Linn’s Akurate and Majik DSM music streamers have been with us for some time now, and while newer incarnations of both series appear very similar, there have been a number of internal improvements and updates, some of which have been for operational enhancements but others have resulted in significant performance improvements.

Most recently, the Akurate DSM – now known as Akurate DSM/3 – has received Linn’s Katalyst DAC architecture derived from the Klimax series, which is claimed to improve the accuracy of clocking over previous designs principally to reduce jitter, resulting in far lower levels of distortion. More information on Katalyst technology can be found here: https://www.linn.co.uk/technology/katalyst

Adding Katalyst to the Akurate DSM led to a price increase putting more distance between an entry-level music system from Linn (a Majik DSM which has been re-positioned from £2,965 to £2,495) and the next system up, which would be the two-box Akurate DSM and 2200 power amplifier (the Akurate DSM operates at pre-amp level only for performance reasons, therefore an external power amplifier is required where the Majik has its power amplifier included in the DSM).  The Akurate combination is considerably more expensive at £11,130, so in addition to updating models in their current ranges, Linn also introduced the Selekt series last year to bridge the financial gap.

While we have made comparisons between the ranges here on an ad-hoc basis, we can’t recall ever listening to all three in the same comparative listening session, so we thought it was about time we did!

The Selekt series comes initially in four versions (details here: https://www.criterionaudio.com/product/linn-selekt-dsm-network-music-player/) with more options to come including multi-channel amplification and HDMI switching thanks to its modular design, so in the interests of logic, we chose all-in-one options for Majik and Selekt (with Katalyst) – both featuring streaming, phono stages and amplification, and the Akurate DSM combination mentioned above.

We learned from past experience that the Selekt series requires a longer period of warm-up from stone cold than expected before it sounds its best – one or two hours before it really comes on song, but after this, leaving it in standby reduces the time considerably. Therefore, our comments have been based on notes made after fully warming all the units.

To begin with we selected Johnny Cash’s live recording: ‘At Folsom Prison’ for its rhythmic and lively nature. Playing the title track the Majik provided a good insight into the acoustics and audience participation, and Johnny’s rich velvety vocals were delivered with a warm smooth presentation. By contrast the Selekt upped the ante with a far more lively presentation: now, Johnny’s voice was clearer with the audience and acoustics more present.
Not so rich and warm but much more informative, as if the Katalyst DAC architecture was helping to boost depth, breadth and realism, although some of the Majik’s warmth was missing. Switching to the Akurate combination it was (unsurprisingly) clear that this provided the best of both worlds. Now, there was richness, subtlety and depth combined with clarity detail and liveliness. A true performance, in which the strong rhythms carried the music along, even more convincingly than the other two, which were pretty good none the less!

Moving over to entirely different music, namely El Puerto from Albeniz’s Iberia Suite: where the Majik delivered a rich, deep piano sound and a comfortably rounded presentation, the Selekt added bundles of crisp clarity and bolder contrasts, with a finer sense of delicacy and lightness of touch of fingers on keyboard culminating in a finer portrayal of the acoustic space.
True to form, the Akurate combined the clear tonality of the Selekt with greater power, a richer tonality and even greater subtlety and musical contrasts. In truth, this was a big leap in quality and musical involvement.
So, is the Akurate worth the extra cost? Well, despite being ‘older’ than Selekt, to us it’s still clearly the best sounding of the three and by some margin, but it is also much more expensive, so as with our comparisons of the PMC Twenty5.26 and FACT12 recently, further investment is required elsewhere in the system to show its capabilities. The Selekt is also a noticeable improvement over the Majik, clearly benefiting from Katalyst and other enhancements, and like Majik, it includes its own power amplification making for a compelling one-box solution, which slots in to Linn’s range very neatly indeed, and following its reduction in price, the Majik is now exceptional value for money and a very strong performer at its price level.

In summary, whilst the Selekt is completely new, extremely flexible and sits a musical notch up from the existing Majik DSM as you’d expect, it simply can’t match the Akurate combination for performance and fidelity, so if the chosen loudspeakers are capable of extracting the benefits of the latter, it falls to the listener to decide if the increase in cost is justifiable.

https://www.criterionaudio.com/product/linn-akurate-dsm-music-streamer/