Product Description
What are the advantages of Utopik over previous power supplies?
At Basil Audio we have been evaluating Utopik for a while in both Selekt and Klimax DSM chassis. The increase in sound quality is significant – lower noise, more detail, more controlled bass are some of the things we’ve notice. Overall the sort of improvement you may experience with a new DAC however more fundamental and a step forward in terms of musical enjoyment and rediscovering familiar recordings.
Technically the advances are equally significant to their effect on sound quality.
Multiple feedback loops measure output versus input in each stage of the power supply, and persistently filter out mains-borne noise and 60Hz hum, even at extreme volumes.
The sophisticated control mechanism at Utopik’s heart is optimised for handling between 90-250V mains supply, ensuring that it performs perfectly anywhere in the world without compromise.
Utopik is electrically cleaner, and more efficient at higher power than any power supply Linn has ever made. Of course, this is better for the environment and saves on your electricity bill, but efficiency is also a reliable measure of how well a power supply is performing – as energy isn’t being lost as heat or noise. If you improve efficiency, you improve electrical cleanliness.
Utopik is an extremely sophisticated switch-mode power supply.
In a sub-optimal switch mode power supply, you have no control over where in the input voltage waveform the switch turns off or on. It would switch anywhere, and randomised noise is generated.
With Utopik however, we monitor oscillation at the transformer’s input, and look out for the lowest troughs in the voltage – a technique named Valley Switching. Utopik only throws the switch when at the floor of one of these valleys. With intelligent monitoring and control, we’re therefore keeping voltage as close to the ideal
0V when switching, resulting in dramatically reduced switching noise.
Power Factor Correction
Switch-mode power supplies are common in modern technology. When in operation, each one of these is intermittently taking short gulps of current from the mains – acute spikes in current draw – which introduces mains-borne noise that affects other products on the grid by producing harmonics in the supply.
Utopik modifies its current draw to be proportional to the voltage, and spreads it out over the length of the AC waveform. Instead of taking short gulps, the current draw is spread out to be more consistent over the length of the waveform. This is called Power Factor Correction – and by implementing it in Utopik, we can ensure that the product it’s powering isn’t introducing any distortion to the mains supply in the room, the building, and beyond.
Power Factor Correction is yet another technology in the power supply chain that regulates voltage and ensures that no ripples get through to the output stage of the product as a whole. We’re therefore delivering the cleanest possible power to the rest of the chain. Utopik presents a consistent 400V output – anywhere in the world – regardless of mains supply quality.
Precision-regulated Rails
Utopik has separate layers of precise regulation on its four power rails. Each has its own feedback loop, so that it is separately controlled, managed and isolated. This improves isolation between the relatively noisy digital power rail – with processors sporadically computing packets of data – and the analogue rails which feed components more sensitive to power fluctuations. Whatever the current demand of any aspect of the whole product, the remaining rails are unflinching.
Which Linn products can be upgraded to Utopik today?
At present the Utopik upgrade is limited to Linn products and chassis that do not have integrated power amps, the exception being Selekt models that have an option to fit power supply modules.
Klimax DS (all models)
Klimax DSM (all models)
Klimax Renew DS
Klimax System Hub (all models)
Selekt DSM (all models)
Akurate DS (all models)
Akurate DSM (all models)
Akurate Exaktbox-6 and -10 Akurate Kontrol (all models) Akurate CD
Kustom DSM Z4 and Z8 Majik DS (all models)
Unidisk (all models)
