Reviews
Linn Kaber
OVER £450 LOUDSPEAKERS
LINN KABER
Sometimes a review threatens to turn into a saga. The £1,198 Linn Kaber, originally reviewed and "Recommended" three years ago has recently significantly changed. My main criticism of the original Kaber lay in its rather exposed and unforgiving treble, but the original tweeter has been recently replaced by Linn's Tonegen-built 14mm ceramic dome, which has already shown great potential in both the Keilidh and the much larger Keltik (The Collection 92). The Kaber now also comes fitted with the same moulded ceramic plinth that proved such an effective option with the Keilidh, in place of the earlier reviewed metal frame affair.
The rest remains as before: a slim, elegant. compact and very substantially built and braced floorstander that with hindsight was one of the trendsetters of this increasingly popular breed. Two similar and small 90mm plastic cone main drivers sit above and below the tweeter on a narrow baffle, the upper one handling bass and midrange duties, the lower one simply reinforcing the lowest octaves. A cocktail of wadding and Ku-Stone blocks damp the enclosures.
Three sets of rear terminals address each driver individually, facilitating bi-/tri-wiring/-amping, all the way up to full active drive. So a pair of Kabers could very easily remain at the end of a hi-fi system that goes on getting better through a whole succession of amplification upgrades. Apart from the charcoal grey baffle and plinth, and optional stockingmask grille, all is rather nicely finished in real wood veneer.
However, the saga referred to at the beginning did prove disappointing and exasperatingly ironic from a company that prides itself on manufacturing quality. Through some ghastly oversight, one of the bass/mid drivers was wired out of phase. The listening panel spotted it in seconds, the presentation was aborted and the errant pair replaced, amidst much embarrassment.
Sound quality
Despite being booed off the stage first time around, the Kaber replacements came back with a vengeance on the last day, generating uncharacteristically genuine enthusiasm among a sometimes cynical panel. One member was quite shocked to discover later that he had described a Linn design as: "No problems; an excellent speaker." The upshot is that the Kabers original virtues of fine, if dry, bass control, extended bandwidth and superb dynamic range now come with added sweetness at the brightly balanced top end. There may not be the relaxed sonic delicacy of, say, the transmission lines in this report, but the Kaber has a remarkability ability to convey coherent musical information, especially in the way secondary backing instruments continue to sound clear and consistent no matter what the lead may be doing.
Conclusion
Much improved by the recent revisions, the Linn Kaber is more kapable, if less kuddly than the Keilidh, with a clinical presentation that emphasises its startling dynamic range and encourages multi-amp drive. Assuming the first sample was an isolated rogue, a much more positive Recommendation than that awarded to the original model is clearly deserved.
Hi-Fi Choice May 1993