Sony G90 - Manual (Page 42)

appears on the displays when the “surround” button is
pressed while playing an AC3-encoded source. Also useful
would be a last-source-selected memory. Now if you play a
disc and adjust one of the speaker level controls, then hit
“Play” to start the track again, you will discover you have to
press the relevant source button before regaining use of the
transport controls.
Summing Up
The Linn system offers advantages insofar as it is a turnkey
system, and anybody who buys one will be able to leave to the
dealer all the tedious installation details of running cable,
positioning loudspeakers, finding a home for the components,
and initializing the system controller to accept the source
components and direct their signals through the appropriate
processing functions to the related amplifiers and thence to
the speakers.
Linn also is known to have built its reputation on playing
the tune. This refers to its superimposition of one cardinal
rule upon all the flashing lights that surround audio: The
music comes first, and it don’t mean a thing if it don’t play the
tune. If your toes ain’t tapping and your hands ain’t clapping,
if your head ain’t bobbing and your guitar ain’t throbbing –
well, what’s the point?
This strikes at a schism between tonal quality and imaging
that divided the field of home music reproduction following
the advent of stereo. When you put two loudspeakers into a
room, you set up comb-filter effects that add and subtract
from the recorded sound in unpredictable ways. When you
put, as in this case, six sound sources into a room, you are far
better placed to control the room modes that render most
stereo a weak sister to mono – provided you are given the
tools for the job!
I hope Linn acquires a digital equalizer interface to refine
the tonal consequences of all that power (1,200 watts total),
power that should be even more nimbly
applied using the new generation of Linn
amplifiers as these incorporate switching
power supplies.
I asked Linn to supply a system of minimal
bulk, as I suspect this will be the choice of most people con-
templating the addition of such a system to a room of modest
dimensions that will probably have to serve multiple uses. As
a consequence, the smallest loudspeakers in the range, the
Tukans, were supplied. They did not betray any power han-
dling problems despite the use of live piano recital levels.
In the next installment, we’ll experience the full power of
the Linn illusion, applied to music and movies. And we’ll take
a much closer look at how it all works.
LINN INCORPORATED
4540 Southside Boulevard, Suite 402
Jacksonville, Florida 32216
Tel: (904) 645-5242
Source: Manufacturer loan
Prices:
5103 System Controller: $8,495
5150 Bass Reinforcement Loudspeaker:
$4,195 ($4,395 in cherry)
5105 amplifier for front left and right: $3,590 each
5105 amplifier for center: $3,590
5105 amplifier for rear left and right: $3,590 each
Aktiv 5120 Tukan loudspeaker: $2,490 each;
$2,590 each in cherry
Aktiv 5120: $1,220 ($1,440 in cherry)
Karik CD Player: $3,595
Numerik D-A Converter: $2,595
M a n u f a c t u r e r I n f o r m a t i o n
NAD T770 Audio-Video Receiver
Just the Basics, Done Well
n 1976 the NAD 3020 integrated amplifier hit the North
American shores and changed performance expectations
for less expensive audio forever. While competitors
stretched the limits of inanity with bells and whistles, NAD
(New Acoustic Dimension) concentrated on the basics of
clean sound: short signal paths; bulletproof power supplies
and conservative power ratings. NAD succeeded by appealing
to what audiophiles like most – less. Though nearly 25 years
have passed since that first NAD arrived, the new $1,700 T770
Audio-Video Receiver hasn’t turned its back on its roots.
If you are looking for adrenaline-pumped features like
Cinema EQ or compression levels or 1,001 surround modes
from the Sistine Chapel to Abbey Road Studios, then you’ll be
missing the point of the T770. NAD’s philosophy is to give you
what you need to listen to music or watch movies by provid-
ing the best engineering and components
at the price point. Features that they
believe will not contribute to this experience or might sub-
tract from performance are canned. Like the High End audio
market, NAD is taking the purist approach. Here’s an exam-
ple: Many AVRs automatically take a stereo analog signal and
process it through an inferior analog-to-digital converter and
back out through a D-to-A. NAD leaves the signal undisturbed
in the analog domain. The simpler and purer path.
The Model T770 is a five-channel, 70 watts per channel
into 8 ohms surround sound receiver that incorporates an
integrated Dolby Digital decoder. It provides a 5.1 input for
the addition of an external decoder, allowing the user to
expand to another surround sound format such as DTS. For
two-channel listening with surround enhancements, the T770
provides EARS (Enhanced Ambient Recovery System).
1
Three
digital inputs are provided, including RCA coaxial, TosLink
optical and an input with an integrated
RF demodulator for laserdisc players
N E I L G A D E R
I