@riverdinaudio just heard these a short while ago as part of an SFAS event in NorCal. An amazing speaker indeed. There are a couple of Linkwitz speaker owners near me and I have enjoyed listening to them. With all due respect to Danny Richie I think he came up well short on his analysis of Linkwitz speakers. The man was an incredible designer and it's good to know his legacy will continue to live on through the efforts of Frank Brenner.
Danny Richie "fixes" the Linkwitz Arion loudspeaker
For some time now I have been directing those interested in loudspeaker design to Danny Richie’s GR Research Tech Talk Tuesday videos on YouTube. Here is his latest: an examination of the Linkwitz Arion loudspeaker. You may be asking yourself: if Siegfried Linkwitz is the genius he is touted to be, how is it Danny found the Orion to be lacking, and was able to find solutions for it’s failings? I’ll leave that to you to answer. In the meantime, after watching and listening to this video, you may want to watch all the Tech Talk Tuesday videos. They may just make you a more informed loudspeaker consumer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCA-eSPUkJA.
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csmgolf
As noted I'm a big fan of the Linkwitz Orion - enjoying them as I write this. I've got all kinds of speakers from Harbeth 40.2's to Magnestand 1.6's (modified Maggies), to many others. And... I must say the Orion's are "at the top of the heap" in their performance. But, I've developed an interest in the Legacy speakers for a lake house I've built about 75 miles from Legacy's operations in Springfield. I've ordered the Aeris, but I'm reconsidering, because of it's massive size and weight, which I will not be able to manage. As a close alternative, I've been considering the Calibre - which seems to me to sound very, very close. @csmgolf - do you still have your Calibre's and what do you think about this direction? |
Not "just" flatter frequency response (so that’s now a bad thing? ;-), but also improved spectral decay (aka waterfall plot) response, phase coherency between drivers, lower baffle panel and enclosure resonance (Linkwitz specified un-braced .75" MDF, Richie braced 1.5" MDF) , and a few other loudspeaker performance characteristics. Plus air core inductors in place of iron core, film capacitors in place of electrolytic, and good resistors in place of sand cast. For those who consider such matters important. I personally wouldn’t even consider a loudspeaker that digitizes the signal in its x/o. |
First time I'm hearing of this mr. Danny Ritchie. Everything he says is correct. Orion was a continuation of the Audio Artistry line of speakers, using better drivers and thus smaller cabinet & fewer drivers for home use.
Problems: - Cabinet vibration coupling to Mid/high driver. - Edge diffraction - HF scattering due to wide baffle design - Dipole pattern up to HF aso...were known to the late SL (rip), thereof the new LX521 design were all these issues were addressed.
ASP/Multiple amp issue: SL was a speaker designer, and thus cared less about peripheral circuitry. He firmly believed "electronics sonic signature" did not exist, only THD figures were of relevance. Just look at the nr of OP amps in the ASP...my goodness gracious. Well, we know better.
Orion vs LX521: "Unfortunately" soundwize - Orion is the winner. Dont ask me why. Might be due to very expensive drivers used in the Orion, or maybe fewer nr of drivers allowing fewer crossover points. |
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