About
This is 343
The first loudspeaker to be designed around Linn’s revolutionary Pistonik drive unit technology from the outset. One in which Linn’s authentic proprietary technologies converge to project an unshakeable illusion of reality.
A reference loudspeaker, concealed inside a form so compact and poised that its achievement becomes quietly improbable. 343 isn’t simply a loudspeaker that sounds “big for its size”. It is technically explicit, visually calm and emotionally immediate, delivering performance without imposition and presence without bulk.
AT A GLANCE
8”
Down-firing Pistonik bass driver
6”
Pistonik upper bass driver
~70%
Of the acoustic workload carried by Pistonik
2
Variants: Exakt Integrated and PWAB
PISTONIK FOR 343
When the Pistonik motor system was introduced in Linn’s flagship 360 loudspeakers, it revolutionised what could be expected from Linn lower-frequency performance.
In 343, that achievement takes on new significance. It is the first loudspeaker to be designed around Pistonik from the outset, with the cabinet, down-firing bass architecture, drive unit behaviour and supporting electronics evolving together as a single holistic acoustic system.
Linn has long understood how to extract remarkable bass performance from compact forms. Pistonik gives 343 those qualities at source: a fundamentally more capable 8” bass driver with the exceptional linearity, vast excursion and precise control required to deliver serious low-frequency performance from a single unit.
8” down-firing bass
Positioned close to the floor, this driver uses a highly reflective acoustic boundary to deliver omni-directional bass energy readily and efficiently into the room, whilst its orientation allows the full mass of the loudspeaker to work against the reactive energy of the bass unit.
6” upper bass
Brings the same principles of low distortion, linear performance and controlled output into the frequencies where much of music’s body, weight and presence is formed.
Together, 343’s lower-frequency drivers carry around 70% of the loudspeaker’s acoustic workload, from the deepest frequencies through the vocal range, and beyond.
THE CABINET
With so much technology to accommodate, 343 required a cabinet design that could bring reference performance, integrated electronics and neat proportions into a single fully resolved form. Its purpose is acoustic, visual and mechanical…
…and its first act is one of disappearance.
ACOUSTIC: DISAPPEARANCE
The continuous cabinet, free from hard edges, reduces diffraction so the image remains stable, spatially precise and rock-solid across an exceptionally wide listening area.
VISUAL: POISED AND ON POINTE
Its lower edge undulates with the sweeping shape of a sine wave, a shape that also creates the volume and geometry the down-firing 8” driver needs.
MECHANICAL: THE MATERIAL
A glass-fibre-reinforced moulding compound enables thinner walls with full stiffness, maximising acoustic volume while keeping 343 compact enough for any home.
THE MODULE
At the rear of 343, concealed within a curvaceous cowl that completes the flowing form of the cabinet, is the module which drives the loudspeaker. Advanced technology gathered into a form that remains calm, compact and complete.
Together, its technologies form a chain of custody for the music signal, protecting timing, pitch accuracy, power delivery and acoustic behaviour until the loudspeaker itself begins to fade from the listener’s attention.
Most self-sufficient
343 Exakt Integrated
- Utopik power supply
- Exakt digital crossover
- Power DAC architecture
- Organik DACs
- Adaptive Bias Control amplification
Use with your own amplification
343 Passive with Active Bass (PWAB)
- Same Pistonik 6” and 8” drive units
- Utopik and Power DAC for the bass system
- Upper bass, midrange and tweeter driven by external amplification
343 is the compact reference loudspeaker that fits into any home.
The wonder of 343 is how completely it changes what a compact loudspeaker can be: technically explicit, visually calm and emotionally immediate. Hear the Linn 343 for yourself in the Take 5 Audio listening room in Middlebury, CT.
