..but Lintons are Rear Ported. I want speakers about 30cm from the wall. That will never work.
some reviews
""
I watched both comparison reviews. Terry's (Pursuit Perfect System) was far more insightful with amp pairings and a head to head between the Supers and the Linton/Mission 770. With Randy (Cheap Guy), once you cut out all the schtick, there's really only about 5 minutes of meaningful content. Terry's was chock full, beginning to end.
To paraphrase Terry, the Super's correct the flaws and coloration of the Linton. Yet it's those very "flaws" that make the Linton special with that all day easeful experience. He says the Supers are more lively, faster, more dynamic with greater clarity and a more forward presentation. Even more so than the Mission 770's. He said that the Supers are the technically better speaker, but it seems he enjoys the Linton as much or more for all day listening. The Super's liveliness can be tamed with various amp pairings, but its core character remains distinctly different than the Linton.
It's just a matter of what sort of sound one seeks. The Supers seem to step in to more directly compete with the other $2500 to $3000 range type of sound on the market, the KLH, Klipsch, etc. While the original Linton remains the king of easeful, delightfully colored old school speakers. It seems to me, based upon all of these reviews, that the Supers are a markedly different speaker made for a different sort of listener. Which makes sense for Wharfedale, why compete against their own all time best seller??
My interest in the Supers has now diminished to a flicker. I'm not a lively speaker enthusiast. I prefer old school film to high res digital.
""
'Colored' means noticable (hearable) bumps and dips in their frequency response (let alone resonances). I don't know how many times I have to say this but that is not how the Lintons sound. They are a neutral, monitor kind of speaker. That's why they don't favore any genre of music and why you can endlessly listen to them without any fatigue. The Supers, however, have a bump in the upper midrange/lower treble and in the upper treble. Having said that, I don't believe 30 hours of playing time is enough to run them in. For me the weirdest thing of all the reviews so far is the need for Loudness. Loudness boosts the 100 Hz and 10.000 Hz regions. Unless your source is an very old turntable, I don't understand how that can sound better. Colored and V-shaped, yes, but better? Maybe there is something wrong with cheapaudioman's hearing? Maybe he has been listening to hard rock too much ... ""
""
My issue with the Linton 85th's wasn't their colouration, it was their lack of transparency and air. And my sense is that it is precisely that combination of colouration and veiling that makes everything played through them sound so dang lovable. They never offend. The price you pay for never having to tolerate a rough edge or for giving lousy recordings a passing grade is a degree of homogenization. We all want our preferred purchase to be good at all things but there's always a trade off to be made.
Doesn't matter if our respective trade offs are different. Beauty - after all - is in the eye of the beholder. ""
""
I owned the Lintons for a trial period of 60 days before returning them. It’s a good speaker but i did have some issues with
the treble region on some material. Luckily, i found my Linton upgrade when i purchased the Missions and I don’t have Terry’s
reservation as to which speaker i enjoy more- It’s very clear to me…other’s might prefer the Super’s lively signature. ""
""Exactly. And contrary to what most people think, it's the exaggerations of colored speakers/headphones that let you hear details and elements in music that you've never heard before. In their first months, my Lintons exaggerated the midrange between 1500-2500 Hz, which made me hear every difference in mastering between the 4 or 5 Animal releases. Now that they are fully run in, those differences are mostly gone. Not too long ago, I bough a cheap pair of headphones many folks were talking about. Besides their ridiculously huge bump in the bass, they also have a bump higher up the frequency spectrum (don't remember where), and when I listened to Donald Fagen's album The Nightfly, I could hear a loud synth playing along on a track I know very well but never noticed before. The bump in the upper treble of the Super Lintons keeps on worrying me. The Denton 85 has a similar treble bump which makes ride cymbals patterns in Jazz extra sparkling and sheeny but also very fatiguing and unbalanced. ""
""
So, i would definitely audition before swapping for the Super Linton. I can say this…i owned the Linton and swapped for the Mission
770s. To me the Missions 770s are the natural upgrade to the Lintons. I feel like they improved on every area and still deliver
that relaxed, yet dynamic sound. I prefer them to the SHL5+s as they are beautiful with voices, their tonality is exceptional and
they are more dynamic, can play really loud if i want (i never do). Additionally their dynamic drive makes them more convincing and
involving at low volume levels which i truly value.
I havent heard the Super Lintons, but would like to….from the reviews, it has some very appealing characteristics. However, i think
the Missions have a closer sound signature to your Harbeths than do the Supers, a bit less in your face. You should try and audition both
since you already have a great pair of speakers.
""
Etcetera. Plenty of things that do not convince me. The Lintons, bot the normal and Super, are off the table for me.
