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Dropping whole product categories

abbydog

pfm Member
I remember when manufacturers used to drop products from their ranges. Now the fashion seems to be to drop whole product categories.

Linn: A/V, CD Players, Pre-amps
Naim: A/V, Speakers, Analogue bits (Aro, Armageddon)

I wonder where this ends. Any offers for what they'll ditch next? Any other makers dropping out?
 
Abby,

It's also the inspiration for one of the better articles published by The Onion.

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Joe
 
I guess CD players are on the way out - they are long gone in my system and good riddance! I think it's a shame Naim are dropping speakers, they have made some good ones - I love my N-Sats. I suppose it's a consequence of selling out to a hedge fund.
 
I remember when manufacturers used to drop products from their ranges. Now the fashion seems to be to drop whole product categories.

Linn: A/V, CD Players, Pre-amps
Naim: A/V, Speakers, Analogue bits (Aro, Armageddon)

I wonder where this ends. Any offers for what they'll ditch next? Any other makers dropping out?

Simple economics. If they're not profitable they get ditched.
 
I guess CD players are on the way out - they are long gone in my system and good riddance! I think it's a shame Naim are dropping speakers, they have made some good ones - I love my N-Sats. I suppose it's a consequence of selling out to a hedge fund.

Agreed on the speakers - especially n-Sats, and I'd especially add SL2s.

I was speaking to a dealer recently who told me that Naim/Focal was more of a merger/partnership, with Focal wanting electronics to match with their speakers, and Naim vice-versa - presumably accepting they'd be bowing out of speaker manufacturing in due course from the outset of that arrangement.
 
A/V as in equipment and applications that deal with sight and sound. I'm under the impression both Linn and Naim got out of this market pretty much as Blu-Ray arrived.
 
I remember when manufacturers used to drop products from their ranges. Now the fashion seems to be to drop whole product categories.

Linn: A/V, CD Players, Pre-amps
Naim: A/V, Speakers, Analogue bits (Aro, Armageddon)

I wonder where this ends. Any offers for what they'll ditch next? Any other makers dropping out?

Linn dropping CD players and AV processors was no big deal, they just weren't relevant enough to keep producing them. The DS streamers were a big step forward in sound quality and were the way music distribution was/is going.

Dropping analog pre-amps is senseless to me and to my dealer who now only keeps Linn for the LP12. He's taken up Naim now as his main upmarket 2 channel line.
 
A/V as in equipment and applications that deal with sight and sound. I'm under the impression both Linn and Naim got out of this market pretty much as Blu-Ray arrived.

The market changes pace at a faster rate than is preferable for smaller manufacturers. I think Cyrus have ditched AV too.
 
To be fair Naim never did understand AV. I have just got shot of my n-Vi, and whilst it produced a truly excellent picture, the stability, user interface, and general usability was execrable.

I gave up arguing with them that where my old, cheap Yamaha could lock onto an optical signal and process it almost immediately, the fact that the n-Vi would take 5-10 seconds and sometimes even then not lock, and would need to be rebooted, was not what was expected of a £2k+ box. Naim thought differently.

I did smile though at the "we're Naim, we're different" quirks: DVI output instead of HDMI, calling "5.1" "3/2.1", a remote control that would loose its brain and have to be re-trained etc..

A great idea let down by shockingly bad execution.
 
A mild grumble of comparison. My Muso remote us a cheap pile of tat compared to the piece of sleek aluminium beauty that is my Apple TV remote.
For the price of the Muso I would expect better.
 
To be fair Naim never did understand AV. I have just got shot of my n-Vi, and whilst it produced a truly excellent picture, the stability, user interface, and general usability was execrable.

I gave up arguing with them that where my old, cheap Yamaha could lock onto an optical signal and process it almost immediately, the fact that the n-Vi would take 5-10 seconds and sometimes even then not lock, and would need to be rebooted, was not what was expected of a £2k+ box. Naim thought differently.

I did smile though at the "we're Naim, we're different" quirks: DVI output instead of HDMI, calling "5.1" "3/2.1", a remote control that would loose its brain and have to be re-trained etc..

A great idea let down by shockingly bad execution.
Naim is an example of a business that really , does not know how to innovate ,,, but instead, likes, playing some silly form of 'purported catch-up / improvements ' coupled of course, - with outrageous prices, to boot. Ditto, the same can be said - goes...... with Linn.
Alone, that sets up a business to be absorbed by other companies with bigger resources,wider vision and greater technical flexibilities.

AV is a classic example. To think elsewhere in the World , AV fans are already given the opportunity of not only having Dolby Atmos - but possibly also DTS-X sound.technology....in coming AV equipment : the mere thought of Naim or Linn ever putting out "their own mumbo -jumbo tired statement" on such advances...is too funny to think about.
2 channel 'purists' may decry various forms of digital multi-channel sound, yet readily ,seem to be willing to embrace all the methods of digital technology ...used today, to create/recreate the 'purist- footie tapping sounds' to which, they are listening

Even the analogue vinyl pressings presently released ...are so to speak -"tainted :D" since digital processing of one kind or other - is /was used for the current preservation /restoration of archival sourced analogue recorded material , the pressings probably derive from.
 
Naim is an example of a business that really , does not know how to innovate ,,, but instead, likes, playing some silly form of 'purported catch-up / improvements ' coupled of course, - with outrageous prices, to boot. Ditto, the same can be said - goes...... with Linn.
Alone, that sets up a business to be absorbed by other companies with bigger resources,wider vision and greater technical flexibilities.

AV is a classic example. To think elsewhere in the World , AV fans are already given the opportunity of not only having Dolby Atmos - but possibly also DTS-X sound.technology....in coming AV equipment : the mere thought of Naim or Linn ever putting out "their own mumbo -jumbo tired statement" on such advances...is too funny to think about.
2 channel 'purists' may decry various forms of digital multi-channel sound, yet readily ,seem to be willing to embrace all the methods of digital technology ...used today, to create/recreate the 'purist- footie tapping sounds' to which, they are listening

Even the analogue vinyl pressings presently released ...are so to speak -"tainted :D" since digital processing of one kind or other - is /was used for the current preservation /restoration of archival sourced analogue recorded material , the pressings probably derive from.

I wouldn't say Linn are a company who don't know how to innovate. They dropped AV because 2 channel paid better. Short product life cycle of AV kit meant that r & d costs wouldn't be justified, they wouldn't sell enough during the life cycle of a product.

They were right at the front with streaming and had the first commercially successful high end streaming system. Their exakt technology is clever stuff too, if somewhat expensive.
 
Music freak
Instead of posting such verbiage why not just post the phrase -"as before", after all it's always the same old whinge.
 
Music freak
Instead of posting such verbiage why not just post the phrase -"as before", after all it's always the same old whinge.

It appears the truth hits home, judging from your silly reaction. At times, (though no fault of its owner ) - this site looks like nothing but an eccentric and infantile Naim & Linn love-in site.I suggest you grow up with your comments , get out and realize these two brands are but miniscule in size and importance , regarding the scheme of Hi fi around the World. When someone here , ever mentions the names and demise of other countless worthy European brands from the past....the immediate reaction is "Well, what else could / would one, expect?" given the blinding cultish -devotion , above-mentioned.
 


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