Discussion
Got this from Linn the other day:
ALL-NEW POWER SUPPLY TECHNOLOGY FROM LINN
"Utopik is our all-new generation of exceptionally efficient and highly responsive switch-mode power supplies for Linn products,
Utopik provides the best of both worlds, comfortably outputting maximum power whilst retaining speed, responsiveness and consummate efficiency. It maintains absolutely stable output voltage; providing Linn products with relentlessly optimised, pure power – regardless of current demand, or where you are in the world.
Featuring intelligent Valley Switching, Power Factor Correction, and with precision-regulated and isolated power rails – these power supplies are our cleanest and best yet"
Any thoughts? It's £1350. Worth it, or Scotch Mist?
ALL-NEW POWER SUPPLY TECHNOLOGY FROM LINN
"Utopik is our all-new generation of exceptionally efficient and highly responsive switch-mode power supplies for Linn products,
Utopik provides the best of both worlds, comfortably outputting maximum power whilst retaining speed, responsiveness and consummate efficiency. It maintains absolutely stable output voltage; providing Linn products with relentlessly optimised, pure power – regardless of current demand, or where you are in the world.
Featuring intelligent Valley Switching, Power Factor Correction, and with precision-regulated and isolated power rails – these power supplies are our cleanest and best yet"
Any thoughts? It's £1350. Worth it, or Scotch Mist?
Not sure I'll be bothering; it's a pricey upgrade and I have many older superceded boxes rather than just a few very expensive current ones, so it probably doesn't stack up for me.
That said, the original Dyamik upgrade for the older SMPS when it came out around 2009 was a big upgrade, I bought a few Akurate level things that had it fitted and also retro-fitted to some older power amps and it was well worth it.
That said, the original Dyamik upgrade for the older SMPS when it came out around 2009 was a big upgrade, I bought a few Akurate level things that had it fitted and also retro-fitted to some older power amps and it was well worth it.
theboss said:
Not sure I'll be bothering; it's a pricey upgrade and I have many older superceded boxes rather than just a few very expensive current ones, so it probably doesn't stack up for me.
That said, the original Dyamik upgrade for the older SMPS when it came out around 2009 was a big upgrade, I bought a few Akurate level things that had it fitted and also retro-fitted to some older power amps and it was well worth it.
Cheers boss. My 'system' - if you can call it that- is one streamer and 2 speakers. In a few words could you give me an idea of what benefit it might be to me? That said, the original Dyamik upgrade for the older SMPS when it came out around 2009 was a big upgrade, I bought a few Akurate level things that had it fitted and also retro-fitted to some older power amps and it was well worth it.
Portia5 said:
Cheers boss. My 'system' - if you can call it that- is one streamer and 2 speakers. In a few words could you give me an idea of what benefit it might be to me?
Sounds like you have a DS/DSM unit and a pair of active speakers if there are no other boxes. Given that this power supply upgrade is for line level components i.e. there are no power amp / active speaker variants, you could probably have one installed in the single box.Whether its justified or not, you'd have to tell yourself by comparing your unit with an upgraded one.
There is a promotion but that involves buying something new in order to get a 'free' power supply.
Portia5 said:
Thanks! Yep it’s a Klimax hub with actives.
Unfortunately bought a few months ago so no promo freebie.
I'm personally dubious about how much of a difference anything will make with the hub in that case, as pretty much everything is being done in the speakers themselves. The front-end unit is just taking the stream from whatever source you're listening to over TCP/IP and bitstreaming it to each speaker using Linn's proprietary Exaktlink protocol. I'm sure there may be a little more to it than that, but it is at least remaining in the digital domain the entire time until it's rendered by the DAC in each speaker.Unfortunately bought a few months ago so no promo freebie.
To be fair to Linn they make it clear that there is no difference in audio performance using >Cat5 cabling. I wish other manufacturers were a bit more forthright with this kind of stuff.
https://docs.linn.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Exakt_link
You say that the digital hub won't make a difference. I had the same scepticism until I did a demo of Akurate System Hub vs Klimax System Hub into active Akubariks.
I wasn't expecting any difference since it's just passing a digital signal to the amps within the speakers, but there was a noticeable difference at higher volume.
I wasn't expecting any difference since it's just passing a digital signal to the amps within the speakers, but there was a noticeable difference at higher volume.
msmith0592 said:
You say that the digital hub won't make a difference. I had the same scepticism until I did a demo of Akurate System Hub vs Klimax System Hub into active Akubariks.
I wasn't expecting any difference since it's just passing a digital signal to the amps within the speakers, but there was a noticeable difference at higher volume.
I'm not stating that it can't make any difference, I said I'm dubious about how much of a difference it can/will make. The more of a difference it makes, the more cynically I think that Linn have engineered the Exakt protocol so that it can be made to make a difference. It's not good for their business if their £3k box does an identical job to their £30k box because ultimately it's the same bit-perfect handling of a digital stream in software but in a fancier case.I wasn't expecting any difference since it's just passing a digital signal to the amps within the speakers, but there was a noticeable difference at higher volume.
Essentially if the hub just sits in the middle receiving your stream from storage / web services and spits out an Ekaxt representation of the bitstream losslessly, I struggle to understand what it's doing that imparts a difference in resulting SQ. It goes against my instinct. I'm no electronic engineer but I'd love to hear theirs explain it.
ETA since writing this I've entered into a deal on some new kit and have had an offer to try the latest Klimax hub against my ADSM so I'll be able to form an opinion in the next few weeks.
Edited by theboss on Monday 6th November 21:47
I just bought the next gen Klimax Exakt hub - an exdem with the original PSU - so am contemplating having it done
I see some people are buying the cheapest qualifying pair of speakers to get the free upgrade, then selling the speakers or using them in another system. That’s another way to look at it.
I see some people are buying the cheapest qualifying pair of speakers to get the free upgrade, then selling the speakers or using them in another system. That’s another way to look at it.
mgv8 said:
Portia5 said:
Utopik fitted today!
And, strange to say, and much to my surprise, I definitely think it does enhance the audio experience!
Happy days!
Just reading threw this and was going to say...just try it. Good that its worked out and interesting what can improve things. And, strange to say, and much to my surprise, I definitely think it does enhance the audio experience!
Happy days!
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