When given the right amplification these speakers are excellent, However under power them and the bass they produce will sound monotonic and sluggish making a very lazy sound. Bi-Amping them with two Acram Alpha 8r and P (pre/power) produces very good results.

-The treble is very sweet and projects way out in front producing good separation of instruments and good sound stage. You can pick out the positioning of instruments clearly.
-Midrange is the speakers strongest point with very good depth of field and layering of sound, great with voices, piano acoustic guitar.
-Bass, get it wrong and these speakers will sound sloppy but incredibly with good amplification are capable of producing deep, deep sub bass.

Positioning they are designed to be positioned with their backs very close to a wall between 10cm-30cm, this is due to their infinite baffle design therefore have NO bass ports.

I have amplified them with Arcam Alpha 8r and P, Audiolab 8000s, Alchemist Axoim and Rotel RA 930 AX. All producing very different sounding results. My preference is for the Arcams to go along side them.

No the last word in speakers but a good solid 4 out of 5 stars. If they sound bad partner them with a better amplifier/s.

Inconspicuous: designed to sound good placed close to the wall.
Decent bass without boominess.
Easily bi-wired or bi-amped.
Price!

Top-end lacks some of the "shimmer" you can get from the very best speakers.

I've had my Keosas for several years, and been really pleased with them. They're good all-rounders: delicate and quite refined, but easily capable of rocking very hard when you want them to.

There are two sets of binding posts, for really easy bi-amping (no need for a dealer to mod the crossover or anything). I absolutely recommend bi-amping: not only do you get twice the oomph, but also a noticeably more precise sound.

Plays rock and metal quite nicely ... at least that's what you think at first.

Has a very weird tonal quality. Didn't suit me. I strongly suggest auditioning a wide range of musical styles. After a while you want to switch of the "loudness" effect, only realizing that you don't have a Loudness button, it's the darn speakers that exaggerate the mids ....

Auditioned the Keosas at my local Linn dealer (hooked up to a Linn Classik) and loved the rock'n'roll sound. Yeah! Brought them home (hooked up to Rotel hardware) for a weekend and at first still loved the rock'n'roll sound. Yeah! Tried other types of music and realized that the Keosa is all about mids. Yuck! To be honest, in my system they couldn't play anything but rock/metal, anything else sounded really weird. They are specifically engineered for Linn Classik, which I guess has a really weak midrange.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Index II Linn Ninka Audiovector M3

linn, spikes

not forgiving when using lesser amps

I have a conrad johnson pre, dynaco st70 fully rebuilt in single ended mode, mit interconects and a velodyne sub..(one of the older models built when they were still making quality musical subs not intended for movie watching., in other words very musical and fast fast fast.) The keosas are not very impresive when hooked up to the linn system they were intended for. I am not very impressed with the linn classic or much of the linn line of amps at all. Once you go tube,transister stuff just doesn't cut it. Yes, some whales are very good.... mabey better than tube but you better win the lottery first. Dollar for dollar you can't beat tubes....sorry! The keosas are clean and put out almost as much bass as the sub but i find the crossover and sub add that extra realism and snap to the whole thing. OK, here is my point.... I see in other reviews people are using Nad, and Rotel amps. These folks don't realy know the true potential of the Keosas. If you have a cheap transister amp don't buy these speakers!!!!. The keosas are a good example of how one should spend more on they're front end and amp before they spend lots on speakers. These are great speakers, they don't quite disapear as well as the more expensive linns but for 1000 cnd. they are very transparent. They are fast, lots of bass but not boomy. They will give you what you put into them, that is to say they dont tend to ad their own foot print to the sound .This lets you enjoy each recording's personality and what the engineer's idea of what he or she wanted you to hear. When used with lesser amps. the speakers are quite impossible to set up right and sound grainy, slow, trashy and just about any other bad thing you can come up with. 4 out of 5 because only the very best get 5....right?

Similar Products Used:

mission sansui linn keltiks vanderstine

Wow, where all that detail came from?

A little bright? I donno...

I, I'm resubmitting after a few years and changes. I have to say that the somewhat "grainy" nature of the treeble have completely disapeared after changing amplification (yes only that). Goog god what a difference. I purchassed some Exposure combo (the VI, VII, and super VIII) still new, but very old stuff (old stock at a small retailer in Montreal). What a delight. I always liked that combo and even after 15 years, I can't find anything I like more.. they got 2000$ us out of me for this. It used to sell for 3500$ I think. Nonetheless, it changed the speakers unbelievably. Better than a 6000$ Linn combo (k140 and Kairn), and better than a YBA intégré DT, or the new 2010 integrated (from Exposure but what is that?). The Exposure kit is 55W but at high current (22,5 amps output current for the super VIII). What nice comtrol and detail is scarry sharp. Room effect, sharp imaging, soundstage dept, it's all there or should I say back (I remember my old days with my sugden a21, and rogers ls4, in a small room of course, and tons of tweeking). Now I'm gonna have fun with sources. Let's see, the Rotel, the Exposure or the Planet?

Similar Products Used:

Almost everything, too long to list.

Musicality,Clarity, Rythm.

Careful matching

I have chosen the Keosa after comparing with similar speakers from Castle Acoustic Energy, PSB Image, System Audio, B&W, Infinity. What I love is their sense of seduction and true musical qualities. Seduction because not entirely revealing, but revealing enough to go directly to the music and the rythm of songs, and letting you dreaming freely about what you are hearing, according to a good match with the other components. They let you think about the music by letting you entering into it without any effort. At the trebel end, pristine clarity is there thanks to a ceramic coated metal tweeter. At the bottom, tight and fast bass keeps on thanks to a closed design. Medium is immediate and still coherent with all the rest of the spectrum. But could be fussy (like with silver cables and too analytical amps). After some experimentations, I found them working at best as a whole with (in my budget and taste range)a Rotel 971 cd player, a Nad integrated amp C350, Nordost Black Night interconnect and Audioquest Type 4 speaker cables. Better than with a Celeste PW4000 amp, and than with Van del Hul Cleartrack cables. Nordost cable seems to be made for them, extending their transparency (wich is on the smooth side with the Nad, but the Nad suit so well the otherwise sometimes "crude" Linn''s revealing nature). The Nad autosensing impedance circuitry and plenty of power keep control over them and let them sing at full will without any stress (Keosa are 4 ohms design - Nad is 60 Watts at either 8 or 4 Ohms). The Rotel (and its HDCD decoding plus)give the extra details to fullfill the Nad a bit smooth nature. And good copper cables (over silver) let all the details sings without any aggresiveness. Finally, they let you follow easily and happily a full symphonic orchestra, or let you concentrate with joy on a small ensemble either. And they stand with panache against the JM Lab Cobalt 926 ($3,500 worth value!)of my friend. I love them!

Ceramic tweeter,thik baffle,Bass

Ceramic tweeter

Hi, same guy. I know i'm bending the rules by submiting twice but i had to clear out a few things for the benefit of the readers (and let's admit it, to try to save face). Note that the Keosa's are now sitting in my home. First the sensitivity. It's 92 db according to What HiFi which is actually a lot. No wonder they sound so loud. So there, i'm not a total lunatic (i appreciate that no one has sent me humiliating mail). I found out, after a-b listening with the Dinns A-40 (in my home before final decision), that the ceramic tweeter of the Keosa is very reveiling of source, or makes the little annoying things about your hights slightly amplified (can't decide, so far with Rotel player and Linn Classik, but effect varies according to recordings, so...). Nonetheless, the tonal balance is still great and the dynaudio's are too bright in comparison (hey, always my humble opinion, and taken the amplification and source)). The Keosas also sound a lot more in the ball park of 'natural sound'. The Dinns will win in "buffering" somehow the hights, making them perfectly sharpened and not at all grainy. Even thought they sound perfect on every recording, i find it hard to beleive they let you know what's going on all the time. For instance, room effect is not as present with the Dinn's (which is a H-Frequency dependent effect). Bass is still the greatest strenght of Keosa's and those speakers are fully compliant with the laws of Rock and Roll- given enought power that is. Classical is still good and it's nice, for instance, to have a little weight on that tuba, if you know what i mean. Cabinet effect? Another plus, there's almost none with this speaker, which is a great achievement at that price for a floorstander that delivers so much bass. It sounds like a 3000 speaker in that effect. I finally bought the AMC 3100A (100 Watts) amplifier to match and i love it at 500$ us (in Canada). I'm giving those 5 stars because at that price, and with that bass, there's nothing else out there for me. And I don't care what what-hifi says. (For instance, the B&W's 603 are not all that good..)

Great tonal balance, detailed and transparent midband. Very detailed, fast and punchy bass, 1 1/2 inch front baffle.

Needs a little power with it's 87 db and 4ohm impedence, but that's nothing.

This is my speaker. I've listened to B&W 603s, AE Aegis3, Dynaudio audience 40, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber Concertinos, etc... My first choice was the Dyns but the purchace of a stand and maybee a sub for my rather large room (pricey to match that kind of quality), where all drawbacks.

Then the Aegis did not have the kind of refinement i was looking for, (hard to go back after the dyns). The tonal balance was rather leen in the upper mids.

Less of a problem with B&Ws but then, other problems like muddy bass and midband confusion, unless you crank up the volume all the time (at 36, i'm already too old for this).

The Linns (1000$us w/tax in Canada)were an absolute cure. Detailed, refined, punchy. With an Arcam 90 Whatts, they rocked more than the B&Ws, would you beleive it? (If not, ask "Me and mr. Jones from Counting Crows, not an easy one) Actually, a lot more, and this time, no confusion on what's going on, at every level of the spectrum. And what a full midband. This is important to me. I hate listening to singers like they own a very long neck, with a very small head on top. Lean mids. And the overall balance is not helped when your guy is drawning in a huge pile of muddy bass. None of that going on with the Linns. If you thought the B&Ws were punchy, you're in for a ride with those. And my classical is threated as well as with the Dynns. Good job, Linn.

I know there are not a lot of reviews of that product so far, it's new. But give em a listen and post a review yourselfves, i'd like to know what you think. I'm bying those, no question. I'll pair them with an AMC Integrated (100 Watts) or an Audiolab (8000s + 8000p) which goes for almost nothing (1000$ us in Canada)at the distributor.

Great Highs, Outstanding mid & bass

Havent found any yet

I have been auditioning speakers for about three months prior to purchasing the linns.These speakers include the monitor silver 5i & the B&W 602. The B&W's were not so good, the monitors were great, but for the money & sound the linn's were by far the best. They are nothing short of outstanding for music,(from Bach to Rock) and sound just as great on DVD's. I am powering them by a Marantz 8000, Sony DVD, and a sony CD player, all of which are Digital.The room in which they are in is paneled, which is very hard to get good sound.I definitely give them a two thumbs up. By the way my center is a linn centrix, and the rears are the kan's.Oh yes, one more thing, my wife noticed the great sound right away, which also is a two thumbs up.I highly recommend these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor silver5, B & W 602

Handles bass very well on my very incomplete HT system.

Finding the funds to purcase speakers of equal standing in quality and power abilities.

I think the keosas are a tribute to speakers. They can do anything you require them to, got no subwoofer? no worries, the keosa has handled ample bass for our 2. home theature for a long time.