Linn has revived the Isobaric principle in its latest floorstander the actively driven Akubarik. With its Aktiv power pack cunningly blended into the tapered back of the speaker this is an extremely neat looking design given its inherent firepower and bandwidth. The isobaric element consists of two bass drivers placed face to face and venting through the bottom of the cabinet. The Akubarik stands on a machined aluminium plinth that houses the magnet assembly of the lower driver beneath a flared cover, it’s subtle but you can the rings that look rather like the pleats of a low excursion driver which mark the edge of the flare.
The drivers are headed by a 3K array which contains 75mm, 15mm and 13mm domes for frequencies all the way from the upper midband to extremely high treble, the 13mm unit is a super tweeter. It has a 6inch (150mm) midrange driver and two 8inch (200mm) bass drivers. These are powered by five Chakra amps, four 100 Watt modules plus a 200 Watt one for the bass. Crossover points are handled by fully Aktiv internal modules and their relative outputs can be adjusted to suit different listening environments. Akubarik costs £15,600 for a pair in standard finishes which include real wood veneers, black ash and white.
