Linn Series 3
Scotland’s Linn was early into streaming, but has only now released its first wireless speaker. It’s six grand, and it’s mono, unless you buy two. Yet we still ended up loving its ways. “At $5995, we can’t call the Series 3 wireless speaker a bargain...
Linn was one of the first hi-fi brands to launch a music streamer back in 2007, simultaneously announcing with some prescience the imminent death of the Compact Disc. So it’s surprising the Glasgowbased company has waited this long to launch its first wireless speaker. But here it is, and it’s called the Linn Series 3.
While a newcomer in the market often faces an uphill battle to conquer established rivals (in the case of premium wireless speakers, that would be Naim, Linn’s longtime sparring partner in the UK), Linn’s entrant arrives exuding a cool confidence thanks to the company’s decade-plus experience producing high-end network streamers.
But the Series 3 is by far the most expensive wireless speaker in this group, indeed the most expensive we have ever tested (if you exclude more conventionally-designed active stereo speakers, many of which can also stream).
So can any standalone wireless speaker, even this one with Linn’s level of streaming expertise, justify such a price?
Equipment
The Series 3 leverages Linn’s established streaming platform, which offers access to networked servers, as well as music service Tidal, via Linn’s Kazoo app.
You can add Spotify Connect to that list, as well as AirPlay (though not, surprisingly, AirPlay 2), Bluetooth (just the SBC codec) and Roon support, though subscribers of Tidal’s top tier won’t be able to play the service’s high-res Masters tracks. Linn has publicly shunned the MQA technology that these tracks are based on, so none of its hardware supports it. The Series 3 does support Qobuz’s high-res streaming, but sadly that’s not yet available here in Australia.
Multi-room is an option via Linn’s own technology for those with Linn Series 3 speakers in different rooms, while Roon (extra-cost software) will tie in any other Roon, AirPlay or Chromecast audio equipment. And voice control is available here when the speaker is wirelessly paired with an Alexa-compatible device on the same network.
This is another speaker that, like B&W’s Wedge, lacks physical inputs, except for an HDMI ARC socket that allows you to connect a TV to the Series 3 — if you can work out a way to position a 30cm-tall wireless speaker somewhere centrally in front of your TV! Of course if you’re feeling particularly flush, you could buy a stereo pair and place one either side of your flatscreen — indeed as such they look and work like an entrancing pair of active wireless speakers (see main image), looking more conventional when paired than when alone. A supplied Exakt cable would link the two to transmit audio data, power triggers and a master timing control to ensure that the audio from all channels are in perfect sync, and you would buy one ‘chief’ Series 3 speaker (301) plus a slightly modified ‘partner’ version (302, price $4995). Bear in mind, though, that with no further analogue or digital inputs, you won’t be able to connect other sources.
Continuing the aesthetic introduced in the company’s Selekt DSM, the Series 3 has a glass touch-control top plate, lit by around 100 LEDs to indicate volume and also featuring six numbered presets, easily assignable in the app. You can ‘pin’ inputs, radio stations and content from streaming services, though this ability didn’t seem extendable to our media server.
The preset buttons activate other functions when pressed in different sequences: pressing presets three and four together initiates
Bluetooth pairing, while two and five put the speaker into Wi-Fi mode. It’s a neat and well integrated control system, though we did wish we could slide our finger around the circular ring of LEDs to adjust volume more instinctively, rather than have to tap the volume up and down touch buttons either side. Why no knob?
That top plate is complemented by a ceramic-like stone chassis shaped like the top of a wine glass, or a tulip, oversized egg or rain drop, as you prefer. On the front is a changeable grille in chrome or gold that hides a 19mm silk-dome tweeter and 160mm long-throw driver. It’s all stylish, polished, and as close to looking its price as possible.
Performance
It’s even harder to believe that the performance could justify that price, but the thing that helps make that happen is Linn’s proprietary Exakt technology. Linn Exakt aims to reduce phase errors by intentionally delaying higher frequencies so they arrive at your ear at the same time as lower frequencies. It also keeps the music signal’s data in the digital domain for as long as possible to avoid any degradation caused by signal processing.
We’ve heard Exakt do its thing in many a Linn product before, and it again contributes to an absorbing performance here. What’s immediately striking is the stunning midrange clarity. Play Mac Miller’s What’s The Use? (over Tidal) and his rap comes through with a clarity and frankness that perfectly captures the delivery’s candidness. The Series 3 is a sharp performer, and we don’t mean tonally: it’s so punctual that his words stop and start precisely.
The Linn’s low-end agility ensures the accompanying bassline bobs along with bounce and interest. And while there’s quality, there’s quantity too. We play Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy, and the Series 3 thumps the song into the room — just about able to communicate the bass’s seismic quality. We almost feel for the modestly sized woofer having to plumb such depths, but it digs down remarkably effortlessly.
Whatever we throw at it, the Series 3 appears at ease — partly down to its balance and clarity but also the seamless integration of its drivers. Its insight sets it apart from its more affordable competitors, too. With Eluvium’s Prelude For Time Feelers, it reveals itself as a stickler for subtlety, affording each piano key a measured burden, confidently meandering through the subtle dynamic shifts in the compelling sequence. While lesser hi-fi can overlook discrepancies in production, the Linn conveys the warmer cut of Michael Kiwanuka’s Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love).
We should also mention Linn’s Space Optimisation, which interprets your room against Linn’s database of speaker behaviour to make the Series 3s sound as though they’re in the ideal position. It’s impressive tech (though we preferred the tonal balance and overall performance with it turned off).
Conclusion
We can’t call the Series 3 a bargain, and some things count against it — no physical inputs other than HDMI, no AirPlay 2, and it’s mono unless you buy two. But it we can declare it the best wireless speaker we’ve yet heard, one of the few one-box performances that sounds like it comes from the world of hi-fi.