improved linn ref Klimax DS to be released - what naim's next move?

Kilmax do they supply a bagpipe with it, Linnn's naiming going wilde.

Naim have always released products as they mature the technology and are not dictated to by the competition.  

Regards,

Lindsay

I am sure that Naim has a well thought product roadmap thats relies more on industry and comsumer  trends and less on competitor moves. However, we are Naim fans and will be excited to learn of new products by Naim

I have a new KDS/3 at home right now to compare to my KDS/2. It is a definite improvement and just like all other KDS upgrades it is possible to upgrade my current player with the new motherboard. I don't get hung up on the marketing about what's new etc etc. If it sounds better then that's good. If it sounds different or worse then I won't make a change. Lots of others argue about the benefits of new technology and I'll leave them to it.

Just a continuation of Linn's sales and marketing strategy of up-dating the KDS every couple of years to maintain interest in the product and generate income from existing owners and new buyers. No doubt Linn have a projected sales chart for the next ten years or so based on this approach and keep existing models sub optimal to allow the "improvement" cycle to continue.

Or maybe I'm getting more cynical in my old age 

Jonn posted:

Just a continuation of Linn's sales and marketing strategy of up-dating the KDS every couple of years to maintain interest in the product and generate income from existing owners and new buyers. No doubt Linn have a projected sales chart for the next ten years or so based on this approach and keep existing models sub optimal to allow the "improvement" cycle to continue.

Or maybe I'm getting more cynical in my old age 

 

You could apply your cynicism to all companies that bring out improved products.  Why single out one company?

We've been waiting for a Statement DS for a while now - I'm sure it will be a fantastic product when it arrives.  Bristol 2017 perhaps?

The situation for a Linn owner would be much worse if units could not be upgraded. Nobody has said the same When Naim released Dr updates over the last years. Back in the 90's I was offered a Linn cd 12 the flagship Linn player. Fortunately I did not buy it, and a few years after Linn dropped support for all cd players. I have not trusted the company since then. 

Claus-Thoegersen posted:

The situation for a Linn owner would be much worse if units could not be upgraded. Nobody has said the same When Naim released Dr updates over the last years. Back in the 90's I was offered a Linn cd 12 the flagship Linn player. Fortunately I did not buy it, and a few years after Linn dropped support for all cd players. I have not trusted the company since then. 

You make a good point about upgrades - its no different to what Naim offer (although Naim are much better at supporting older kit).

About CD players - Naim used to provide turntable power supplies and tonearms, but no longer do so, withdrawing completely from the turntable market.  They've also sold quite a few speakers over the years, but no longer do so but will have been promoting and selling them right up until (and for a while after) they annouced their withdrawl from that market.  Do you still trust Naim?   I expect you do.

Maybe Naim will follow Linn's lead and introduce independent power supplies?

I don't think Linn competes with Naim anymore but only with Devialet. No ND555 or NDS1 to be expected soon. But who really knows?

Chag -

sunbeamgls posted:

Jonn posted:

Just a continuation of Linn's sales and marketing strategy of up-dating the KDS every couple of years to maintain interest in the product and generate income from existing owners and new buyers. No doubt Linn have a projected sales chart for the next ten years or so based on this approach and keep existing models sub optimal to allow the "improvement" cycle to continue.

Or maybe I'm getting more cynical in my old age 

 

You could apply your cynicism to all companies that bring out improved products.  Why single out one company?

I'm not saying that other companies don't do it, although Linn seem to have a regular cycle of two yearly reiteration of the DS which makes me think that this is a planned marketing strategy with the next version already  waiting in the wings. It is probably more lucrative than planned obsolescence and fairly easy to replace one circuit board with another.

Apart from free software updates, Naim seem to try and get their products right from the start and there tends to be a fairly long gap between model updates. For example, most of the products that have benefitted from the DR upgrade are at least five or more years old.

Surely Naim are going to release an uber new TT with reference ARO tonearm with independent power supply 

Jonn the Linn DS Klimax up grades were at  4 year intervals 2007,2011,2015..........then change of dac chip and many other details in the new Katalyst, means this latest update is approx 17 months after the 2015 change.This new dac chip has only been on the market since Jan 2016 so being vastly more capable than the previous chip.I hope to hear it soon.YMMV. 

RussR posted:

...
This new dac chip has only been on the market since Jan 2016 so being vastly more capable than the previous chip.
... 

But does it sound any better when integrated into an audio component?

Linn seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment, I have just upgraded my KDS1 to davaar 50 and the upgrade over 37 was surprising and pleasing - more naim like in fact. I think it would now be even harder to tell it apart from an NDS than it was before.

Anyone who has heard the KDS3 able to offer any more comments on the upgrade?

Huge posted:

RussR posted:

...
This new dac chip has only been on the market since Jan 2016 so being vastly more capable than the previous chip.
... 

But does it sound any better when integrated into an audio component?

Huge, the context of the comment about the new DAC chip was about Jonn's view that Linn have a long term plan to upgrade in increments "holding back" on what they're capable of.  RussR's post about the date the new DAC was released kind of points out that it can't have been in a "holding back" plan as it didn't exist at the time of the previous upgrade.

If it sounds better or not is a completely different issue.  And we'll never know, because of all the co-released changes in the box - so it won't be possible to attribute any change solely to the DAC (or not).

Thankyou Sunbeamgls, That was exactly what I was trying to convey .

Claus-Thoegersen posted:

The situation for a Linn owner would be much worse if units could not be upgraded. Nobody has said the same When Naim released Dr updates over the last years. Back in the 90's I was offered a Linn cd 12 the flagship Linn player. Fortunately I did not buy it, and a few years after Linn dropped support for all cd players. I have not trusted the company since then. 

That's not really fair. LIke the CD2, Linn only stopped making the CD12 because Phillips stopped making the transport and Linn did not have enough spares. That Linn stopped making CD players altogether is neither here nor there - there are many excellent ones out there as from Naim.