sunbeamgls
pfm Member
Hence probably Linns need to borrow a relatively trifling £1m.
They haven't borrowed £1m.
Hence probably Linns need to borrow a relatively trifling £1m.
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.
They haven't borrowed £1m.
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.
Oh okay, I was told they had discontinued them!The Akurate DS and Klimax DS stand alone sources are back in the catalogue
They did, for about a year - that's why I said they're "back" in the catalogueOh okay, I was told they had discontinued them!
They have. Do your research.
Thanks for such a pleasant response. In reply, I would politely request that you read the thread.
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/hard-times-for-linn.234432/page-2#post-3821553
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.
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.They did, for about a year - that's why I said they're "back" in the catalogue
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.
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.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?
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 lifetimesI 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.
The Akurate DS and Klimax DS stand alone sources are back in the catalogue
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!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.
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.