Linn 150 Floorstanding Speakers

The 150 is Linn's compact floorstanding speaker — a 3-way passive design at £5,500 per pair that gives full-range performance in a cabinet modest enough for most living rooms. It shares the engineering approach of the Linn 119: a crossover designed to be bypassed cleanly when Exakt is introduced, and a cabinet that does not compromise what the electronics are trying to do.

Where the 119 suits smaller rooms and shelf positions, the 150 is the natural step up for listeners who want a floorstanding speaker that integrates well with a Linn DSM system without dominating the space.

Design and Drive Units

The 150 uses three Nextel-coated paper-diaphragm drivers: a 190 mm bass unit, a 160 mm midrange, and a 19.55 mm soft Sonomex dome tweeter. The 40-litre cabinet uses dual down-firing ports, which extend bass response while keeping the footprint narrow — 234 mm wide against 1,000 mm tall.

The analogue passive crossover is a lower-order design, built for phase coherence and minimal signal path. Like the 119, it can be bypassed for Exakt operation, at which point filtering, time alignment, and room correction are handled upstream in the network player. Three pairs of binding posts are provided, allowing tribution or biwiring configurations in passive operation.

Exakt Upgrade Path

The 150's Exakt-ready architecture follows the same logic as the 119: buy it as a passive speaker today, upgrade to active Exakt operation when the system and budget allow. The upgrade connects the speaker to a Selekt DSM or Majik DSM via Exakt Link, fitting an Exakt module that takes over from the passive crossover entirely.

In Exakt operation, each drive unit receives its own digitally timed and filtered signal — the analogue crossover, with its associated phase shifts and insertion loss, is removed from the circuit. At three-way, this represents a more significant step than it does at two-way: the midrange integration in particular benefits substantially from digital crossover precision.

Space Optimisation — Linn's room correction — is applied at the source and accounts for the speaker's interaction with room boundaries. The 150's dual down-firing ports mean bass loading is somewhat room-dependent, and Space Optimisation addresses this directly.

Finishes

The 150 is available in Walnut, Oak, Satin Black, and Satin White. The cabinet is slender enough that finish choice is a meaningful aesthetic decision in most rooms.

Technical Specifications

Who Is It For?

The 150 is for the listener who wants a proper floorstanding speaker that integrates into a Linn system neatly — either as a passive speaker now, or as an Exakt-ready platform for later. It suits rooms where the 119 would be adequate for imaging but insufficient for scale, and where a larger floorstanding speaker would be disproportionate.

Paired with a Selekt DSM or Majik DSM in passive operation, it is a solid, coherent system. With the Exakt upgrade applied, it becomes something more substantial — three separately optimised drive units, each receiving a digitally precise signal, in a cabinet that was designed for exactly that use.

Buying from Martin's Hi-Fi

Martin's Hi-Fi has been in Norwich since 1968, and the Linn range has been part of what we do for years. We are still family-run — Ted Martin's daughter Elizabeth runs the business today — and we stock only brands we have heard properly and stand behind.

If you are considering the 150 alongside the Exakt upgrade, it is worth having that conversation at the point of purchase — the system configuration changes depending on whether Exakt is planned immediately or later, and getting the DSM variant right from the start avoids unnecessary changes.

Reach them at [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], call on 01603 627010, or WhatsApp Dave or Chris directly on 07554 687137. You can read more about who we are and how we work on our Why Martin's page. We are at 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY, open six days a week.

Contact: [email protected] | 01603 627010 | WhatsApp: 07554 687137 | 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY