Cheap for the performance they give, Small stature but big sound

Lack of low end

Hooked up in bi-wire fashion to my Classik, the Tukans are great in my small bedroom. Compared to the crappy, horn driven Klipsh speakers I used to have, they are a massive improvement. Compared to the Aerial 7b, they lack the bass and a tad bright. And after auditioning some Wilson Cubs, I left thinking, suckers, my Tukans can to that.

Similar Products Used:

Various Klipsh, Aerial 7b, Wilson Cub

I am "speechless" after Keith's review of Tukan. That is how "good review" is written. Objective and informative.
I would just ad, that Linn co. improved Tukan's tweeter,in latest models, so i believe that "sonic caracteristics" mentioned below is probably eliminated.Certainly, making this Minimonitor one of the best in it's class.

Superb soundstage, engaging, transparent...

Bright in caracter, if listened too long, fatiguing...etched

Wonderful, little speakers! Engaging, musical...highly detailed. Perfect for Jazz, blues...classical and perfectly blend, with any good SUB.No floorstanding in price range to 2K can come close in producing such a SOUNDSTAGE!
Avoid Linn stand, for this speakers.They are very light,and will tip forward easily. If you have them ,fill them with lead shot, to avoid the catastrophe!

Similar Products Used:

Majik, Marantz 63se, Karik, Krell cav 300i Krell cd-1...

Everything but....

..... bass

Good overall sound. Nice placing, and maybe I would have purchased them if I didn't listen to the Totem Rokk.
The Rokk is as good in soundstage as the Linn's but they have the bass which the Linn's don't have. So I ended up buying the Rokk, but the Tukan is a really good speaker and I liked listining to it. It has a nice clean sound. Not agrassive. But I liked Totem more (also the mite sounds good).

Similar Products Used:

Totem Arro/Rokk/Mite, Mission 735, Elac ???, Tannoy R2, ASW ???, Jamo Graduate One

Discontinued!

Discontinued!

Linn Tukans and Linn Keilidhs have been discontinued. The last day for authorized dealers to sell/order these products will be sept 11th.

They are replaced by the Katan(tukan) and the Ninka(keilidh). Both speakers look like the 5140's backwards. IMO, not very attractive, and it looks as if both grow in size. Sorry no audio info... but if you know you want the Tukan or Keilidhs (especially if shopping for wood type) order them now.

There is also a new sub coming out in the $2000 dollar range.

Tukans: Execellent
Keilidhs: Good/Average

Similar Products Used:

Discontinued!

...sound, sound, sound from any angle, any place...!

I looked for the small soeakers for months! Linn Tukan were the first one, i auditioned. With all Linn set-up, including wire...! I went listen some b&w, including CDM-1se(recomm. by stereophile class b???)TOTem, Aerial 5. Besides Aerial...Tukan beat any other speaker in it's category. Si i went back and bought the all Linn sistem Majik, Mimik and
Tukans...for a bit more than the aerial 5' cost (still like them alot)

Similar Products Used:

CDM-1se, ToTEM forest, Ml aerius, Aerial 5's..

Small Size, Good Looks, Very Musical, Affordable, Good Range

Works hard at extreme volumes (bass distortion without x-over, requires a large unobstructed wall behind it), Imaging short of electrostatics.

Ok, I was the 1st person to review these speakers a couple years ago and I felt the need to recap after 2 years of upgrades and shopping.

I bought these speakers for their sound, but mostly for their size and affordable price. Little did I know.

I have spent a lot of time listening and testing many brands of audio equipment and speakers since I purchased these speakers and have finally found the speakers I plan to upgrade to. B&W, M&K, other linn products, etc... nothing made me want to replace my Tukans except the Martin Logan Requests ($10,000/pair) and the Revel Studios ($10,000/pair) and of the two the Requests have better imaging.

Besides the very expensive class A speakers, there is no other speaker I would buy to replace my tukans. I'm running all high end rotel equipment, a b&w sub, my tukans bi-amped and electronically crossed over at 80 hz.. The speakers are very real and warm sounding and can jam with fast music. Given a large wall relatively close behind it and enough separation, the speakers give a very broad range of sound. (in my experience, misplacement resulted in an over bright sound and poor bass response).

It's only weakness (beyond the obvious lack of low end bass) is it's imaging, which I believe is only capable from an electrostatic speaker. I would strongly suggest running these speakers active or having the aid of an electronic crossover running at sub level to remove it's attempt at low bass at high levels.

Besides looks and those who dislike separate subs, I don't see any reason to buy any other speaker, short of the Class A speakers I mentioned above.

I Upgrade my 4* to a 5*

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lots...

dynamics, soundstage, ease of placement

brightness will cause fatigue over awhile

I concur with most of the comments to date, excellent sounding speaker that give the impression of being much larger and costlier. great soundstage, detail, and tight, fast dynamics, you hear the "beginning, middle, ending" of each note, pure sweetness. As with all LINN gear, tends to be to the bright side, could be fatiguing if listen to at HI levels for LONNGGG periods. I've been a LINN fan for years, probably biased towards their products, but I would find it difficult for even the staunchest LINN critic to not relent to give some praise to this fine looking, listening, and, priced speakers. I haven't heard anything under $2k, at this size, that sounds better.

Another consideration, besides it small footprint, it is amenable to wide degree of placement without detrimental effect on sound. If you need something that needs to be out of the way and near the back wall--this is the speaker for you!

Similar Products Used:

paradigm studio 20, mini-monitors, proac, joseph audio, nht, b&w

Sound, size, good at low levels (important in the UK for late night listening!).

Only lacks **ultimate** bass, and the uppermost treble sometimes seems to fall away a bit (Magic Flute)

With a 8 month old baby crawling around I was instructed to pack away my stand-mounted Pro-Ac Studio 1's, as they represented too much of a safety risk (sharp edges etc.)

Window shopping at a nearby Hi-Fi store revelaed they had a year-old pair of Tukans on sale, and I gave them a listen, on the basis were small, and supposedly designed to fit in bookshelves or on wall-mounts.

Audition lasted less than two minutes (a familiar Chris Izaak CD through Arcam gear)! I didn't need any longer to decide to buy! Not only was the general sound clear, the bass was a lot better than I would have expected.

I would agree with other reviewers that these speakers are quite remarkable, and I feel less fretful over having had to pack my Pro-Acs away for the next couple of years or so.

The Tukans are sitting inside bookcases either side of a fireplace, on sorbothane feet. I know this isn't the best positioning, but they sound, at the very least, acceptable!

My remaining equipment is Arcam 8se CD, Arcam 10 amp, and Arcam 9 tuner. I'm running the Tukans through Cable Talk 4.1 non bi-wired at the moment, although I'll bi-wire them asap. For the Pro-Acs I normally use AudioQuest Indigo+, which are a bit too hawser like for the Tukans, and would present another temptation for the crawling one.

Buy these speakers; You won't regret it unless you judge your speakers by their physical, rather than their musical presence. They are expensive new, but they provide a unique combination of attributes.

Similar Products Used:

None this small

musical

small sound, limited freq response

I just want to let all the kan and tukan owners out there know that if you add a velodyne uld series subwoofer, preferably the 15inch model, you will really die and go to audio heaven.

Your kan or tukan will transform itself from a small monitor-esque speaker to a full range, liquid smooth sounding transducer.

The only other speaker I would compare these small linns speakers to are the professional series tannoy system 10 speakers at $4000 dollars a pair. Alone, these are better than the tukan, but when paired up with the uld, the tukan is unbeatable because the tannoys doesn't sound as good when paired up with a sub.

These speakers are easy to drive, but they are expensive, and retailers are "reluctant" to discount them. The nht superzero are 75% of the sound at half the price, my second system's speakers.

Similar Products Used:

cdm1, superone