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Linn bloody Linn

Yes, this is a strange thread, but there are many such. The OP has spent a great deal of money, apparently, on Linn products, still uses (some of) them, has done his own repairs when Linn wouldn't/couldn't, he is warning others of the problems, including with current (?) products, such as a streamer that won't, and is getting hammered for it. That is the strangeness.
And why does it matter if he is new? I didn't know there was a seniority ranking.
 
chiily said:
I do find it difficult that manufacturers don't release cct diagrams after they drop support for products, but legal (IPR) departments have a strange view of the world.
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I have mainly Accuphase gear now, and they are as bad, if not worse. And their warranties are not transferable! But I like the looks, so that's OK. 😁
 
Maybe it’s my English reticence (non pejorative term just to be clear) but usually people new to any organisation or forum/club generally ease their way in. I actually agree with much of what he (assumption) says.

I personally choose not to demonise a company on the basis of what I may or may believe is right. It’s just my opinion, it carries no weight.

I personally think Linn are an OK company, they make some really nice products but they are a business. They draw a line in the sand over how long they can support a product. I feel they are pretty reasonable, others vehemently disagree.
 
I made it clear in my posts how Linn should enable third parties to repair equipment they are no longer prepared to. I also pointed out how Linn aren't alone, giving examples of Tannoy, JBL and Meridian gear that is no longer repairable-as another example, ATC who are one of the best in this regard will no longer recone pre 2006 drivers due to elf'n safety reasons- damage a mid dome, kerching £1300. Teac T1 transport dead for the sake of a 20p cogwheel, no help from Teac,( aftermarket sourced by Mike P).
My take is the OP made his point in his first post, the endless repetition and conspiracy bollocks is just way OTT and a bit unhinged. Just look at post 273.
Typed while balancing a beachball on my nose.
 
d16b said:
Call it an FYI moment and a grumpy old man's moan.

I have been struggling with repairs of SMPS 'Brilliant' on my Karik, Numerik and Kairn, they all gave up the ghost within 6m of each other.

Struggle is the word but thank heaven for Pinkfish and those who contribute on line.

Because of that I got one Brilliant fixed so my Karik is working but the Numerik and Kairn are still dead regardless of both their power supplies being 'fixed' (values are ok) (don't listen to you nuclear physicist son warning you off, provided you use PROPER cap discharge systems and
measure with your left hand in your pocket and feet on a wooden floor. I understand his worry (I have electrocuted myself and his research companion died when a HUGE cap was thought to be discharged (having been removed from an instrument) and it wasn't). He bought me a pair of pink 10,000v skin coloured gloves for the next time I changed a mains ceramic fuse!

My Kairn's death appears to be down to an area of cooked circuitry around the battery in the display board. With the Numerik, my research continues.

Anyway long story short. No schematics with true values available. SMC's all have values on with the exception of the capacitors (some of which are very clearly cooked along with a 1001 resistor). So a call to Linn to see what I could find out about the little beige blocks was a nightmare. I managed to beg 3 values form them for identifiable locations on the board. Effectively, unless I misunderstood:

1. Everything before Akurate is now redundant and unrepairable (by Linn) and Akurate and others are falling off the fixable list shortly.

2. Linn don't release diagrams/values (they don't want people touching their kit - for safety or?) at best - ask a dealer they may let you have one.

3. Caps appear to be Linn's little secret that they hang onto like grim death. Effectively, without values and current we all know what that means.

4. I asked about 5103's, DS to replace the Kairn etc - Linn's advice don't buy second hand they are now totally beyond repair and if you think fixing a Kairn is difficult those are impossible spend £9k on new one. Their words included 'and LK are totally unrepairable now).

5. It wasn't just Akurate but another model that will shortly be dropping off the repairable list.

6. I should have remembered that when my Sizmik died I was told by Linn to buy a new one, I opened the amp and saw it was a Mosfet that had blown. I asked Linn and was told it was unobtainium and as such, dead. I found an online photo of board, took the component number, ordered the Mosfet from a electronics firm and that simple replacement saved me thousands (I'd bought a temporary REL as a standing!).

Being told that Linn will now be making their own chips (aka Apple) and their top end bursting through the bugger me price barrier doesn't fill me with anything like glee

How many people have anything like £100k of disposable income which will have to be replaced relatively shorty (in hifi terms) in the Scottish world of unobtainium parts etc?

Real question, is Linn the ONLY UK high end hi-fi manufacturer that is of the opinion people have the money to buy tens of thousands of pounds on exotic kit, have known vulnerabilities and have to be written off when a component blows when firms such as Quad, Naim, NAD, YBA etc etc are all eminently serviceable/repairable?

From a hifi point of view, my recollection of British culture is one of trading up as funds, experience, understanding and high end disposable income increases.

I started my hifi journey at 12 with pocket money purchasing Goldring Lenco, Shure, Rogers and Wharfdale. I moved on from there seeking the
best with many exotic and many stupid purchases (like getting rid of vinyl for both Mission and Quad CD's). I have many sad memories of kit I traded that I wish I hadn't - Transcriptors Reference, a REAL misery from trading up from Nottingham Analogue Spacedeck to LP12 (I lost my deep 3d imagery - it was the only deck I've had that did that (yes, the LP12 is a very musical replacement but just variant of the TD150 (another one I owned, like Ariston), then there was the FAMCO Nuance preamp, my Spendor BC's, my SME 3009, my Audiolab, my IMF transmission lines etc etc (all still recommended kit and all very repairable)

Oh and no, if any part of my formerly many £k kit is to be replaced it will NEVER be with ANY new LINN kit even IF I won the lottery

Talk about a manufacturer alienating a client base

It's like Brexit, a real Ratners moment to me.
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It is a shame indeed, my Karik and Numerik were luckily okay but I passed them on due to hearing about more and more failures but I have seen a few Klout power amps on a bench with the engineer seeing design floors within. I too have ended a Linn journey and can say the same with Naim too.
 
awkwardbydesign said:
Yes, this is a strange thread, but there are many such. The OP has spent a great deal of money, apparently, on Linn products, still uses (some of) them, has done his own repairs when Linn wouldn't/couldn't, he is warning others of the problems, including with current (?) products, such as a streamer that won't, and is getting hammered for it. That is the strangeness.
And why does it matter if he is new? I didn't know there was a seniority ranking.
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My thoughts exactly. He is well entitled to his opinion and to be unhappy given the money is has obviously spent. 1st post of 10,00th, makes no difference.
 
awkwardbydesign said:
But he has a good point. Why are people so defensive of Linn? Is it a religion?
BTW, I have never owned any Linn, partly because it looked so dull, like Naim, and partly because of the fanatics. Also like Naim.
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So, you have ignored two whole brands of audio equipment because other people are a bit fanatical about them and to you they look dull... not because of how they sound... that's ****ing stupid frankly!
 
tiggers said:
So, you have ignored two whole brands of audio equipment because other people are a bit fanatical about them and to you they look dull... not because of how they sound... that's ****ing stupid frankly!
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Not necessarily, avoiding things because they are popular or have cult like traits is a perfectly sound defence mechanism. Take the Osmonds for example…..
 
tiggers said:
So, you have ignored two whole brands of audio equipment because other people are a bit fanatical about them and to you they look dull... not because of how they sound... that's ****ing stupid frankly!
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I have heard both makes, you know. And neither inspired me. Good at hifi, not so good at music.
BTW, you are making my earlier point for me, about defending a manufacturer like it's a religion. Why does it matter so much to you what I think?
 
d16b said:
21 minutes from the factory, ah, employee by any chance?

If you don’t like my string, comments or information you have a choice you know, you can stop reading and posting unless you want to diss me and / or the information to stop others being informed.
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i live across a field from the Linn factory here in Waterfoot....never worked there!
 
Whats the point about bitching about a big manufacturer?

Linn made it all pay, they’re a local success and a big company. They know what they’re doing

Most of us on here are not likely to be ‘buying new’ Linn customers. The days of the ‘80s when they were knocking out Linn Index speakers and Intek amps are long gone. These are high tech boxes, never intended to be repaired, for the very well healed lifestyle market. If you have to ask the price it isn’t for you. I’m not surpised at all to hear the story of the anniversary LP12 being sold.

Times change. I don’t think many will have much luck getting your Eversolo box repaired in 3 years, or ever.

Most on here are looking for classic or traditional hifi gear.

I wouldn’t touch a Naim or Linn streamer, you’d have to be able to loose £many thousands over the products lifespan. And I suspect if you got Linn or Naim off guard they’d consider the product lifespans to be on the order of 5 years for the digital kit.

Rega take a different view but that’s them and more power to their elbow.

But to be looking for used Linn high thech gear and complaining that they won’t repair, well they’ve made their position clear.

I for one would applaud if they’d take a Quad position and repair gear forever and perhaps stock mainboards and mechs and everything, but they haven’t and won’t.

Shame isn’t it but, not my train set.

Generally speaking with computerized or digital equipment you’d have to be spending what you can afford to loose over 5 years and anything else is a bonus.

Amps, well perhaps that should be a different story.
 
They’re not a big company by any normal terms, their turnover for the last financial year was £22m and was flat on the prior year. I have to say I am very impressed that they manage to do the level of R&D and industrial design they do given their scale.

And I agree, you should regard anything with computer/digital innards as having 5-ish year lifespan.

If I look back on my hifi history, a lot of gear I have owned the companies no longer exist!
 
wiresandmore said:
They’re not a big company by any normal terms, their turnover for the last financial year was £22m and was flat on the prior year. I have to say I am very impressed that they manage to do the level of R&D and industrial design they do given their scale.
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I disagree with their business model and I'm not surprised they're not more profitable. They've abandoned anything resembling a reasonable pricing structure and abandoned the lower end of the market. They're chasing a fairly small group of well off but gullible people, a demographic which is more fickle and swayed by fashion than most. I think they'll be working very hard to tread water and could sink easily. The perception of their position as leaders in the marketplace is largely smoke and mirrors.
 
Mr Pig said:
I disagree with their business model and I'm not surprised they're not more profitable. They've abandoned anything resembling a reasonable pricing structure and abandoned the lower end of the market. They're chasing a fairly small group of well off but gullible people, a demographic which is more fickle and swayed by fashion than most. I think they'll be working very hard to tread water and could sink easily. The perception of their position as leaders in the marketplace is largely smoke and mirrors.
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More armchair CEO stuff. Linn’s recent accounts are pretty open about the market risks the business faces. They turn over £131k per employee. Not a ginormous margin given the skills/salary profile of the workforce and capital intensity of the business. All of which is acknowledged in the risk statement, and has been so for a *long* time. It’s a family owned business, and Ivor has said lots of interesting stuff over the years about the Mittelstand model that they’ve pursued since the start. It’s nearly died twice, once in the early 90s when Canon/Sony were sniffing about and then in 2007 when they were extremely lucky to have their cliff edge moment before rather than after the GFC. The fact that there aren’t lots more (manufacturing) businesses like Linn across the UK economy is a big part of why we’re in such an mess economically.
 
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