Charlie1 »

Seems I may have an opportunity to buy some nice Briks. Not seen them yet though.

They are the last iteration before the Kustone was added, so they include the 4th order crossover. I'm told this is the best version.

I have Mr Vereker's comments ringing in my ear, courtesy of TomOK, that the CB 110 cannot drive them so what about a bolt down 160? It's quite a soft mellow sounding amp with very little kick. The 110 has tighter with more kick ass bass.

Perhaps a CB 160 would be better - I've read that they sound less mellow but not experienced one myself. And then there's the CB 250 which I know will drive them no probs but I find it less musical than the other two.

What about the front end, will Valhalla LP12/Ittok/mm be good enough?

They would most likely go in the office (room above double garage), which I assume comprises plasterboard on wooden battens stuck fixed to an exterior stone/breeze block wall. Floor is suspended wood ceiling.
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Tony Tune-age
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Tony Tune-age »

Charlie1 wrote: 2020-02-07 19:22What about the front end, will Valhalla LP12/Ittok/mm be good enough?
Congratulations on your Isobariks Charlie. As long the deck is properly calibrated, and nothing is worn out or broken, it will perform very well. Needless to say, it's important to have a nice phono preamp and preamp, along with a stable and strong power amplifier.

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Brikin' It and Kikin' It!

Post by Ron The Mon »

Charlie1,
Tom was specifically speaking of the era when the Isobariks had the Cannon connector on the back. There have been several versions after that.

The later versions with external crossover sound much better and are far more efficient. A NAP110 will work just fine. I have been running my Isobariks for around five years with two 110s run mono. I can play them quite loud and haven't blown any drivers, or hear any audible distortion. Not only have the amps never shut down, they have never even gotten warm to the touch.

In the later Isobariks, the drivers are wired in parallel with one crossover. The older versions have two crossovers wired in parallel with three drivers per crossover.

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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by lejonklou »

Go for the Briks!

I always thought they had a bass that was close to unparalleled. Keltiks had more punch, but was the bass really more musical? Ever since those days, it's been a rollercoaster in that area. The lack of really good bass has haunted me for a long time now, it's definitely where I'll start when I make a loudspeaker. Really good bass is difficult to accomplish and close to impossible to measure, so most engineers don't have a clue on how to go about it.

It was many years now since I last heard a passive pair. Many Briks in Sweden were made aktiv, so those seem more common to find here, but a few years ago Anthony told me that there was something special about the passive version. That renewed my interest.

Although they are far from perfect in other areas, I would really like to hear what you think of them. And preferably share some clips!

A Tundra stereo drives them easily and a pair of Tundra Mono to perfection, I'm told.
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by ThomasOK »

I have a customer who is driving them with a Tundra 2.2 stereo and he loves them. I actually ran Ron's pair before he bought them in the store with both a Tundra stereo and a pair of Tundra Monos. Several people who are quite familiar with Isobariks, in both Aktiv and passive form, said it was likely the best they had ever heard them,
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Brikin' It and Really Kikin' It!!!

Post by Ron The Mon »

ThomasOK wrote: 2020-02-07 22:57 I actually ran Ron's pair before he bought them in the store with both a Tundra stereo and a pair of Tundra Monos. Several people who are quite familiar with Isobariks, in both Aktiv and passive form, said it was likely the best they had ever heard them.
Tom,
You left out the part about me being tricked by you into hearing my Isobariks with Lejonklou amps. You were probably being polite so you wouldn't mention publicly I pooped my pants after hearing it.

By the way, I had already bought and paid for the Isobariks; I was just picking them up that day.

It probably doesn't help Charlie1 but every time you've had a battle of the Isobariks contest with Lejonklou amps, the source has always been Klimax LP12/Kandid.

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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Charlie1 »

Thanks everyone. Very encouraging.
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Re: Brikin' It and Really Kikin' It!!!

Post by ThomasOK »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-07 23:12
ThomasOK wrote: 2020-02-07 22:57 I actually ran Ron's pair before he bought them in the store with both a Tundra stereo and a pair of Tundra Monos. Several people who are quite familiar with Isobariks, in both Aktiv and passive form, said it was likely the best they had ever heard them.
Tom,
You left out the part about me being tricked by you into hearing my Isobariks with Lejonklou amps. You were probably being polite so you wouldn't mention publicly I pooped my pants after hearing it.
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I find it's generally more powerful to let people tell their stories in their own words. I think this case proves the point!
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Re: Brikin' It and Really Kikin' It!!!

Post by V.A.MKD »

Great story ... Hahahahaaaa and + smiley .....
Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-07 23:12
ThomasOK wrote: 2020-02-07 22:57 I actually ran Ron's pair before he bought them in the store with both a Tundra stereo and a pair of Tundra Monos. Several people who are quite familiar with Isobariks, in both Aktiv and passive form, said it was likely the best they had ever heard them.
Tom,
You left out the part about me being tricked by you into hearing my Isobariks with Lejonklou amps. You were probably being polite so you wouldn't mention publicly I pooped my pants after hearing it.

By the way, I had already bought and paid for the Isobariks; I was just picking them up that day.

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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by lindsayt »

In my room I was never happy with the bass from my Linn Isobariks.

When positioned out into the room they sounded too lean, making it hard to follow the tune of the bass guitar and drums and tap your feet along to them because they were too recessed.
When positioned close to the wall, the quantity of bass was there but the bass became too indistinct. Too woolly and difficult to follow.

I tried a pair of Bozak Symphony speakers and these have more tuneful bass than the Briks. Which when you think about it, shouldn't be a surprise. The Bozaks have two 12" lightweight, variable density bass drivers on the front panel of the speaker in a cabinet that is close to being an infinite baffle. The Briks have two heavier, smaller bass drivers in a smaller enclosure with one embedded behind the other.

I then tried a pair of EV Sentry III speakers. These have a more tuneful midrange and treble than the Linn Isobariks. Again this makes sense when you look at the midrange units and tweeters used for each speaker and compare moving mass and position of the drivers.

I then tried a pair of EV Patrician 800's. These have a more tuneful bass, midrange and treble than the Briks. With the biggest difference being in the midrange.
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by nmakowsk »

Hi, I am the customer that Tom mentioned with the 2.2 Stereo amp. I started with a 1986 pair of briks and when a pair of 1992 briks came up for sale I pulled the trigger. Like Ron states, the external crossovers are much better and I just run them passive. Positioning them is very important. More in the center of the room they produce almost no perceived bass and are too lean. Right up against the side walls, the bass is too think and woolly. I have them just a couple inches away from the side walls and towed in about a half inch. They won't reach the back wall because there is a fireplace brickwall bumpout. Tom's story about using Isobariks behind a fireplace brickwall makes me think this is not a bad situation. I did listening in many different small increments than spiked them down when I found a result I felt was most musical. I have blown a tweeter overpowering them with my Tundra but its pretty loud at those danger levels and clipping starts to be noticeable. It was a mono four tops record I was listening to loud when that happened. Yes I really like my 1992 Briks and my 1986 pair with cannon connectors and 2.48 meter Lejonklou/K400 soldering are for sale if anyone is interested in the states (MIchigan near Ann Arbor). PM me if interested. These speakers are soo good for the money.
LP12/Kar/ARad1/Kore/Ekos SE1/NOKTable/Adikt/Slipsik 8.0/Giella Pi 1.2/Tundra Stereo 2.2/1992 Briks
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Tony Tune-age
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Tony Tune-age »

Charlie1 wrote: 2020-02-07 19:22Seems I may have an opportunity to buy some nice Briks. Not seen them yet though.
Have you made a decission, one way or the other?

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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Catweazle »

When my trusted Linn dealer demonstrated the Akurate Exaktbox Katalyst upgrade, he used his own Keltiks. They really rocked the audience. Maybe Keltiks without analog crossover are the better option, or they just need 30+ years to burn in ;-)
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Charlie1 »

Tony Tune-age wrote: 2020-02-14 17:02 Have you made a decission, one way or the other?
No news yet Tony - it may take several weeks and we haven't agreed a price yet.
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Tony Tune-age »

Charlie1 wrote: 2020-02-14 19:11
Tony Tune-age wrote: 2020-02-14 17:02 Have you made a decission, one way or the other?
No news yet Tony - it may take several weeks and we haven't agreed a price yet.
Gotcha...hope it all works out for you, keep us posted.

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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by nmakowsk »

Hey Charlie1, When was the Kustone added to Briks? It must be inside the cabinet somewhere. My 1986 and 1992 pair looks identical on the outside except for the side panels on the stand and different connectors on the back. Is there a way to tell? Tony, which version of Briks do you have? I also had Tom replace my tweeters with the 3 steel bar metal ones on the 1986 pair. I imagine the stock ones on the 1992 pair are probably better than these but at the time when they were available for only $70 per driver it made sense.
LP12/Kar/ARad1/Kore/Ekos SE1/NOKTable/Adikt/Slipsik 8.0/Giella Pi 1.2/Tundra Stereo 2.2/1992 Briks
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by markiteight »

nmakowsk wrote: 2020-02-17 18:07 Hey Charlie1, When was the Kustone added to Briks? It must be inside the cabinet somewhere. My 1986 and 1992 pair looks identical on the outside except for the side panels on the stand and different connectors on the back. Is there a way to tell? Tony, which version of Briks do you have? I also had Tom replace my tweeters with the 3 steel bar metal ones on the 1986 pair. I imagine the stock ones on the 1992 pair are probably better than these but at the time when they were available for only $70 per driver it made sense.
http://www.hoth.uk/Linn-kit.htm#isobarik
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Charlie1 »

I had a tidy up this week and properly centred the system - needed to make some space :D

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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by V.A.MKD »

Charlie1 wrote: 2020-02-29 19:04 I had a tidy up this week and properly centred the system - needed to make some space :D

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Congratulations ..... yes ..... great ..... now set-up .....
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Charlie1 »

V.A.MKD wrote: 2020-02-29 19:30 Congratulations ..... yes ..... great ..... now set-up .....
Thank you.

First a hot bath - they are bl00dy hard work getting up stairs on your own.

One owner from new - I need to do something about the velcro coming away cos the glue has gone brittle...

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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by maffe »

@Charlie1: You must post “NSFW” before posting shots like that!
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by beck »

Wow, looking gooooooooood. 🎼 You have something to look forward to! :-) 🎷🎺🥁
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by V.A.MKD »

Great ... looks that they are in perfect condition ...

Photos please ... more ... never enough ... :-)

Find link for set-up loudspeakers from Fredrik it really works ...
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by linesrg »

Good Evening All,

Reference the sound of Brik's up against the wall (where they should be) you need to sort out the room acoustics and then clarity is delivered.

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Richard
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Re: Brikin' It !

Post by Charlie1 »

Thanks for the tips gents.
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