On the dark side of Hardangervidda there is a fairly large town called Oslo. Pretty great city, really, despite a fairly remote location. Large parts of the city on both sides of the Akerselva is quite ideal for a rewarding architectural safari, and the area Majorstuen with the adjacent areas Fagerborg and Homansbyen is one of the very finest.
And it is precisely in the intersection between Majorstuen, Fagerborg and Homansbyen we find Kontrapunkt, a traditional importer and dealer of Linn located in Vibes Gate. And holder Odd Rune Hegge is Norway`s undisputed Linn-guru. So I took a visit to Kontrapunkt on my architectural walk this Friday morning early in September, determined a short recess in an Exakt setup.
Linn Klimax Exakt
In the inner chambers of Kontrapunkt we find a setup with Linn Klimax Exakt. This consists of the absolute top models in Linn`s hierarchy, and the price tag is also high. 480,000, - NOK is the price for this complete set-up, and consists of a Linn Klimax DSM, and a pair of Linn Klimax 350a, in Exakt configuration. This means that both active poweramplifiers and Exakt modules are located in the loudspeaker. "The source is in the Speaker".
And just to repeat some basics regarding Exakt, this entails that crossovers are moved over to the digital domain, with the opportunities this provides. Here, then exact modules with digital crossovers and DACs for all 6 channels per. speaker. This means that it is also located 6 power amplifiers in each speaker, distributed as 2 x 100 watt, 2 x 400 Watt and 2 x 1000 Watts!
The only external component is a Linn Klimax DSM, a combined streamer and preamplifier, that when purchased separately costs 155.000, -. This is sort of a Linn Klimax Kontrol and Linn Klimax DS in one box.
Odd Rune was the pilot in the first part of the listening session, and preceded initially a track with Ane Brun, followed by one for me unknown tune by Annie Lennox. Nevertheless, this gave a very impressive first impression.
But it was only when Leonard Cohen's album Popular Problems was played that I really became aware of the full potential of this setup, primarily because it is an album I know well and have heard in the demo at quite a few different plants. And one should be very careful in drawing conclusions from volatile impression in unfamiliar surroundings, though I have heard a lot in this listening room with Kotrapunkt earlier. But I've never been even close to hear this album as compelling, and with the same rhythmic precision and transparency before.
An interesting exercise arose when Odd Rune bypassed Space Optimisation on this album. The precision in the otherwise quite formidable bass became far inferior. And to repeat - Space Optmisation is Linn's variant of the Speaker and room customization. You can read about my testing of this on an "old-fashioned" active setup with Linn Akurat DS, Linn Kinos, Linn Chakra 6100 and Linn ninka here.
I eventually took over the steering wheel, or rather the iPad, where it was a mix of songs streamed lossless from TIDAL, and HighRes files from Kontrapunkt`s library. Kolbjørn Falkeid`s album Solskinnsdypet where he reads poems to music by Ketil Bjørnstad played even better than I'm used to, and the same applies Kildens Bredd, one of my favorites with the duo Ole Paus and Ketil Bjørnstad.
Miles Davis's Spanish Key from Bitches Brew impressed greatly on a layout with AURALiC and Piega at Musik-Magazinet earlier this year, and impressed at least as much here. The great rhythmic drive that is located in this tune is fantastic highlighted by Klimax Exakt.
Also Sinead O'Connor's Am I Not Your Girl played insanely good, streamed from TIDAL. A quick trip back to the HighRes library at Kontrapunkt gave great performances of both Claire Martin's album "A Modern Art, and an album of the duo Jerry Carcia (Grateful Dead) and David grisman.
Focal Diablo Utopia
Also in the "living room" there was a setup that was well worth a taste. Focal Diablo Utopia saluted we also met briefly at the Multirom stand during last years Horten HiFi Fair. And at Kontrapunkt, these were connected with electronics from Linn. Specifically an Akurate DSM, and the power amplifier Akurate 2200. A pure passive operation in this setup that is.
It was the legendary Doors tune Riders On The Storm that started this short session, and it made a crazy good impression. I heard this for the first time when I was in my early teenage, probably in 1971, on an old-fashioned table radio from Radionette, and I was very fascinated by this tube, despite the fact that the sound was peal from a Radio Lux or Caroline at a drifting AM. And a worn-out sample in vinyl in my collection has not given the audiophile experiences. But reproduced in Highres (I believe) on Akurate DSM / Akurate 2200 / Focal Diablo Utopia it was absolutely magical. Perhaps even a notch more magical than when I got served the same tune on the Naim NAC 272 / NAP 250 / Audiovector a few weeks later.
Thanks to Odd Rune and Kontrapunkit for a tasteful music aperitif, which inspired me to carry out a thorough test of an Exakt setup later.
Also read these articles related to Linn Exakt:
Linn Webinar June 4 about phasing out analog preamplifiers.
Linn SPACE Optimisation - room correction on Scottish trial run
Linn launch Exakt Akudorik and Akurate Exaktbox.
Linn Akurate Exakt.
Audiovector Discreet - the Danish response to Linn Exakt?
Linn Exakt - we dive a little deeper
Linn Exakt – the source i is in the speaker.
