Linn AV5150II (early 2000s?)
The Linn AV5150II is an active subwoofer from the early 2000s. The dating is approximate, flagged with a question mark even in the Japanese source that documents it. It was priced at ¥680,000 per unit. Little else about its market history, reception, or production run is recorded. What survives is a fairly complete technical picture, mostly from period Japanese listings.
The design is unusual and typical Linn. Two 30.5cm polypropylene-cone woofers are mounted in Linn's proprietary isobaric configuration - one facing outward, the second mounted behind it as an inner sub-unit, both driven at the same time in the same direction. The inner driver takes the back-pressure load, so the main unit doesn't have to. Linn claimed the arrangement produced bass equivalent to an enclosure more than twenty times the actual size. The cabinet's internal volume is 67.3 liters.
The amplifier section is essentially a monaural LK240: the same power amplifier board and a large vacuum-wound toroidal transformer, rated at 240W into 4Ω. High-density surface-mount construction on a glass-epoxy board shortens signal paths, and protection circuits cover overload, overtemperature, and output short-circuit. Frequency response is specified at 15Hz–100Hz.
Setup flexibility was a clear priority. The upper crossover cutoff is adjustable in nine steps from 41Hz to 79Hz in roughly 5Hz increments. A damping factor adjustment offers five settings to match room size. Linn's argument was that a damping factor too high or too low for the room kills clear bass, and that the right setting gives clean, extended low end rather than mere thump. There's also phase adjustment, a switchable fixed/variable volume, and an auto standby function with three options: 10 minutes (factory default), 20 minutes, or manual. A soft-clip circuit protects the drive units during extreme playback and can be switched on or off.
Physically, it's a big floor-standing box: 485mm wide, 631mm high, 485mm deep, weighing 46kg, built from rigid reinforced MDF. Two finishes were offered, American cherry and black ash. The AV5150II was meant to work alongside a main system, handling the ultra-low frequencies below 80Hz that the main speakers couldn't fully cover.
How it sounded in practice, or how it fit into Linn's wider lineup, isn't recorded. No production years, no contemporary reviews and no owner reports have surfaced in the available sources.
Known specifications
- Drivers: 30.5cm cone-type ×2 (polypropylene cones, isobaric configuration)
- Output: 240W (4Ω)
- Frequency response: 15Hz–100Hz
- Input impedance: 5kΩ
- Crossover: upper cutoff adjustable in 9 steps, 41Hz–79Hz (~5Hz steps)
- Damping factor: 5 steps, room-size dependent
- Internal volume: 67.3 liters
- Dimensions: 485 × 631 × 485 mm (W×H×D)
- Weight: 46kg
- Original price: ¥680,000 per unit
- Finishes: American cherry, black ash
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