Best gear to go with Wharfedale Linton at a reasonable cost

[nitinmi9]

I remember when I had taken the demo of Lintons at Designer Audio at Mumbai it was a super experience.

They were supposedly using a Denon HT receiver (not even stereo amp)
Claimed to have no acoustic treatment
Speakers were only 4-5 inches from the wall as against general recommendation about Lintons. When I had mentioned that to kshitij (owner), he said that's all incorrect.
Control was given to me to play songs through my spotify via bluetooth connected to the Denon (no USB, no streaming)

You could feel every single beat of the song. and it was not boomy bass. Everything was pitch perfect. Infact their diamond series and evo bookshelfs (much cheaper) were also doing exceedingly well in that set-up.

The way it was playing at low volumes, with thump and not losing any details was just amazing.

Since then, I have only aspired for low volume night hearing with connect but couldnt achieve anything even closer to that.

 

[reignofchaos]

Many thanks for the suggestions.

I am presuming of acosutic portrait you are recommending tube preamp and not the tube buffer?

Also any experience with emotiva preamp?

Never heard emotiva so can't really say how it is. As for the first question - yes!

 

[nitinmi9]

Never heard emotiva so can't really say how it is. As for the first question - yes!

Thank u @reignofchaos for your prompt responses

 

[amrutmhatre90]

What a coincidence @nitinmi9 stays 5-10 mins away from my house

Soon we will be connecting and do some tests.

 

[nitinmi9]

What a coincidence @nitinmi9 stays 5-10 mins away from my house

Soon we will be connecting and do some tests.

Yeah. lucky coincidence

 

[nitinmi9]

I remember when I had taken the demo of Lintons at Designer Audio at Mumbai it was a super experience.

They were supposedly using a Denon HT receiver (not even stereo amp)
Claimed to have no acoustic treatment
Speakers were only 4-5 inches from the wall as against general recommendation about Lintons. When I had mentioned that to kshitij (owner), he said that's all incorrect.
Control was given to me to play songs through my spotify via bluetooth connected to the Denon (no USB, no streaming)

You could feel every single beat of the song. and it was not boomy bass. Everything was pitch perfect. Infact their diamond series and evo bookshelfs (much cheaper) were also doing exceedingly well in that set-up.

The way it was playing at low volumes, with thump and not losing any details was just amazing.

Since then, I have only aspired for low volume night hearing with connect but couldnt achieve anything even closer to that.

Thinking about this, I was wondering whether room correction is where the difference lies. Designer Audio's listening environment must be surely room corrected. Anyone who has visited their listening room (the bigger one, 1st on the left after entry) would agree that it's not a typical demo room and is more like a big normal living room. But it still offers very pleasant hearing experience. How?

Many of the AR Receivers offer solid room corrections that's otherwise hard to come by in a typical stereo set-up. Given how our Indian homes and listening environments are, maybe lots of sound that we hear gets lost out/ contaminated.

Reference video by Andrew on the subject.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Thank God.

I had started completely doubting D300

May be for the music you love to listen, D300 might not cut in. What genres do you listen to?
Also, for preamp, you can check out Topping Pre90. Highly regarded. Infact got A rating in stereophile magazine. It is very transparent too. You need to purchase additional extension if you need to connect more than one sources. The only downside is its remote which is reported to be very weak in transmission.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Thinking about this, I was wondering whether room correction is where the difference lies. Designer Audio's listening environment must be surely room corrected. Anyone who has visited their listening room (the bigger one, 1st on the left after entry) would agree that it's not a typical demo room and is more like a big normal living room. But it still offers very pleasant hearing experience. How?

Many of the AR Receivers offer solid room corrections that's otherwise hard to come by in a typical stereo set-up. Given how our Indian homes and listening environments are, maybe lots of sound that we hear gets lost out/ contaminated.

Reference video by Andrew on the subject.

Go with a nice stereo amp for now. You can add a Minidsp shd studio later sometime for room correction.

 

[nitinmi9]

May be for the music you love to listen, D300 might not cut in. What genres do you listen to?
Also, for preamp, you can check out Topping Pre90. Highly regarded. Infact got A rating in stereophile magazine. It is very transparent too. You need to purchase additional extension if you need to connect more than one sources. The only downside is its remote which is reported to be very weak in transmission.

Am mostly into old Hindi songs. Kishore kumar era and late 90s types.

Will checkout topping pre90. thanks for the recommendation.

 

[nitinmi9]

Go with a nice stereo amp for now. You can add a Minidsp shd studio later sometime for room correction.

Is this available easily and at what cost?

 

[ajuvignesh]

Am mostly into old Hindi songs. Kishore kumar era and late 90s types.

Will checkout topping pre90. thanks for the recommendation.

I think D300 suits you more than any other dac in the same price point. But you should lend another Dac with good bass from a friend to rule out D300 for the issue you're facing.
As far as Minidsp with dirac live go, it is expensive at 1 lac or so.

 

[Mayasandra_l]

I purchased lintons for my father who likes warm big British speakers. I have connected the speakers to Audiolab 6000 integrated. The digital services by wiim mini. The room is pretty big 14 feet x 24 feet x 13 feet height, listening position about 8 feet from speakers, speakers about 8-9 feet from one another and about 5 feet from rear wall. Here, the speakers give a very wide soundstage with modest depth and height. Tonality and mids good enough (but not as good as my falcons). What excels in this modest setup are dynamics and soundstage width. Imaging is not pin point but fairly discernible. Western classical and old Hindi and Ilayaraja songs sound incredible. I guess the system matching is good considering that both, Wharfedale and Audiolab, are IAG offerings.
Do try and listen to this combination once.
Happy listening!

 

[nitinmi9]

I think D300 suits you more than any other dac in the same price point. But you should lend another Dac with good bass from a friend to rule out D300 for the issue you're facing.
As far as Minidsp with dirac live go, it is expensive at 1 lac or so.

Thanks for the inputs.

Will surely try the alternatives.

Will do some comparison stuff with @amrutmhatre90 soon

 

[nitinmi9]

I purchased lintons for my father who likes warm big British speakers. I have connected the speakers to Audiolab 6000 integrated. The digital services by wiim mini. The room is pretty big 14 feet x 24 feet x 13 feet height, listening position about 8 feet from speakers, speakers about 8-9 feet from one another and about 5 feet from rear wall. Here, the speakers give a very wide soundstage with modest depth and height. Tonality and mids good enough (but not as good as my falcons). What excels in this modest setup are dynamics and soundstage width. Imaging is not pin point but fairly discernible. Western classical and old Hindi and Ilayaraja songs sound incredible. I guess the system matching is good considering that both, Wharfedale and Audiolab, are IAG offerings.
Do try and listen to this combination once.
Happy listening!

Super. Happy to hear that you are satisfied with the sound.

Will surely keep 6000 in the audition list.

 

[balavignesh002]

Its working fine but feels dry many a times. Misses the body and the lushness

What cables you use? I had a similar feeling then changed the crossover.

I recomend you to try silver plated solid core cables on spdif and interconnects.

 

[nitinmi9]

What cables you use? I had a similar feeling then changed the crossover.

I recomend you to try silver plated solid core cables on spdif and interconnects.

Speaker cables are audioquest. Others I don't remember.

Would they create so much of difference as same cables with a different low end equipment and speakers sounded better ?

However, will surely keep this in mind when playing with alternatives.

Thanks for bringing this angle to the fore.

 

[balavignesh002]

Would they create so much of difference as same cables with a different low end equipment and speakers sounded better ?

Cables can create a big difference on sound signature. It doesn't meen you put a 50$ equipment and get a 5000$ equipments sound.

I am suggesting this as you are ok with the overall performance and need a character change on the high frequency.

Check this DIY interconnects thread on Lintons for some idea

 

[nitinmi9]

Cables can create a big difference on sound signature. It doesn't meen you put a 50$ equipment and get a 5000$ equipments sound.

I am suggesting this as you are ok with the overall performance and need a character change on the high frequency.

Check this DIY interconnects thread on Lintons for some idea

Thanks @balavignesh002 for this. Will surely go through the thread.

 

[Naturelover]

This might help

Blind Luck

At the height of the pandemic last year, my cdp decided to throw a tantrum. Unable to find a sound technician, I decided to search for a replacement instead. Before anyone could yell 'Think!', Aretha style, I had tumbled headlong down the rabbit hole and swapped out every bit of kit. Well, I'm...

www.hifivision.com

 

[nitinmi9]

This might help

Blind Luck

At the height of the pandemic last year, my cdp decided to throw a tantrum. Unable to find a sound technician, I decided to search for a replacement instead. Before anyone could yell 'Think!', Aretha style, I had tumbled headlong down the rabbit hole and swapped out every bit of kit. Well, I'm...

www.hifivision.com

Thank u for this