This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below



Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial Interests: click here
Source: 2TB iMac 27" quad-core with 16GB of RAM (AIFF) running OSX 10.8.2 and PureMusic 1.87g in hybrid memory play with pre-allocated RAM, Audirvana 1.5.5 in direct/integer mode, Metrum Hex, SOtM dX-USB HD with Super-clock upgrade & mBPS-d2s, AURALiC Vega
Preamplifier: Nagra Jazz, Bent Audio Tap-X, Esoteric C-03, TruLife Audio Athena
Integrated amplifier: Wyred4Sound mINT, Bakoon AMP-12R, Gato Audio DIA-250, Crayon Audio CFA-1.2
Power amplifier: Job 225; FirstWatt S1 monos, SIT2
Loudspeakers: soundkaos Wave 40, Boenicke Audio B10 with SwingBase, German Physiks HRS-120, Zu Submission, AudioSolutions 200, Gallo Acoustics Strada 2/TR-3D
Cables: Complete Zu Event loom, KingRex uArt split USB cable
Powerline conditioning: GigaWatt PF-2 and Vibex Two 1R DC filter on amps, Vibex Three 11R on front-end components
Equipment rack:
Artesania Exoteryc double-wide three tier with optional glass shelf, Rajasthani hardwood rack for amps
Sundry accessories: Extensive use of Acoustic System Resonators, noise filters and phase inverters
Art: paintings by Ivette Ebaen,
Indian bronze musicians and other Rajasthani furnishings from images-atmospheres.ch with jewelry from ninomedina.com
Music sources: bandcamp.com, qobuz.com, amazon.co.uk, tulumba.com
Room size: 5m x 11.5m W x D, 2.6m ceiling with exposed wooden cross beams every 60cm, plaster over brick walls, suspended wood floor with Tatami-type throw rugs. The listening space opens into the second storey via a staircase and the kitchen/dining room are behind the main listening chair. The latter is thus positioned in the middle of this open floor plan without the usual nearby back wall.
Review component retail in Europe: £2'490/pr introductory, £2'990/pr thereafter


If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,
licensing wraps it all up with a formal bow and sends a check or wire as proper thanks. It matter not whether the original is commercial or DIY. Nelson Pass can sing a loud song on how often his DIY designs published for personal use appear in unauthorized copies for profit. Bruno Putzeys of Hypex is beginning to see his stated Ncore 400 DIY restrictions circumvented. When a famous Swiss hifi company about to sign a licensing contract last year had their lawyer insert one final sentence to confirm the seller's full ownership of the IP on the table, the seller walked. Wondering why, the prospective buyer subsequently discovered said IP published verbatim in a far earlier Japanese paper. Yet the commercial product whose circuit they'd meant to license remains marketed and highly reviewed with no credit to the actual inventor. That's theft and attempting to sell stolen goods. Today's project shows how to play this particular game with respect and proper provenance.


"My name is Xiang Lin from Plutospeakers.co.uk. I am tasked with promoting and marketing the Chinese-made Siegfried Linkwitz Pluto active speaker system. Chinese hifi maker LzAudio have obtained a license from Mr. Linkwitz to manufacture his Pluto 2.1 system as a complete system. We've signed up as their sales representative for the EU and are based out of Newark in the UK. Evolved from the original PVC sewer-pipe design generously promoted to DIY, our new turn-key Pluto system features aluminium-alloy enclosures in five different lacquer finishes and an outboard remote-controlled integrated amplifier with active analog crossover, volume control and multiple inputs.


"As an avid 6moons reader for many years, I know that you had reported on Mr. Linkwitz's Orion and Pluto as early as 2005 and 2006 but there has never been a formal review of his complete Pluto system. I believe our new plug'n'play Pluto will be a very interesting find to a lot of people intent on top performance from a tidy package for a fair price. I hope the new appearance will pave its way into many a living room." In a few tight sentences Mr. Lin had covered all the necessary terrain. Bravo. With it he stood on its head also the routinely justified perception that Sino-sourced products can play it fast and loose when it comes to repurposed intellectual property rights.  


For those still in the dark about the Linkwitz connection, this ex Hewlett-Packard engineer is one of hifi's most famous speaker theoreticians, co-designer of the ubiquitous Linkwitz/Riley crossover circuit, designer of the now defunct Audio Artistry speaker brand and DIY authority for in-home speakers under the Linkwitz Lab brand. It's on his website where you'll find complete plans and supplemental documentation for his original 2005 Pluto project which our Chinese version so candidly repackages. Perhaps think of Siegfried Linkwitz as speakerdom's Nelson Pass.


Making his original sewer pipe speaker itself was less involved than its active crossover and compensation circuitry. Here LzAudio not only upgrade us to aluminum enclosures with professional lacquer finish, they give us a complete third component with metal wand remote control over volume and input switching plus four channels for active bi-amping. Add source and cables and see Pluto rise above your event horizon. At the introductory £2'490/pr for the lot, Siegfried not Roy becomes your very clever—rich we don't know but generous for sure—American uncle you never knew you had.