Linn Owners

The Preowned Market For The Klimax Katalyst DSM

Moomintroll

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The conundrum for me is who will buy it.
Well, Linn are hardly likely to sell any more new ones, are they? But how were they selling anyway? The new model and Organik have awoken the market, by all appearances, and will feed a good number of various spec DSMs into the preowned marketplace. It may suppress the resale prices for a while, but could get many more enthusiasts into Klimax level, who would never have aspired to at full retail - and many of us know what that leads to  :$

Oh, the joys of being a Linn dealer.

’troll

 
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entdgc

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Spoke to my dealer today and he expressed his totally PERSONAL opinion (Linn dealers are not told of future plans to avoid compromising their integrity with customers) that he would be surprised if Akurate stayed around much longer. So the future would be Majik > Select > Klimax (x2?). I am not sure I agree with him. If you look at the current pricing there is a nice flow to the increasing products in the range. I can see a new Organik Akurate, probably with new casing to keep the new Linn aesthetic, replacing the Akurate and Original Klimax.

 

Nestor Turton

Nestor Turton
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And what of the Klimax Radikal and Klimax Twin: neither will look quite right in their old fashioned Klimax boxes. So will everything get the new look? Perhaps the Twin and Solos will go the way of the Klimax Kontrol. I think I'll put potential upgrades on hold until .... 

 

akamatsu

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And what of the Klimax Radikal and Klimax Twin: neither will look quite right in their old fashioned Klimax boxes. So will everything get the new look? Perhaps the Twin and Solos will go the way of the Klimax Kontrol. I think I'll put potential upgrades on hold until .... 
This was discussed elsewhere. I posted a video showing the new KDSM with Klimax Radikal on the shelf underneath. They looked quite nice together. Being the exact same width did help. This was a concern of mine. But after seeing the video, I went ahead and ordered the KRadikal. I recall hearing that the KRad would stay in the same box and not get a new look.

 
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Moomintroll

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There is a hint in the comment section of the youtube recording of the launch event. 

98BBDE72-2DD7-4A21-8079-6BC3EE0A5205.jpeg
That ties in with my thinking about the limited space inside the current Klimax box  - “There are plans to make Organik DAC available as an upgrade…” (my bold) This could be taken as Katalyst will be upgraded to Organik, but you may not get all the other NextGen improvements. Just a thought.

’troll

 
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TooManyCatweazles

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HiFi Trade?
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Spoke to my dealer today and he expressed his totally PERSONAL opinion (Linn dealers are not told of future plans to avoid compromising their integrity with customers) that he would be surprised if Akurate stayed around much longer. So the future would be Majik > Select > Klimax (x2?). I am not sure I agree with him. If you look at the current pricing there is a nice flow to the increasing products in the range. I can see a new Organik Akurate, probably with new casing to keep the new Linn aesthetic, replacing the Akurate and Original Klimax.
I am sure that I disagree with your dealer. With Klimax moving upwards pricewise, the gap between Select and Klimax is only opening up. Putting a product line into this gap makes a lot of sense to cover the area, and to have a relevant offering for each of the respective audiences.

 
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jonbsbd

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Personally I can't see Selekt being the model below the Klimax. I know the KDSM is a no-compromise release, but it felt massively different in terms of quality and engineering. The Selekt feels positively cheap by comparison (and it hurts a little to say that). Perhaps Selekt might get a bit more of a milled chassis, and more isolation internally, maybe upgraded electronics, power supply etc, but I'd be surprised if something doesn't sit in the middle. £5k/£8k stepping up to £30k. It's not an obvious upgrade 'next step' is it? Linn would likely lose customers to other higher end streamers (which aren't high end cost wise compared to KDSM)

 

Paulssurround

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I am sure that I disagree with your dealer. With Klimax moving upwards pricewise, the gap between Select and Klimax is only opening up. Putting a product line into this gap makes a lot of sense to cover the area, and to have a relevant offering for each of the respective audiences.
Yes, I agree.

‘There is nothing wrong with Akurate, and my Akurate system is superb sound quality. 

Another consideration is Akurate casework matches most Linn owners current lineup of kit

Personally I can't see Selekt being the model below the Klimax. I know the KDSM is a no-compromise release, but it felt massively different in terms of quality and engineering. The Selekt feels positively cheap by comparison (and it hurts a little to say that). Perhaps Selekt might get a bit more of a milled chassis, and more isolation internally, maybe upgraded electronics, power supply etc, but I'd be surprised if something doesn't sit in the middle. £5k/£8k stepping up to £30k. It's not an obvious upgrade 'next step' is it? Linn would likely lose customers to other higher end streamers (which aren't high end cost wise compared to KDSM)
Yes, absolutely it is too big a step, and Linn may lose a lot of customers.

‘I think the most telling sign is that their are no Selekt Exaktboxes, or Selekt speakers in Linn’s lineup

 

Pennypacker

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Reading al the positivity and technology on the new NGKDSM clock, a clock upgrade for ASH and ADSM seems like a logical step to me. Swap out the mainboard at the dealer and get back in the race.

 
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pdcman

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It’s worth noting that both the slimline Klimax DSM and DS are still being retailed. This is the interim price point between Selekt/Akurate and the New KDSMO. There’s still a massive hike from £15k to £30k, so as long as there is some demand for the slimline K range, it may remain for sometime. Just saying.....

 
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Andyt916

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And what of the Klimax Radikal and Klimax Twin: neither will look quite right in their old fashioned Klimax boxes. So will everything get the new look? Perhaps the Twin and Solos will go the way of the Klimax Kontrol. I think I'll put potential upgrades on hold until .... 
Could this be part of a Linn gradual march to eliminate analogue components from the range and concentrate solely on Exakt? A browse through the Linn website/price list shows the Exakt end of the see-saw heavily weighted against quite a diminishing range of analogue options.

A while back I was thinking about amplification upgrades and looked at what the Linn route was. Now, this (I freely admit) may be down to my lack of knowledge/understanding, but I was unable to see an obvious Linn route here in the absence of a Klimax/Akurate Kontrol in the current line-up?

BTW I'm not denigrating this approach or saying it's necessarily a bad thing, if that is the direction of travel.

 
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Nestor Turton

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It’s worth noting that both the slimline Klimax DSM and DS are still being retailed. This is the interim price point between Selekt/Akurate and the New KDSMO. There’s still a massive hike from £15k to £30k, so as long as there is some demand for the slimline K range, it may remain for sometime. Just saying.....
Perhaps if there's no great demand for Klimax Radikal & Solos in slim boxes, the price of ex-dem and s/h will drop and become affordable. 

 
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Nestor Turton

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Could this be part of a Linn gradual march to eliminate analogue components from the range and concentrate solely on Exakt? A browse through the Linn website/price list shows the Exakt end of the see-saw heavily weighted against quite a diminishing range of analogue options.

A while back I was thinking about amplification upgrades and looked at what the Linn route was. Now, this (I freely admit) may be down to my lack of knowledge/understanding, but I was unable to see an obvious Linn route here in the absence of a Klimax/Akurate Kontrol in the current line-up?

BTW I'm not denigrating this approach or saying it's necessarily a bad thing, if that is the direction of travel.
Think you're right, but when Selekt launched Linn demo'd it with B&W speakers to show it was for non-Exakt customers too. Does new MSDM have Exakt ports? Of course, Linn would like customers to move to its speakers, but wonder if it will upgrade amplifiers for non-Exakt speakers. An ADSM level box in new case with Organik and on-board Solo modules: I'm in the queue. However, no idea how long that queue would be. 

 

Moomintroll

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Perhaps if there's no great demand for Klimax Radikal & Solos in slim boxes, the price of ex-dem and s/h will drop and become affordable. 
I can’t help thinking that if Linn are moving towards Class D power amps, there could be plenty of room in the slim line cases.

‘troll

 
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akamatsu

Michael
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HiFi Trade?
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Spoke to my dealer today and he expressed his totally PERSONAL opinion (Linn dealers are not told of future plans to avoid compromising their integrity with customers) that he would be surprised if Akurate stayed around much longer. So the future would be Majik > Select > Klimax (x2?). I am not sure I agree with him. If you look at the current pricing there is a nice flow to the increasing products in the range. I can see a new Organik Akurate, probably with new casing to keep the new Linn aesthetic, replacing the Akurate and Original Klimax.
Linn HQ did have a meeting with the dealers on the fate of the Akurate line. Perhaps the dealer was at the meeting and knows something. I spoke with a dealer and got the opposite impression, but nothing definite

Personally, I am starting to see the old style Akurate boxes looking rather dated and out of place now. Also, it has been reported that a Select Hub sounds better than the Akurate Hub.

 

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