LX521 Auditions:
Email from Philip Lande -- received 16MAR13, 5:18 PM
"Charles, It’s been one week since we visited your home to listen to the LX521 Monitors that you built. I know it was presumptuous of me to email you asking for an audition. Omar and I were complete strangers and yet you welcomed us into your beautiful home and gave us a full evening to listen to truly reference sounding reproduction.
I came to your home of two minds. As a music and sound reproduction junkie, I was hoping that Siegfried Linkwitz’s latest design was every bit as good as I had read about but, I was hoping that it wouldn’t completely trash my gear at home. One thing is a night out. Another is returning home to my wife and informing her that my never to be replaced and just purchased Anthony Gallo Reference 3.5’s are old news.
Well, your Magic LX521 Monitors emasculated my rig. Once I returned home and played the exact music that we listened to I had to admit that while I have great in-home stereo reproduction, your new system exceeds mine in almost every parameter that I consider important. Dynamics, cohesiveness from lows through the midbase to an unbelievably beautiful midrange to airy though never too bright highs were evident from the very first track that we played. I never felt that any single part of the audio signal was overblown or recessed. These are complete full range speakers.
We listened to Bill Frissell’s I heard it through the Grapevine and it was just more involving than my reference. (I chose it because the recording has spectacular sound staging.) Arvo Paart’s Da Pacem Domine is a beautiful choral piece and we were just there. We were listening to a live performance. It was perfect.
What doesn’t the LX521 play well? We listened to Organ music-Great! We checked out Electronic Music- Massive Attack, Zero 7- Awesome. We also auditioned a number of Classical tracks, Old man rock (Dire Straits)- it all came through as world class sound. We listened to digital media and records. In fact, Omar brought Cat Power’s Jukebox album that probably was the best sound of the evening.
I am just an Audiophile with very limited understanding of electronics and you were so helpful in explaining how I could assemble this speaker. I am pretty sure Omar will have to tackle the ASP’s. We enjoyed viewing your workshop and the various projects that you have completed or are planning to build.
Once again, thanks so much for your time. You are certainly welcome to visit me anytime. Of course, I’ll have to build the LX521’s before you come. I can make a mean steak though.
Regards PJL "
Phil LandeVP SalesCounter Intelligence, Inc.9015 Brookville RoadSilver Spring, Maryland
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Email from Willie Simpson -- received 02JUL14, 12:51 PM
Saturday, 21JUN14
Over the weekend I visited Charles Port's home to listen to his amazing Siegfried Linkwitz designed, Open Baffle loudspeaker system, the LX521. I have to admit it was one of the best speaker systems I have ever heard. The realism was amazing; I could pinpoint the positioning of the voices and instruments on the sound stage. I could not believe I was not in a live setting. What made this experience even more amazing was the fact that Mr. Port built this Pair of LX521 speakers himself. After listening, I may just commission my friend Mr. Port to build me a pair.
Regards,
Simpson, Willie H
www.etdestinationstore.com
Glenn Dale, MD 20769
US
Note: Willie has an excellant on-line store to purchase LP and CD's -- check it out.
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Email from Deryl Benson [audiocomp1@verizon.net] 11FEB15
Hi Charles:
Here is the report:
The sound staging and imaging qualities were outstanding. In addition, the system had the proper mid-bass and lower midrange weight that is lacking in a lot of high performance audio systems. The bass was a bit overpowering and didn't stop quickly enough at times which would lead one to question if there were cabinet resonances and/or lack of mechanical grounding of the woofer cabinet.
Regards,
Deryl
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Email from Elliott Starin < elliott.starin@mimetrix.com> VISITED 26MAR15
As long as I can remember, I've had an interest in and a zeal for high fidelity audiophile sound systems. I had a rare opportunity last week to meet up with a fellow audiophile/DIY'er builder, Charles Port, who has been an open baffle evangelist for many years. He auditioned a pair of handcrafted LX521's for me for the better part of three hours and I came away at a loss for words to describe the experience. Though the concept of uncolored and unadulterated sound reproduction is not new to me, I gained a renewed appreciation for it as he served up a series of CD's and LP's that showcased the detailed clarity and imaging capabilities of the LX521 speaker design.
Though we listened to a variety of vocal and instrumental (classical, jazz) pieces, my favorite was a Martin Grubinger piece "Drums and Chants" that placed me squarely on the percussionist's stage with antiphonal chanting layered on top and below, left and right, all around.
The realism and emotive draw of Marta Gomez' "Cielito Lindo" was equally impressive. Stunning "uncolored" vocals.
I came away convinced that I need to build a set of open baffle speakers and am currently researching it to finalize a system level design.
Charles was a great host, equally generous with his time and his considerable knowledge of equipment and all things musical.
Elliott Starin
Rocky Ridge, MD
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Email from Ray & Alicia Kanth -- Visited Saturday, 16JAN16
Hi Charles,
Thank you for hosting us recently to listen to your LX521 based audio system.
When you first played several of your music selections - CD and vinyl - it was immediately clear to us that we were listening to an exceptionally fine audio system, even though we were largely unfamiliar with the music you introduced to us.
Then you played CDs we had brought along. Our music selection included Western classical music (symphony, chamber music, and piano), Chesky Records' collection of reference recordings (vocals, small and large ensembles, brass, drum solo, etc.), and some Indian classical music selections. This was music with which my wife and I are intimately familiar from having listened to live performances (many but not all) as well as the CDs played countless times at home. Our current audio system comprises KEF reference speakers driven by NAD pre and power amps, fed by Oppo 105 with CDs and TIDAL streaming.
Two words that best describe our experience listening to your LX521 speakers were natural and realistic auditory illusion. Whether listening to stringed instruments, male and female voices, bamboo flute, or drums, the tone and timbre were such that the sounds reproduced were just like the real thing - very believable. And the imaging was such we could imagine being in the presence of the music performers. The third most important attribute we can add is the lack of listening fatigue after hours! After having attended Rocky Mountain Audio Festival in Denver a couple of years ago (the largest audio festival in the U.S.) and other audio shows in New York city and elsewhere, we have listened to audio systems that can cost as much as a mortgage! While some of these systems have very impressive sound, some were tiresome even after only after a short duration. We have to admit we don’t know whether the fatigue was caused by speakers or if it had to do with the very high sound levels and electronic artifacts.
There was nothing in the audio system we heard that was objectionable or of any concern. The one small concern we have is that these LX521s were driven by Pass Labs power amps! As fine as these amps are, they are well out of our price range, and therefore we don’t know how these speakers might sound with more moderately-priced amps, such as, ATI or Emotiva. Having said this, our long quest to replace our current speakers has been fulfilled. LX521 will be our next speakers!
Charles: we can’t thank you enough for readily inviting us to your home, for your incredible hospitality, and for creating the perfect atmosphere for us to become acquainted with LX521s to the extent we could arrive at our decision to acquire a pair for ourselves! We look forward to consulting you on our plans.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Ray & Alicia
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Email from Tim McTeague -- Visited 18NOV18 -- email dated 19NOV18
For some background, I have had Linkwitz Orion speakers for 13 years now. They have been updated with each official modification as well as a couple of ASP tweaks by Don Barringer. Still, I had wondered how much improvement the LX521s would offer. Luckily, Charles Port was kind enough to entertain visitors to his house and so I took him up on the offer.
The first thing I noticed, before any music was played, was that his speakers were not exactly standard LX521s. The tweeter/mid baffle was now a thick aluminum sheet, keeping the same outlines and thickness as the wood version. He still had the 3 way with passive crossover, not the newer .4 change, but has implemented his own large, and outboard, version. And, the upper baffle was on a stand with the woofer module sitting next to it.
Charles’ room is much larger than mine and that allowed him plenty of space behind, and next to, the speakers. On with the music. My first test track was Mahler’s 1st symphony, 4th movement. I immediately noticed the bass was not as deep as my Orions, lacking the feeling in the chest when the bass drum is whacked. He did a bit of tweaking and mentioned he needed to do further work on that aspect. The scope of the large orchestra was well done.
The Arvo Pärt track showed his setup had a more extended treble and greater clarity. On subsequent tracks, voices in particular, were a bit more precisely placed with a little extra detail. Overall, with my CDs, I felt some aspects were better but not all. The Orions really are still a great speaker. My room is much narrower than his and may be one reason the bass seems better on my setup. Truth be told, I am also running a MiniDsp with Dirac Live room correction. This was added to control some unpleasant peaks around 80Hz.
Charles then played some of his music, he has a large, and interesting, collection of vinyl and CD. The only fly in the ointment was the Ravel LP he played. For some reason, the highs were glaring and hurt my ears. I asked for that one to be stopped after a few minutes. Much better were some Bernstein disks and a Jazz piece with an amazing horn rendition. I have never before heard the power and metallic ring that live horns have. I’m not much for Jazz but that was impressive. Lastly, he played a track from “4 Way Street”, the live album from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Again, just dammed impressive. It was the best live recording, and reproduction, I have ever heard.
So, to wrap up this rambling review; I really loved the LX521s but maybe not enough to dump my Orions just yet. If I still had box speakers, my path would be clear. Sigfried Linkwitz’s open baffle designs are world class and, given enough room, they cannot be beaten IMO. Thanks again, Charles, for you amazing hospitality!
Timothy McTeague
Nottingham, MD
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