Exakt Information

Exakt information

Exakt-link passes the digital audio data, master clock from the Linn DS/DSM/Hub and power trigger down one CAT-5 ethernet cable.to the Exakt loudspeaker, Exaktbox or Urika-II. The digital audio data stream contains information for mulitple audio channels and can be daisy chained through another Exakt products to more loudspeakers, Exaktboxes etc.The master clock is held within the Linn DS/DSM/Hub and makes sure that the music is always on-time/in-tune with every other Exakt loudspeaker.

On Linn DS/DSM products you can have stereo audio on both Exakt speakers and analogue audio outputs. However, by default, this is disabled and if you have Exakt speakers/ExaktBox connected the audio is muted from the analogue output.
To have both analogue and Exakt audio at the same time, go into Konfig > DEVICE > ADVANCED to enable Dual Analogue/Exakt Stereo Output.
Note: the only difference is that the Exakt audio is delayed by approx 40mS compared to the Analogue output due to the digital processing.

The only other time that the Exakt audio outputs are disabled is when the Internal volume control is turned OFF

Konfig states "EXAKT DISABLED"

If you have the Internal Volume control disabled within Konfig your Exakt-link sockets are disabled. (to stop full volume always playing on your Exakt system!)

Exakt cabling

ALL FOUR pairs of the cables are used in the Exakt-Link cable. This is NOT an ethernet transport cable but an Exakt transport cable. These pairs are used to transmit the audio data, power triggers and a master timing control to ensure that the audio from all channels are in perfect sync.

The Exakt-link has been designed to operate with the CAT-5 cable electrical specifications for signal timings. There have been NO changes to this design for any other CAT cable standards. (updated 2019)

We recommend using the 100Base-T4 / 568B ethernet cable pairing

Exakt Link uses readily available network cables:

• CAT 5/5e UTP/FTP
• CAT 6/6a UTP/FTP

Note: There is no change in the audio performance of the Exakt Link between Cat 5 or Cat 6 Cables.

Cat-7 and Cat-8 cables may not work well with an Exakt system. For a trouble-free, reliable, high performance installation, we recommend use of Cat 5 or Cat 6.

Typical Ethernet 100Base-T length restrictions guide:

Patch cable < 30M

Solid core cable < 100M

EXAKT-LINK CANNOT be used with:

• Ethernet Network Routers,
• Ethernet Network Switches,
• Ethernet Isolators,
• Ethernet conditioners,
• HomePlugs/Ethernet-over-Mains devices
• WLAN bridges etc

Exakt-Link can ONLY be a CAT5/6 cable from Exakt socket to Exakt socket

It is important that the Exakt cables are wired:

• The cables are paired up using OUT > IN style connections.
  
• Any Linn product with these sockets can be linked together. This means you can link a Klimax DS/2 to a Majik ExaktBox-I and have a fully working Exakt system

More information can be found on Exakt systems HERE

What is an Exakt Engine

Exakt technology brings natural sound to the listener.
One Exakt Engine is designed for the signal processing for one loudspeaker. Although when the Linn Surround decoder was launched we added Exakt Engine filters to drive each output full-range and could be assigned their Surround audio channel instead of being a Digital crossover.
The Engine will:

1. Take the digital stream is then split up to send to the correct speaker drive unit with that loudspeaker.(Bass, mid, tweeter etc).
   
2. Each speaker drive unit feed is then adjusted in gain level to match the speaker drive unit performance and any Space Optimisation adjustments
3. Finally, each speaker drive unit audio delivers a linear phase performance across all the frequencies to ensure they arrive at your ear perfectly synchronised.

The Klimax Exaktbox & Akurate Exaktbox6 have one Exakt Engine with six audio channels.
The Akurate Exaktbox10, Akurate Exaktbox-I and Majik Exaktbox-I have two Exakt Engines. The Akurate Exaktbox10 has 5channels per Engine. The Akurate & Majik Exaktbox-I each have 4channels per Engine.