With a reputation that precedes itself, Linn has released what it dubs the most configurable streamer ever. Mat Daley checks it out to see how it stacks up for the custom installation market.

When I first learned I’d be reviewing a Linn product, I was genuinely excited. While I work with audio products daily, my focus tends to be on high-end home cinema and architectural systems, leaving me somewhat removed from the more traditional hi-fi space.

Linn, however, occupies a near-mythical position in that world, with a reputation built on decades of engineering excellence and a fiercely loyal following. I was keen to discover whether that reputation truly translates into a listening experience that justifies the acclaim. Not that I doubted it, but I’ve always believed that, ultimately, your ears should be the final judge.

I’ve been evaluating in my media room for the past four weeks the Linn Selekt DSM Network Music Player, which Linn calls “the most configurable streamer ever”, and they may be right. Not only configurable internally, but also in its physical modular design.

To call it just a player is selling it short. The Selekt DSM is more of a customisable platform, allowing you to pick your preferred enclosure, input/outputs, DACs and amplifiers. This alone is a distinctive advantage over most other brands’ all-in-the-box mentality and gets to the heart of what Linn is best known for.

Engineering mindset, signal integrity and importantly, longevity. The Selekt DSM’s modularity makes allowance for easy performance upgrades, field repairs and additional future functionality by design. To get into just how customisable this unit is, let’s look at the options that you have to choose from before you even purchase.

Enclosure

Here you have a choice of two enclosures, each available in black and silver.

Classic Hub is the entry point, which is a folded aluminium chassis that still looks every bit the luxury hi-fi item it should be in this category. Although it is the more affordable of the two options, it by no means looks or feels cheap.

The step up is the Edition Hub, which is a superior-quality all-machined enclosure. It also comes with an upgraded control dial and power supply.

DACs

This is where you essentially get to choose your performance level with three variants to choose from. Standard, which is worth remembering that Linn’s standard is typically something very different to a lot of other “standards” and shouldn’t be discounted as sub-par.

As the mid-tier option, you have the Katalyst Dac, which is stated as using “trusted and high-quality third-party chipsets” and is what is installed in the unit sent to me.

Then you have the Organic DAC, which is Linn’s no-compromise DAC and is engineered completely in-house. I love that this new DAC from them is retrofittable into a lot of Linn’s existing products, too.

Application

This is where the Selekt DSM’s flexibility really becomes evident. Depending on what function the Selekt DSM will fill in your system, a choice of input/output modules allows it to fulfil multiple roles.

In its simplest form, it can just be a dedicated network streaming source to be used with the external amplification of your choice. All the streaming platforms you would expect are available on board, including TIDAL, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, Deezer, AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Roon Ready, Airable, TuneIn and Calm Radio. Even this variant is far more than just a basic streamer, though. You still have a host of physical inputs at the rear of the unit, including HDMI, USB, Phono, RCA, SPDIF and TOSLINK, so thinking of it as an independent digital source and external source manager is helpful.

If amplification is required, you can simply opt to add Linn’s stereo amplifier module and connect directly to your favourite passive speakers. Both of these variants, powered and unpowered, have one HDMI input, allowing you to use ARC to bring your TV’s audio into the Selekt DSM.

Finally, if you would like to be the heart of a multichannel surround system, an additional HDMI and output module is available to give you an extra four HDMI inputs as well as a choice of binding post, XLR or RCA outputs for up to a 7.2-channel count. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like Dolby Atmos and height channels are currently an option, though, so hopefully they can add this as a future module.

Straight out of the box, and before even plugging it in, the Selekt DSM is absolutely gorgeous. Even the basic enclosure version that I have looks and feels every bit the luxury piece of kit it should be in this category and price point. It’s minimalist, all-glass front oozes class, and the feel of the top-mounted glass control dial in your fingers compels you to turn it just because it feels so damn satisfying.

Once powered up, the next level of design class becomes evident and reaffirms that this is a carefully considered experience for the user. The front info screen is uncomplicated but high-resolution and has a crisp feeling about it, and your attention is drawn back to the control dial. The way Linn has incorporated the backlit volume indicator and control lighting behind the glass control dial is a showstopper. It’s functional, helpful and just beautifully executed.

Overall, the Selekt DSM feels luxuriously modern while still feeling familiar and reminiscent of beloved classic hi-fi components. It’s obvious that this is aesthetically targeted to the quintessential high-end hi-fi customer, but not at the expense of performance.

Setting up the Selekt DSM was pretty straightforward for the basic setup. After hardwiring a network connection to the unit, setup is done over WiFi via the Linn App. This, for me, is where things started to feel noticeably less refined than the hardware. The app experience is just OK and does not exude the same sense of prestige as the physical unit. After a few failed sign-in attempts, frozen screens and app reboots, I had a functioning unit, controlled from the app and was able to add some of my streaming services for testing.

It’s by no means the worst control app I’ve ever come across, but little annoyances like that in the setup took a little bit of the shine off the whole experience. Once in the app, though, the process of adding new streaming services was straightforward, with the exception of Spotify.

For me, I was unable to sign in to Spotify as prompted by the app and found myself in a loop of broken links. In the end, I was only able to test with Spotify by starting the stream from the Spotify app, not the Linn app.

Within the app, there is the ability to access advanced settings and really get into tuning the system’s performance for your equipment and speakers using what Linn calls the “Space Optimiser”. This is the setup step I was dying to get into, as I found it odd, as I was unpacking the unit, that there was no measurement microphone in the box. Something that is pretty standard practice in the cinema equipment I am more familiar with.

Space Optimiser instead manually steps you through feeding the system information about your equipment and room to better tune and calibrate your audio. Starting with selecting if your speakers are in their ideal location or if they are in a practical location, the software then prompts for basic info like room size, wall material and speaker locations. You can also choose from a pre-populated list of speakers, which I assume Linn knows the response to.

My humble floor standers didn’t make the list, so a generic profile it was for me. At the end of the process, I couldn’t help but feel it just isn’t enough information to truly understand what impact my room is having on the speakers. Sure, you can make calculations based on room size, but rarely is a room completely acoustically sealed with no windows, doors or furniture. I had doubts.

Surely taking some real-world measurements of at least decay times, frequency response and speaker timing and phase would give a more accurate data set to calibrate from. Nonetheless, I pushed on with surprising end results.

The final result was very impressive to say the least. I’ve lived with my “excluded from list” speakers for nearly ten years, used endless sources and amplifiers with them and know their sound profile intrinsically. I can honestly say this was the best I have heard them sound. Pull quote this.

The Linn Selekt DSM breathed a greater sense of space into the soundstage while keeping it focused and defined. The delicate track, Birds by Dominique Fils-Aimé, had a beautiful sense of natural openness but kept the vocal ultra-present and up front. The low-end stress test of Billie Eilish’s Bury a Friend highlighted bold, sustained notes and tight kick drum punches.

My overall thoughts were that the Selekt DSM kept the inherent sound of my speakers but delivered a better version of them. They still sounded very familiar, but much improved and just a delight to listen to. Over my weeks of listening to the Linn, during the day, I found myself thinking about which of my favourite tracks I would be rushing home to listen to that night.

I think that, for me, was the biggest takeaway: You can talk and describe audio performance all day long, but the fact that the experience the Linn Selekt DSM created made me want to listen to more music gives it value to a music lover beyond its price tag.

In the end, the minor shortcomings of the control app and setup process quickly fade into the background once the system is in use. What remains is a beautifully engineered piece of equipment that delivers a genuinely compelling listening experience. The Linn Selekt DSM is not just a network player, nor simply a system hub; it’s a thoughtfully designed platform that prioritises longevity, flexibility, and, above all, musical enjoyment. While its technical capabilities are undoubtedly impressive, it’s the emotional response it evokes that leaves the strongest impression.

Because, ultimately, that’s what high-end audio should be about.

Manufacturer: Linn

Distributed by: Audio Connection