Big-boy haircut. That's what a prior employer with military history said when my trusty long pony tail finally made way for a low-maintenance buzz cut. In early 2020, visiting Lithuanian speaker giants called Linga from 8mm audiolab were in bad need of one. Their 2 x 12" woofers with twin rear ports per side overpowered this room. At ~70Hz, impedance drops to just slightly below 3Ω. That's reflected in a phase shift peak at 60Hz.

Our resident LinnenberG Liszt monos hadn't gotten Linga's best in the bass. A demonstrator Purifi amp sample—next-gen Ncore tech between Bruno Putzeys and Lars Risbo—had instantly drained the low-end swamp. But it also dried out the remainder of the bandwidth. That fixed one problem only to create another. Bridged to mono, the now 600w/4Ω PA-10 in high DF mode were virtually on par with the class D amp on tidying up ringing bass with high woofer control. But they were texturally and tonally vastly superior across the bandwidth remainder. In just a few minutes, the Florentine compacts had earned their pay and a fat bonus to stay on as my Linga review drivers. That was unexpected mettle, of €1'390/ea. amps on €25'000/pr big-boy speakers.

Manolis Karantinis, one of Greece's best bouzouki players, lends his cover art to some Photoshopped carpet fill.

The upshot is plain. If you start with one PA-10 but down the road hit midlife crisis which, rather than go after a Corvette for 110km/hr speed limits, lusts after big speakers with serious woofers … a second PA-10 will happily supply the requisite horse power. More to the point, it'll do so on a budget, then sonically far exceed what class D at the same budget will do. For class D to take the lead again, I only knew of AG Production and Merrill Audio just then. Their GaN amps simply start at €7'500/pr, then double, then go well beyond.

With 66.36² inches of combined midrange cone area per side like that of a single 9.2" driver and a colossal 226.2² inches in the bass like from a single 17" woofer, Linga moves considerable air. With 96dB sensitivity and a horn-loaded compression tweeter, it's also very critical of amplifier self noise. Here the hot-rod PA-10 acquitted themselves like gentlemen. They stayed perfectly silent whilst being complimented.

For a discussion of PA-10 sonics, I had to wait until I could return to our customary Audio Physic Codex. Here the Lithuanians were unknown quantities to confuse the issue other than make the above very generalized statements of ideal woofer control, perfectly quiet operation and far greater textural largesse and tonal sophistication than a very modern high-spec class D amplifier.