Sony G90 NAD T770 Audio-Video Receiver, Just the Basics, Done Well, Summing Up, I L G a D E R

appears on the displays when the “surround” button is

pressed while playing an AC3-encoded source. Also useful

would be a last-source-selected memory. Now if you play a

disc and adjust one of the speaker level controls, then hit

“Play” to start the track again, you will discover you have to

press the relevant source button before regaining use of the

transport controls.

Summing Up

The Linn system offers advantages insofar as it is a turnkey

system, and anybody who buys one will be able to leave to the

dealer all the tedious installation details of running cable,

positioning loudspeakers, finding a home for the components,

and initializing the system controller to accept the source

components and direct their signals through the appropriate

processing functions to the related amplifiers and thence to

the speakers.

Linn also is known to have built its reputation on playing

the tune. This refers to its superimposition of one cardinal

rule upon all the flashing lights that surround audio: The

music comes first, and it don’t mean a thing if it don’t play the

tune. If your toes ain’t tapping and your hands ain’t clapping,

if your head ain’t bobbing and your guitar ain’t throbbing –

well, what’s the point?

This strikes at a schism between tonal quality and imaging

that divided the field of home music reproduction following

the advent of stereo. When you put two loudspeakers into a

room, you set up comb-filter effects that add and subtract

from the recorded sound in unpredictable ways. When you

put, as in this case, six sound sources into a room, you are far

better placed to control the room modes that render most

stereo a weak sister to mono – provided you are given the

tools for the job!

I hope Linn acquires a digital equalizer interface to refine

the tonal consequences of all that power (1,200 watts total),

power that should be even more nimbly

applied using the new generation of Linn

amplifiers as these incorporate switching

power supplies.

I asked Linn to supply a system of minimal

bulk, as I suspect this will be the choice of most people con-

templating the addition of such a system to a room of modest

dimensions that will probably have to serve multiple uses. As

a consequence, the smallest loudspeakers in the range, the

Tukans, were supplied. They did not betray any power han-

dling problems despite the use of live piano recital levels.

In the next installment, we’ll experience the full power of

the Linn illusion, applied to music and movies. And we’ll take

a much closer look at how it all works.

M a n u f a c t u r e r I n f o r m a t i o n

LINN INCORPORATED

4540 Southside Boulevard, Suite 402

Jacksonville, Florida 32216

Tel: (904) 645-5242

Source: Manufacturer loan

Prices:

5103 System Controller: $8,495

5150 Bass Reinforcement Loudspeaker:

$4,195 ($4,395 in cherry)

5105 amplifier for front left and right: $3,590 each

5105 amplifier for center: $3,590

5105 amplifier for rear left and right: $3,590 each

Aktiv 5120 Tukan loudspeaker: $2,490 each;

$2,590 each in cherry

Aktiv 5120: $1,220 ($1,440 in cherry)

Karik CD Player: $3,595

Numerik D-A Converter: $2,595

NAD T770 Audio-Video Receiver

Just the Basics, Done Well

n 1976 the NAD 3020 integrated amplifier hit the North		believe will not contribute to this experience or might sub-
American shores and changed performance expectations		tract from performance are canned. Like the High End audio
for less expensive audio forever. While competitors		market, NAD is taking the purist approach. Here’s an exam-
stretchedI	the limits of inanity with bells and whistles, NAD	ple: Many AVRs automatically take a stereo analog signal and
(New Acoustic Dimension) concentrated on the basics of		process it through an inferior analog-to-digital converter and
clean sound: short signal paths; bulletproof power supplies		back out through a D-to-A. NAD leaves the signal undisturbed
and conservative power ratings. NAD succeeded by appealing		in the analog domain. The simpler and purer path.
to what audiophiles like most – less. Though nearly 25 years		The Model T770 is a five-channel, 70 watts per channel
have passed since that first NAD arrived, the new $1,700 T770		into 8 ohms surround sound receiver that incorporates an
Audio-Video Receiver hasn’t turned its back on its roots.		integrated Dolby Digital decoder. It provides a 5.1 input for
If you are looking for adrenaline-pumped features like		the addition of an external decoder, allowing the user to
Cinema EQ or compression levels or 1,001 surround modes		expand to another surround sound format such as DTS. For
from the Sistine Chapel to Abbey Road Studios, then you’ll be		two-channel listening with surround enhancements, the T770
missing the point of the T770. NAD’s philosophy is to give you		1
		provides EARS (Enhanced Ambient Recovery System). Three
what you need to listen to music or watch movies by provid-		digital inputs are provided, including RCA coaxial, TosLink
ing the best engineering and components		optical and an input with an integrated
at the price point. Features that they		RF demodulator for laserdisc players

N E I L G A D E R