Ariston/Linn: contested History

[irb]

I've read the diyaudio posts before. Even if they're all true, the main claim is that Ivor did some development work on the turntable. I don't find that implausible. There are also lots of nice anecdotes, but they're just anecdotes.

 

[irb]

One thing which I find quite important is Hamish's presentation of the Ariston RD11 at the Harrogate show in August 1971. If the turntable was all Ivor's work, how come Hamish was able to present it to the world as an Ariston product, along with his SR90 speakers? If I were Ivor, and I'd done all the development work, and made what I believed were better turntables than anyone else was making, with a bearing designed by my father, I wouldn't have been happy just to hand them to Hamish and have him present them to the world as if they were his work. I'd have wanted to be at least a partner, and form a company jointly to sell them. Everything I know of Ivor makes it hard for me to imagine him handing over these turntables he'd designed himself and obsessed over, for Hamish to sell them under his company's name, with no reference to Castle/Ivor.

So, suppose, on the other hand, Ivor didn't know that Hamish was going to go to Harrogate and present the turntables as Ariston products. If that were the case, and I was Ivor, I'd have gone ballistic as soon as I found out. But Ivor/Castle continued to make and supply parts/turntables for Hamish on into 1972.

That just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[cre009]

My understanding is Ivor was in Israel from 71 through to late 72 and apparently went there with the intention of taking citizenship so at that time was probably not interested in the manufacture of the turntable. The initial dispute was between Jack and Hamish. I doubt that Ivor was involved much if at all.

I have read that he returned to Glasgow late 72 when Jack was taken ill. This was after Gilad was born so probably final quarter 72 when I expect Ivor became involved in the dispute.

 

[Locheeboy]

I've read the diyaudio posts before. Even if they're all true, the main claim is that Ivor did some development work on the turntable. I don't find that implausible. There are also lots of nice anecdotes, but they're just anecdotes.

Ivor Teifenbraun was not then , nor has been since ... an engineer. His dad and Hamish Robertson worked together, NOT Ivor. He had a diploma or degree in marketing, which came in handy for his future career. A bigger liar than Tam Pepper He's done mair spins than the Hilltoon clock.

 

[irb]

My understanding is Ivor was in Israel from 71 through to late 72 and apparently went there with the intention of taking citizenship so at that time was probably not interested in the manufacture of the turntable. The initial dispute was between Jack and Hamish. I doubt that Ivor was involved much if at all.

I have read that he returned to Glasgow late 72 when Jack was taken ill. This was after Gilad was born so probably final quarter 72 when I expect Ivor became involved in the dispute.

Ok, I'm pretty surprised by that! I'd read that he went to Israel, but I didn't realise it was over that period, and for so long. That makes your story even harder to swallow, I think.

You're arguing, on the basis of Nigel Person's second-hand stories about Ivor working on a turntable during his lunch hour, and a bizarre reading of Barry Fox's summary of the patent hearing report, that Ivor did all the design on the RD11/LP12, (even thought the prototype he'd built had the wrong bearing), then went off to Israel and abandoned it. And somehow it acquired the right bearing while he was away, but all the credit for that has to be given to Jack - though I get the impression he never wanted to be in the hifi business - not Hamish, whose family's account can't be trusted because how would his wife and daughters know anything about his business? Is that it?

 

[irb]

Ivor Teifenbraun was not then , nor has been since ... an engineer. His dad and Hamish Robertson worked together, NOT Ivor. He had a diploma or degree in marketing, which came in handy for his future career. A bigger liar than Tam Pepper He's done mair spins than the Hilltoon clock.

According to Wikipaedia, Ivor started a degree in mechanical engineering at Strathclyde but dropped out. It doesn't say how long he stuck it out. Maybe cre009 knows - he seems to have lots of info on Ivor's bio.

 

[cre009]

According to Wikipaedia, Ivor started a degree in mechanical engineering at Strathclyde but dropped out. It doesn't say how long he stuck it out. Maybe cre009 knows - he seems to have lots of info on Ivor's bio.

I looked a few years ago specifically for that because Richard Dunn claimed Hamish met Ivor during Uni holidays but could not find any details about when Ivor dropped out when I last looked. Often new information pops up time to time but I do not have a pressing need to look again.

 

[tones]

Thanks, but that's not what I meant. That's Barry Fox's words, his summary of the summary, as he himself puts it. I was wondering if the actual Patent Officer decision is available anywhere to be read?

It will certainly be available in the Official Journal. The problem is that the Official Journal online only goes back to 1998. Anything earlier will be in paper. Trouble is, it says that this is the extent of the holdings of the National Archive, so earlier publications may now be cat litter. However, the British Library seems to be the best bet.

https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.c...e&query=any,contains,patent journal&offset=25