Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

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Patdel
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Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Patdel »

Hi!

i 'm about to upgrade Akurate/0 to Akurate/3 katalyst. I'm pretty satisfied as it is but I appreciate any view on that upgrade. I've the old box so I heard that it must be sent to Scotland (live in Sweden). Which I suppose kan be tricky now with Brexit a bit unclear.
I suppose it's worth it or...? It's musically better of course but how much? And what about the sound character of the Akurate Katalyst compared to older DS?
Ianw
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Ianw »

Rest easy. The Kat version is a major lift in performance and musicality. The volume control is especially good.

Phone the Linn helpline regarding delivery time as there may be issues with component availability on upgrades and contact your dealer?
Defender
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Defender »

I did the upgrade from the ADS/1 to ADS/3 and it was worthwhile with respect to musicality but also Hifi/sound.
Not sure if they still offer the ADS/0 to ADSM/3 upgrade as that would give you a new casing.

another chance is to buy a ADS/3 used and sell your ADS/0 to compensate the additional cost over the upgrade.
Patdel
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Patdel »

Upgrading ADS/0 ti ADS/3 costs 2200 euro and involves changing boards and backpanel I've been told. Seems ok in the Linn world.

There are some used ADSM for sale.
If a ADSM3/3 is used with Boazu, is it still possible to select all the inputs on the DSM and pass on to Boazu?
donuk
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by donuk »

Agree with what Ianw says totally.
I have been this route. Kat is a big upgrade. I would suggest that an ADS Kat is as good as a KDS/0 in many ways.

I forget the details but there was a catastrophic fire at a chip producers factory (No not McDonald type chips, but DAC type chips.) in Japan. This has caused the rest of the world to run short of these.

I had heard a while back that Linn had suspended upgrades until stocks became more secure preferring to retain their existing stocks for new units. This information may now be out of date. Hope so.

donuk
anthony
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by anthony »

Patdel wrote: 2021-02-14 16:51 Upgrading ADS/0 ti ADS/3 costs 2200 euro and involves changing boards and backpanel I've been told. Seems ok in the Linn world.

There are some used ADSM for sale.
If a ADSM3/3 is used with Boazu, is it still possible to select all the inputs on the DSM and pass on to Boazu?
Yes if you disable the internal volume control it will forward any selected input to the Boazu. It will digitize the Phono input though.
The katalyst upgrades are available.
Patdel
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Patdel »

Thanks Anthony! Nice to plug TV via HDMI in the ADSM/4. On the other hand ADS/3 would be slightly better streamer I suppose.
I'm leaning towards sending my ADS/0 to Linn for upgrade.
Animal
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Animal »

Found out recently that Linn again offer the Akurate DS/0 to DSM/3 conversion BUT only for the original owner.
And indeed you get everything completely 100% new incl. the casing and only the serial-number stays the same.
So marvelous option IF you are the original owner of an ADS/0 but unfortunately no longer an option for people wanting an ADSM/3 and buying the cheapest ADS/0 they can find as the starting-point (like I did almost 3 years ago).
Regards, Louis.
Patdel
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Patdel »

So they don't just switch the back panel and boards? That was the information I got. BTW I'm the original owner. Hope I can prove it. :)
Animal
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Animal »

As far as I know, if the starting-point is an Akurate DS/0 with the old casing then the DSM-conversion will get you a complete new machine inside and out and nothing is re-used. If I recall correctly, maybe the Dynamik PSU is re-used if it already had that and then of course the serial-number as well. 8-)
At least that's how it was when I did this in May of 2018 and Linn told me that the only thing that's different now is that the offer is only open to the original owner, as per their administration, so I hope you registered back then!
Regards, Louis.
P.S. Seems to me that this limitation could even be illegal?
Patdel
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Re: Akurate/0 upgrade to Akurate/3 katalyst

Post by Patdel »

Got this from Linn Helpline:

You would not receive a complete new unit, your unit would be upgraded with a new audio board and back panel.

Nothing mentioned about original owner.
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