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Hard times for Linn

linnfomaniac83 said:
Linn still make some genuinely superb sounding kit, but it’s getting ever more towards being “incompatible” with other brands of kit. They no long make a standalone source besides the LP12, nor a standalone preamp or integrated amp, instead “concentrating their efforts” on their DSM units and Exakt technology. And now they’ve just released a very B&O like product in the shape of the series 3 wireless speaker, which is a far, far cry from the type of product they made a few years ago, but hey, there’s a strong market for that kind of thing. It is a shame though that a lot of their traditional customer base has been left behind, in the mid 90s to mid 00s, they made some really nice kit started at a relatively affordable price for normal folk. I wouldn’t mind owning a DSM and an Exaktbox (DSP active crossover), but it’s a huge chunk of money to lay out in one go.
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The Akurate DS and Klimax DS stand alone sources are back in the catalogue :)
 
Xilinx pricing doesn't follow the usual price curve over time as there are no second sources coming in.
I have found a Chinese FPGA supplier, but this is its own ecosystem.
 
davidsrsb said:
Xilinx pricing doesn't follow the usual price curve over time as there are no second sources coming in.
I have found a Chinese FPGA supplier, but this is its own ecosystem.
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I think as @nobeone has pointed out, that the majority costs are in chip integration and engineering to the host system, over and above actual chip procurement. Working up a new eco system and acquiring then learning the associated tools, would probably offset incremental savings.
 
If I were them I would building a new platform to avoid the cost of the Virtex 4 FX, I suspect some of their R&D budget is doing just that. You would think the FPGA could port to a new Xilinx part without too much issue and the firmware running of the soft core to a new CPU running FreeRTOS if you can get a decent enough connection between the two. A fair bit of work but a fair bit of reuse too. A wild guess would suggest a c.$20 CPU and a c.$20 FPGA might well do what the old Virtex 4 FX is doing and some, I could also be very wrong if there is something hard in the Virtex 4 FX they have relied on.
 
sunbeamgls said:
Still wrong. https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/hard-times-for-linn.234432/page-2#post-3821553
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Yes it appears that you are still wrong. Unless this joint quote from Linn/Barclays is inaccurate:

<<The deal will support the development of the firm’s high-end audio products, and comes shortly before Linn debuts an exclusive wireless music system in its flagship Harrods concession in London in October.>>

That's for the Series 3 smart speaker. With two separate articles, and I assume these are sanctioned by Linn, to corroborate.

sunbeamgls said:
Just to add a little clarity, the Barclays package is essentially a pre-arranged overdraft to be invoked IF Brexit causes problems. It is not a loan and, as of 2 weeks or so ago, had not been invoked.
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This conflicts with the above Linn missives. Are the Two newspaper articles inaccurate? I am not a CFO - maybe you are an you work in Linn finance dept - but common wisdom i think suggests that R&D as mentioned by Linn, is not an activity undertaken with short term and expensive overdraft finance.

I am genuinely interested how you proffer the idea that the Barclays finance deal, is for something other than the Co and bank has published. That's against FCA banking regs and would also be deceptive on part of Linn, whose auditors I presume would have something to say about raising mid term finance for short term cash flow?

Please corroborate or expand upon it being an overdraft facility for Linn should they need it for Brexit.
 
sunbeamgls said:
They did, for about a year - that's why I said they're "back" in the catalogue :)
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That’s good news, now they just need to consider putting some standalone analog preamps back in the the range. My local Linn dealership’s Linn sales took a nosedive when they discontinued them, he sold a lot more preamps and DS boxes than he does DSM. I suspect the main reason he’s still selling Linn is because the LP12 is still a strong product for him. His strongest era for Linn sales was the mid 90s to mid 00s, he sold loads of it, more than all the other brands of kit in the shop put together.
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
That’s good news, now they just need to consider putting some standalone analog preamps back in the the range. My local Linn dealership’s Linn sales took a nosedive when they discontinued them, he sold a lot more preamps and DS boxes than he does DSM. I suspect the main reason he’s still selling Linn is because the LP12 is still a strong product for him. His strongest era for Linn sales was the mid 90s to mid 00s, he sold loads of it, more than all the other brands of kit in the shop put together.
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That's an interest observation. Do you think that selling the hi end streaming solutions requires different skills, or channel than the classic hi fi separates channel? I wonder if the legacy Linn dealer approach is a bit daunting for some potential customers to even walk into some dealership doors?
 
guest said:
That's an interest observation. Do you think that selling the hi end streaming solutions requires different skills, or channel than the classic hi fi separates channel? I wonder if the legacy Linn dealer approach is a bit daunting for some potential customers to even walk into some dealership doors?
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I’m not sure what it is, but it’s certainly nothing to do with the way he conducts business, he’s a highly approachable and honest guy. He still sells Linn and the brand still has a strong presence in his shop, but it’s now supplemented by another high end brand and probably more tellingly, some mid range (say £800-£2000 a box) stuff from other brands that Linn used to exclusively cover, but no longer cover at all. He’s in predominantly working class area so a lot of his customers (myself very much included) have to think before we spend big sums of money.

Let’s put it this way, when the LK range was still current, and I was about 16 years old and earning my own money, I compared it to lots of other stuff both at lower and equivalent prices, really did my homework (listening work?) and Linn is what I “had to have”, it was head and shoulders above for me, and aged 16, I was able to afford a Majik I amp... what 16 can buy a Linn amplifier now?

I don’t think any of this necessarily affects profit margins, if you can sell less boxes but have a higher margin on those boxes, you probably would, and I think that’s the way they’ve gone.
 
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guest said:
I think as @nobeone has pointed out, that the majority costs are in chip integration and engineering to the host system, over and above actual chip procurement. Working up a new eco system and acquiring then learning the associated tools, would probably offset incremental savings.
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These days I would use a fairly highly integrated 32 bit SoC processor and a small fpga to handle the I2S etc interface. You have to stick to more industrial parts from Microchip etc as the high performance smartphone type SoCs have very short production lifetimes
 
denni55 said:
I have the DS version 3,after the Katalyst dac upgrade it's a superb piece of kit...having a pre and power i went for the DS version.
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And there you go, having only the DSM versions in the range must have been really limiting its market, glad they had the sense to reintroduce the standalone units... and the upgrade program for them, that has always been a real plus point to DS ownership, not having to sell your unit and take the depreciation hit if you wish to upgrade to the newer model!
 
joe9407 said:
i put a record on my LP12 before posting this... a down year in a challenging trade environment with a heavy R&D spend does not suggest to me that Linn will be folding up their tent soon. what's more, posts predicting doom for Linn, Rega, and their hundreds of employees are in my opinion pretty distasteful.
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I would not be that concerned about a yearly loss, esp with large R&D costs.

I would be much more concerned about a year on year on year reduction in turnover.
 
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