Linn Akurate DSM Streamer Pre Amp and Dac was 5.5K new absolute Bargain

For Sale Linn Akurate Exakt DSM Streamer Pre Amp and Dac

Pristine condition one professional owner from new.

This is a Steal at this price as sell for much more than double what I'm asking no time wasters

I'm selling this on behalf of a friend
Who has upgraded his hifi

This is a Linn Akurate DSM. This can be used as a streaming pre-amplifier going into active speakers/power amp or can be used with a fixed output as a standalone music streamer integrating into a more conventional hi-fi setup.


Akurate DSM is one step below Linn’s top of the line Klimax network audio player. The Akurate DSM is much more than a standard Ethernet based DAC. It is more like a next generation high end preamp that accepts both analog and digital audio. On the analog side Linn’s respect for audio purity is apparent in its decision to keep all analog signals in the analog domain from input to output. In addition the Akurate DSM’s volume control uses coarse analog / fine digital attenuation. This type of volume control is also used in the Weiss Engineering DAC202 that I placed on the CASH List in 2010. On the digital side the Akurate DSM can handle nearly anything sent its way. The HDMI inputs even accept the output from SACD players, downsampling the audio to 88.2 kHz or 176.4 kHz. Tons of Toslink and coaxial digital inputs are also available but the input Linn is now known for is its Ethernet input supporting UPnP AV. During this review I focused solely on the Ethernet input as it’s what separates Linn from many other manufacturers. As a computer audiophile when I think Linn I think Ethernet.

 

I’ve followed Linn’s network audio products since the first Klimax DS was released in 2007. Over the last six years Linn has improved both the network player components and the control interfaces. Linn’s iPad application named Kinsky is a far cry from the first Klimax controller. iPad control applications have become critically important to computer audiophiles. Back in the day people had giant album covers or smaller CD booklets as a way to view and connect with their collections. Now we only use applications to interface with our collections. In a way, a great app helps us value our music collections. Without the ability to view album art and browse easily we forget what we have and the music becomes bits on a hard drive with less value every year. Kinsky is a pretty good app because it doesn’t do everything but does enough for the user to enjoy listening to music. I didn’t read a single word of instructions for the application and was able to figure everything out on the first day of use. The simplistic interface enables one to browse music on the left and play music on the right. Even creating and editing playlists is obvious with only two buttons below the currently playing tracks (Edit and Save). More important than ease of use is that the app actually works. Leaving out complexities that often cause problems was a smart decision by Linn. Adding music to the playlist, whether playing now, next, or later, just works. I’ve used a large number of control applications over the last few years and must say that many are underwhelming, don’t work a designed, or are poorly designed. Developing a great app isn’t a easy task for an audio manufacturer, but that’s no excuse for substandard app.

 

Kinsky isn’t the best app for users with extended titles in their music collections. For example I title all my albums with extra information such as sample rate and bit depth. This enables me to browse albums and select the DSD version, PCM 44.1 version or even a higher resolution version by simply looking at the album name. Kinsky doesn’t show the entire album name if it’s longer than usual. Most albums appear just fine. Other apps have decreased the font size dynamically to display longer titles or scrolled long titles when necessary. Kinsky forces the user to press and hold the album to see the popup with options for Play Now, Next, or Later. Within this popup one can see the entire album name. Not the end of the world and not a show stopper, just an annoyance.

 

Near the end of the review period Linn sent a Sneaky DSM ($2,750) for me to use in a multi zone system. I wanted to test the functionality of Kinsky and see how well the components work in a multi zone environment. In my recent UPnP / DLNA guide I streamed 24/192 audio to several zones simultaneously from JRiver Media Center without a hiccup. In my tests of both the Akurate DSM and Sneaky DSM both units performed identically in a single zone and multi zone system. The Synology Media Server app sent audio to both DSM units at all sample rates without issue. The Kinsky application is very nice for control of multiple Linn network music players. It’s even possible to control non-Linn UPnP renderers is needed. The user selects an obvious button titles Rooms to display the Linn music players on the network. Selecting a single player switches the app to control that player. It’s as simple as it comes for multi zone control. Independent audio streams and volume control right from the iPad