Dropped in on Colin at What You See and Hear yesterday to pick up some kit and have a listen to the new Klimax Organik DSM.
First impressions - it looks better in the flesh than in the pictures produced by Linn. Still not a big fan of the visual design and I still think the volume/control knob and display are a complete waste as you control the unit sitting on the sofa using a phone or tablet. Actually touching your HiFi (apart from your LP12) is so 20th century!
Colin did the perfect demo, as ever. A Klimax DSM Katalyst versus the new boy. Both were fed into a Klimax Twin then onto Kudos Super 20a speakers. Both were SPACEd.
So Colin started with a few of his demo tracks, first a couple of times on the Kat DSM and then one the Organik DSM. Blimey the difference was not subtle. My simple measure of better sound is if you are hearing things you did not hear before. Yes, you certainly were with the new Organik DSM. It really was like a significant upgrade, even upgrades, to your LP12. You were hearing so much more detail but then this was also translating into so much more involved and absorbing music. I was not expecting this at all. My big takeaway from this was not to underestimate how much a source upgrade can bring. I was going to write DAC upgrade but felt it was not appropriate to simply attribute the sound quality difference to the DAC alone. After all the box is certainly different and there may also be differences in the other electronics that Linn has not talked about. Perhaps the best test of this would be to compare new versus old System Hubs as you would have thought that the new System hub has every enhancement EXCEPT for the DAC. One for another day or others to write about.
So bottom line is that for those for whom 30K is not a significant amount of money then the new Klimax Organik DSM is a slam dunk purchase. It is the best source there is. For those for whom 30K is significant then the decision, as ever, is more complicated. If you can afford it, you have a system that it will work in (non-EXAKT) you have to listen to it, simple. I would also recommend listening at Colin's as you will hear the difference. The only downside is that you will spend that money as a demo will not convince you it is not worth it!!
I am quite happy that it will not fit in my system (integrated EXAKT speakers) as it is an itch I don't have to scratch, yet.
CJ
First impressions - it looks better in the flesh than in the pictures produced by Linn. Still not a big fan of the visual design and I still think the volume/control knob and display are a complete waste as you control the unit sitting on the sofa using a phone or tablet. Actually touching your HiFi (apart from your LP12) is so 20th century!
Colin did the perfect demo, as ever. A Klimax DSM Katalyst versus the new boy. Both were fed into a Klimax Twin then onto Kudos Super 20a speakers. Both were SPACEd.
So Colin started with a few of his demo tracks, first a couple of times on the Kat DSM and then one the Organik DSM. Blimey the difference was not subtle. My simple measure of better sound is if you are hearing things you did not hear before. Yes, you certainly were with the new Organik DSM. It really was like a significant upgrade, even upgrades, to your LP12. You were hearing so much more detail but then this was also translating into so much more involved and absorbing music. I was not expecting this at all. My big takeaway from this was not to underestimate how much a source upgrade can bring. I was going to write DAC upgrade but felt it was not appropriate to simply attribute the sound quality difference to the DAC alone. After all the box is certainly different and there may also be differences in the other electronics that Linn has not talked about. Perhaps the best test of this would be to compare new versus old System Hubs as you would have thought that the new System hub has every enhancement EXCEPT for the DAC. One for another day or others to write about.
So bottom line is that for those for whom 30K is not a significant amount of money then the new Klimax Organik DSM is a slam dunk purchase. It is the best source there is. For those for whom 30K is significant then the decision, as ever, is more complicated. If you can afford it, you have a system that it will work in (non-EXAKT) you have to listen to it, simple. I would also recommend listening at Colin's as you will hear the difference. The only downside is that you will spend that money as a demo will not convince you it is not worth it!!
I am quite happy that it will not fit in my system (integrated EXAKT speakers) as it is an itch I don't have to scratch, yet.
CJ