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Linear/ Linear USB
Sense and Sensibility.
You love first-hand musical experience? Then you’ll know that regrettably dynamic headphones most often disappoint on the headphone outputs of CD players or amplifiers.
Some of the oh so manifold headphone types actually need up to
500 times more power for the same loudness than others – their
impedances can easily differ by a factor of 20!
Lehmannaudio already solved this problem back in 2004: the Linear
turns the “makeshift output“ of your amplifier into a gate to another perception.
The solid ground for this experience in the Lehmann style is provided
by selected components and a sophisticated circuit design. Three
optional gain settings allow an impressive listening pleasure with
the most diverse headphones on the most diverse sound sources.
The fact that highly demanding users like the WDR (West German
broadcasting corporation), the audiophile labels Aeolus, TACET and
STS Digital as well as distinguished manufacturers like e.g. Sennheiser, Ortofon and Van den Hul put their trust in the Linear speaks for
itself. And for good reason the Linear serves as an incorruptible pre-
amplifier at the renowned The Masters studio in the Netherlands.
By the way, the Linear can also inspire your active loudspeakers to
an amazing vitality, if you so wish.
But probably you just want to enjoy your favourite music – up close
and without flavour enhancer. In this case the Linear will conjure up
a happy smile on your face. And if you wish to enjoy music à deux,
it won’t leave you on your own: two parallel outputs on a discrete
solid-state class-A output stage will simultaneously feed two headphones of identical impedance with souvereign power without curtailing the listening experience. As soon as a second headphone is
recognised, the line out will be turned off.
Furthermore the Linear USB auto-recognises an incoming USB audio
data stream and switches to the USB input. Which makes it a perfect
partner for your computer or your iPad!*
Listen for yourself how shockingly three-dimensional the Linear
outlines an aural stage: with physical, deep lows, a filigree resolution and a downright weightless elegance over the entire acoustic
frequency spectrum. Turn the massive, cushioned volume knob and
enjoy your pleasant crawlies when getting to know your musical treasures from scratch!
The comprehensive “Techletter Headphone Amplifiers“ with comparing information on the impedance and sensitivity data of common headphones is available free of charge on the internet or at your Lehmannaudio dealer.
Lehmannaudio Vertriebs GmbH Richard-Zanders-Str. 54 51469 Bergisch Gladbach Tel.: +49 2202 - 280 62 40 Fax: +49 2202 - 280 62 39
email: [email protected] Web: www.lehmannaudio.de www.headphone-amplifier.com
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Technical Details:
FIRST TEST
And it is detail obsessive, digging
up a huge amount and arranging
it into a cohesive and convincing
this headphone amp is neither a
cube nor wholly black. Incongruous
name apart, though, it’s impressive.
The class of the black
HEADPHONE
AMPLIFIER
LEHMANN AUDIO
BLACK CUBE
LINEAR
Input impedance: 47 kohms
Maximum gain: 0dB, 10dB, 20dB – selectable via DIP
switches on the bottom side.
Also effective for USB-DAC (Linear USB)
Frequency response: 10 Hz (-0.3dB) to 35 kHz (-1dB)
S/N ratio: >95dB at 0dB gain (analogue)
THD: <0.001% at 6 mW/300 ohms (analogue)
Channel separation: >70dB/10kHz
Output power: 200 mW/300 ohms
400 mW/60 ohms
Output impedance: Line Out 50 ohms
Headphone Out 5 ohms
Power consumption: ca. 10 W, internal regulated power supp
ly with anti-interference toroidal trans
former
technical details subject to change without prior notice
Reviews:
REFERENCE!
„... delicately resolving with every headphone, musical and revealing
a clarity that none of the other test candidates could rival (...) With or
without USB the best solid-state headphone amplifier to ever perform
at AUDIO’s since the beginning of the test series.“
Dimensions: 280 x 110 x 44 mm (housing only)
Audio connectors: Neutrik headphone sockets 6.35mm with
gold-plated contacts
1x parallel to Line Out
1x Line Out muting
Gold-plated RCA sockets with teflon
insulation
Weight: ca. 1.5 kg
Front panel/control knob: Anodised aluminium, natural or black
Chrome optional
USB Converter (Linear USB):
Sample rate digital: up to 48kHz
Resolution: 16 Bit
Max. volt. USB-DAC: 1V eff.
★★★★★
„As far as sonic performance is concerned, it?s the best we?ve
come across.“
„...capable of massively upgrading the sound from your computer music
collection.“ Streaming Audio Product 2009
„I was – and continue to be – quite impressed with this solid state amp. (...)
If your budget is EUR700 or above, you must absolutely listen to this amp,
even if you are prepared to spend more than that...“
„Creamy-smooth“ with headphones (...) almost tube-like, without the euphonic coloration that some tube designs inflict. (...) Its lows were very
powerful and detailed, while the smooth highs were limited only by the
headphones I was using.“
REFERENCE!
„... in my opinion the Black Cube headphone amplifier from Lehmann Audio
belongs to the reference class of its genre ...“
„In terms of sound quality, it’s the perfect partner for the Sennheiser
HD800. It’s rugged, can drive to very high levels without distortion or
complaint, it’s tonally neutral, dynamic, fast and very, very detailed.“
„It measures well and delivers unusually clear insight
into the ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ aspects of music making,
not just the ‘what?’. All the hi-fi virtues are there but
it’s the manner in which the Black Cube draws you into
a musical performance that marks it out from the crowd. A fine sound at
a great price. Lehmann’s Black Cube Linear also scores with its fabulously
low distortion. Noise is vanishingly low too, sufficient to raise an A-wtd
S/N ratio of 99dB in its +10dB gain mode. This is 20dB ahead of the PS Audio amp tested two years ago! These figures, together with its maximum
output of 9V and input overload of 6.1V, suggest the Black Cube Linear is
as near a bomb-proof solution as you’ll find“
„...a high quality, flexible, high value-for-money piece of gear. I can only
classify it as „Highly Recommended. (...) If you‘re in the market for a highend headphone amp, you must audition this piece. It‘s a winner.“
„The shallow unit from Cologne pumped so much drive, impact and transparency into the earpieces of practically every pair of headphones we tried
that it became alarmingly obvious that built-in headphone amplifiers are
mostly nice gimmicks but in the end only temporary solutions.“
„At first go Norbert Lehmann got a headphone amp going that belongs
to the creme de la creme of this amplifier species and is the author‘s new
personal favourite.“
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