On its surface, Linn’s new Klimax DSM Streamer is, to my eyes, a thing of industrial design beauty. The care and attention paid to every detail of its appearance speaks of passion and pride, and of building a product which embodies aesthetics as much as it does engineering. Life in balance.
This care and consideration makes me smile. It makes me happy because human concerns should be part of every hifi decision, without which we are left with heartless, soulless hunks of stuff, where value is reduced to accounting principles.
The new Linn Klimax DSM Streamer, which also acts as a Preamplifier, offers what you’d expect from a streamer including a host of digital inputs capable of playing back the highest of hi-res, in addition to 2x phono (RCA) and a balanced line-level input. One surprise is the inclusion of an optical Ethernet input (SFP socket), which eliminates concerns of Ethernet cable resident electrical noise entering the DSM. WiFi and Bluetooth (4.0) are also available as inputs, and the DSM supports Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, Airplay, Roon, TuneIn, and Calm Radio services.
At the beating heart of the Klimax DSM’s lies the first ever Linn-designed and manufactured in-house Organik DAC architecture, using a combination of FPGA processing and a discrete conversion stage. The PFGA provides upsampling and volume control, among other functions, while the discrete conversion stage employs a new, ultra-low jitter oscillator. These elements reside on a double-side, 8-layer circuit board, thereby shortening critical signal paths.
The Klimax DSM’s enclosure is machined from solid, special grade aluminum with an integrated display. Slick.
Key Features
- Features Organik DAC, enabling our most natural sound ever
- Available in two variants: Audio for music source connection; AV with the addition of HDMI connectivity for movie sources
- Streams virtually any digital source over a standard network
- Supports formats up to 24-bit 384kHz with the addition of DSD256
- Integrates seamlessly with Tidal & Qobuz lossless streaming
- Plays Internet radio via TuneIn & Calm Radio
- Analogue, digital and wireless connectivity for performance and convenience
- HDMI 2.0 connections (4K compatible) including eARC for Smart TV connection – AV variant only
- New lowest distortion ADC gets the most from connected analogue sources
- Exakt Links for connection of Klimax LP12, Urika II, Exaktbox or integrated Exakt speakers
- Distortion-free digital volume control
- Surround Sound Processing available with upgrade – AV variant only
- Space Optimisation built-in (requires configuration by Linn Specialist)
The Linn Klimax DSM Streamer starts at $39,000.
Company Website: Linn
