The Linn Av 5140 is a great speaker for Music and movies. The speakers have a warm sound,but with
good detail! The bass is extended and tight. I started with a pair of AV5140 for 2ch , then added the Av
5120 center channel. Now I have a Full AV51 passive system with AV5140s in the Front and rear.

Clean, detailed. Works well for both music and home theater. Option to take them Aktiv.

Needs: Time to break-in. Proper room placement. An amplifier that can deliver current.

The 5140s are great speakers that require a bit of attention. I write that because out-of-the-box they can sound very bad, closed-in and rather dead. Like the Keilidhs they replaced, they have to be broken in for 30-40 hours before the tweeters are ready to sing. Also, contrary to Linn's manual, I have found them to be very sensitive to room placement. Linn recommends 6 inches from the wall, but in my room that yielded boomy bass and a reticent sound that was lifeless. After some experimentation, I found they really bloomed when brought out into the room 12 inches with a slight, half-inch, toe-in and about six feet of separation. It seems likely that some of the negative posts may be directly related to insufficent break-in and placement. For power they want (and deserve) at least a single amp that offers some real current. A thin sounding Japanese receiver would be a very poor choice. I use a McIntosh MC7150 that delivers 58 amperes and it is a great match. Properly placed, these speakers are remarkable for both video and audio applications. They are very clean, perhaps a bit lean, but they can be delicate on a small ensemble or solo vocalist one moment, and have a pounding impact with a video the next minute. I haven't heard the Espeks that have replaced the 5140s, but highly recommend these in the used market. Try them with Linn's relatively inexpensive K400 wire. Oh, and the cherry finish is beautiful and very wife friendly!

Similar Products Used:

Linn Keilidhs

Pin-point accuracy solid build (especially with the Keltik bases) High power handling.

Not sure if this is a weakness, but will reveal limitations of source and equipment.

These are my first mid/hi-fi speaker I've owned. They are the cherry finish with upgraded drivers and PO installed the Keltik bases on them. Really solid. Monolithic and beautiful - definately rates high on the spouse-factor :) Not much can be said than what other reviewers have posted already. Very natural sound and awesome soundstage. Will play very loud without distortion on the right gear. Exceptional bass (30hz) Voices sound incredible - especially female.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaco, Tannoy, KEF

Construction, looks, sound with Music and AV

The standard bases are not very good, considering the quality of the speaker.

I have just changed to these speakers from Active Ninkas and am very pleased with the improvement. They are running passive at the moment, bi-amped with 2 x LK140. Even passive they are a great improvement over the Ninkas in active mode. I have also ordered the ceramic stands and will report back when I have installed these. In the long term I intend to make these active.

Similar Products Used:

Kabers, Ninkas.

Sound, sound, sound!!! Imaging, soundstage, detail, low end punch, smooth difuse highs and mids.

Memories of pre-active and Espek upgrade sound

While I submitted a review over 1 year ago I felt the need to re-visit the issue. I have made some additional changes in my source, cables and drivers and wanted to report the results. My 5140''s are active with 400 Aragon watts per driver @ 4 ohms. Driver Change: I updated my 5140''s to the Espek drivers and really needed to wait the 40 some odd hours to break them in before assessing the results. The new drivers change basic characteristics of the speaker that some will appreciate and others may not. To my ears there is significant improvement. Some of the directional harshness of the old tweeters is gone. In its place is smoother more difuse sound. Some may hear this as a loss of high end signal. I hear it as more realistic and pleasurable to listen to. At the low end there is unquestionably deeper, better defined, more powerful sound. The mids offer more detail than before. The entire concept of image and soundstage have always been the knock on these speakers. Going active made a difference in these areas. The Espek upgrade moves them up several notches. Source Change: from a Pioneer Elite DV-05 to a Proceed PMDT Interconnect Change: digital interconnect from standard Tributaries audio-video to Tributaries Silver I was most impressed that the speakers continued to reflect improvements each step of the way. This had demonstrated that the capabilities of the speakers were waiting to be fulfilled with better source equipment. My soundstage is huge and imaging is now totally different. I was giving my 10 yr old a lesson on what a 3 dimensional soundstage and imaging were and he could hear it all! I was listening to some older CD''s last night and was hearing details on Special EFX that drew me into hearing 6 tracks instead of 1. Pines (Fountains) of Rome was simply as it should be; a dynamic tour de force. So my advice is to stick with these speakers and try some of the upgrades. You might find the answers to what you were listening for.

Incredible soundstage, great depth, warm sound, great highs..way too many to list here

Needs good sources and power..but hey, this is NOT a weakness

Well, first, I will admit that this review is based on an extended listening session at my local Linn dealer.

In searching for a new audio system, I have listened to Jeff Rowland, NAD Silver, Classe, Bryston, and of course Linn.

I had thought that the 3-way active Kelidihs were going to be my speaker with a Linn Ikemi CD, Kairn Pro pre amp, and three sets of LK240 amps.

Over my many visits to my Linn dealer, I had listened to the AV5140s set up in the front room of the store, and hooked up to a home theater setup.

The 5140s were fully active, with 6 of the 5105 amps, the 5103 system controller, and a Toshiba DVD player as the transport.

Well, I never liked that system. There was something wrong and I always went back to the Kelidihs.

However, I asked the dealer to remove the DVD and replace it with the Ikemi CD player as the source.

He had it setup like that when I went in, and I was really curious to see if there was a difference.

Guess what?? It was "OH MY GOD" time!!!!!!

I was blown away...the system sounded a million times better. Everything was helped by the Ikemi, and my opinion was radically changed...

The soundstage was huge. Vocals were stunning, especially female voices. My favorite classical CDs sounded great!!!!

Big bass, nice highs and mids...

I agree with a few earlier posts that these will need good amps and a great source to be at its best and also that these probably will not be good headbanger speakers, but since I do not listen to headbanging rock, it is okay.

I just wonder what these speakers look like with a finish other than Cherry..

If you want a great system, check these speakers out!!!!

They are replacing the Kelidihs without hesitation!!!!

For $3200, they are simply great!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Linn Kelidihs, Dunlavy SCIV/A, Aerial 10-T and 7, Dynaudio 1.8mkII

Beautiful, Musical

Not very engaging, some what flat

For being virtually the exact same speaker as the Linn Tukan, they are very lacking. The sound is flatter, not as fast or musical and there is very little quality bass added. I was severely disappointed in the performance of these speakers. But, to it's credit, I auditioned these speakers in passive mode. But, for the extra cost of these speakers active with (the suggested 3 lk140's) I would look elsewhere.

I strongly suggest a pair of active Tukans powered by a pair of lk85's and a AV5150. There is no way an active 5140 can match the quality bass of the Linn sub. Active Tukans are simply amazing, and should definately be listened to before buying any Linn speaker.

Also save some money by buying the lk85's till Linn's new line of amps come out with the brilliant power supply, (that's currently in their cd players and class A stuff).

As for the comment on the Martin Logans below. All I can say is audition the Prodigy's with a much better midrange and bass. The 5140 is beaten by the B&W 802's hands down... but at over twice the price.

Similar Products Used:

Tucans, Kelidihs, B&W 802, Martin Logans

clean sound like a monitor speaker

Needs a powerfull amp , so not for tube-amps

The AV 5140 is a great speaker with a very clean sound and a powerfull bass.
I've listened to many speakers,the audio physic also was a very nice speaker with a clean detailed sound but it fails in bass.
Also you can upgrade the AV 5140 easily with biamping or even triamping.
And if you want real powerfull sound ,then go for the activ
version.

Similar Products Used:

Audio physic Tempo II Mission 774 Kef reference Two
Dynaudio contour 1.8 mkII

Upgraded from Polk Audio CRS-SDA's about a month ago (when I could finally afford to.) Truly marvelous and thrilling to listen to. I was looking for accurate sound reproduction of electronic and classical music. I used some Prokofiev (Scythian Suite) and Jarre (Oxygene 11) to compare numerous recommended speakers in that price range (Definitive,B&O, Martin-Logan, Magnepan,B&W,Klipsch,Thiel, and others even less memorable) AV5140 quite obviously stood out. I could hear things in the music that were washed out on the other speakers. The accuracy of the bass reproduction is especially good. I also appreciate the upgrade path these speakers offer. Highly recommended.

The Linn AV5140 is a remarkable speaker and a great value. I decided togo with Martin Logan reQuests, Logos and Scripts though. I suspect the
previous reviewer of Monoliths heard them in a poor environment. ML
speakers are VERY space sensitive. The test, as with any speaker, is
trying them in your home with your equipment. The reQuests excelled in
my 19x27 valuted ceiling space and match extremely well with the Velodyne
FSR-18 (as does the 5140). Why dump on other speakers to try to make
your point about liking the 5140's? The 5140's speak for themselves.
Try them!

John