Hard times at Linn

How is the economy? In the US, housing turnover is the key to durable goods at all levels. That axiom is mitigated by big screen tvs and the like, technology brings customers out of the woodwork, but if the housing economy is not robust, the hard good retailers suffer. That goes double for luxury hard goods.

BTW, I am not talking about home values, but home sales. New homeowners need new stuff.

Sorry to hear about Linn. I always wanted one until I got something else, and then I never moved.

I do not read HiFi mags or go into HifI shops now and therefore I have no idea about the current Linn range. Maybe therein lies the rub-the brand would appear to be 'invisible' now yet I have a feeling that in the 80's the name Linn was associated with quality and innovation even by those who did not really know much about HiFi. As a student I'd heard of Linn, even aspired to own some.

Perhaps Linn need an active, argumentative and intermittently stroppy forum to maintain the brand?

Bruce

quote:

My hifi stuff is all UK-made, except for the speakers (made in Denmark) and the cartridge (made in Holland).

To be strictly accurate, I imagine your Hi-Fi is assembled in the UK, I doubt any of the capacitors, resistors, diodes, transistors, potentiometers, LED's and regulators are made in this country.

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When I was a little boy I heard Ernie (the fastest milkmen in the west) by Benny Hill and it made me laugh.

It was a funny song!

"Then a stale pork pie caught him in the eye, and Ernie bit the dust. Poor Ernie!"

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Originally posted by JoeH:
QUOTE]

My hifi stuff is all UK-made, except for the speakers (made in Denmark) and the cartridge (made in Holland).

Er, and all the electronic components inside the boxes.

Blimey Basil we must have that telepathy thing going, I hadn't seen your post when I did mine.

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Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
Blimey Basil we must have that telepathy thing going,

And that's a good thing?

I must say I'm sad to see so many redundancies at a Scottish company (they are about 15 minutes drive from my house).

Linn has always been a brand to aspire to, however over the last few years it has taken itself more and more upmarket. So, I can buy a Naim DVD for 2k, but the Linn one is 4k. I think they have restricted their market size a bit too much.

Naim have a good idea in that they have an understanding of entry level products and a thriving second hand market to attract new customers and a ladder of products for them to step up through. It makes it possible to actually spend money with them, while aspiring to own something higher up. Whereas with Linn, you aspire, but haven't spent any money with them.

Roy.

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:


Perhaps Linn need an active, argumentative and intermittently stroppy forum to maintain the brand?


Bruce

Bruce great comment and I think you've probably nailed it with that one. Build loyalty with great service for all your kit and you will not go far wrong.

Also I heard a little story that the only reason Linn went from toroidal Ps to switch mode supllies was because of weight savings when shipping, at first I was not sure but now hearing of the financial worries it does make sense, probably saved a bundle but buggered up the sound.



Dean..

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Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
Blimey Basil we must have that telepathy thing going, I hadn't seen your post when I did mine.

Great minds and all that!

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Originally posted by Adam Meredith:

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
Blimey Basil we must have that telepathy thing going,

And that's a good thing?

Now now Mr Meridith, is that any way to speak to a potential customer who will shortly have the proceeds from the sale of a house to spend any way he pleases?

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:

quote:

Originally posted by JoeH:
QUOTE]

My hifi stuff is all UK-made, except for the speakers (made in Denmark) and the cartridge (made in Holland).

Er, and all the electronic components inside the boxes.

I don't open boxes to check where the components were made. Does that make me a bad person?

quote:

Originally posted by Basil:

quote:

My hifi stuff is all UK-made, except for the speakers (made in Denmark) and the cartridge (made in Holland).

To be strictly accurate, I imagine your Hi-Fi is assembled in the UK, I doubt any of the capacitors, resistors, diodes, transistors, potentiometers, LED's and regulators are made in this country.

Don't try and bamboozle me with your techy gobbledook! It says 'Made in the UK' on the boxes, so it's British-made. Orright?

quote:

Originally posted by Basil:
Now now Mr Meridith, is that any way to speak to a potential customer who will shortly have the proceeds from the sale of a house to spend any way he pleases?

Well, well - Basel and brand new, new series Naim equipment - the housing boom may not be all bad.

All opinions are my own and are unlikely to reflect the opinion of anyone else.

Adam,
with your new under-signature are you trying to emulate or take the piss out of another well known forum member??? I wouldn't put the latter past you....in the nicest possible way of course.

Ryan

Linn lost it with me with the Index speakers and intek amplifier. kacky products....

My dealer remebers the years of Linn telling their former dealers that they were wasting their time with hifi, now they are attempting to 'focus on their core competencies'.

Whoops! (hand brake smartly applied, foot removed from mouth, hard on accelerator in reverse).

Don't focus too hard I say, as average-sounding and ludicrously over-priced audio equipment tends not to sell so well.*

It may be too late for Linn.

Their Knekt multiroom is a below-average dinosaur now and they will be forced to either develop their own (that'll cost a fortune) network system or become a Netstreams clone.

The Classik was under-specified the day it was born - no stereo-derived Pro-Logic, no component out. Fecking scart connectors as pretty much the only output. No dts. Sheesh how wrong can you get?

Their hifi? It stopped with the LP12 and Isobariks. I've heard so much of their other equipment and it is so average I wonder often whether the LP12 was even made by them.

*LP12, Kans and Briks excepted.

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Their hifi? It stopped with the LP12 and Isobariks. I've heard so much of their other equipment and it is so average I wonder often whether the LP12 was even made by them.

Linn were great at mechanical engineering as proven by their success with turntables and speakers. Sadly they never reached the same levels with electronics.
John

I'm sad to hear about Linn's troubles. One thing I would say is there was, in Aberdeen, real problems with their products finding the correct dealership which seemed to move around and ended up residing in a chain electronics 'store' nestled between the washing machines and hair-dryers. It was very odd, no demo facilities either as far I could see. Now I don't know where you could get their kit up here and this is Scotland; but perhaps I'm just out of touch. I do hope they can turn things around.

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in Aberdeen, real problems with their products finding the correct dealership which seemed to move around and ended up residing in a chain electronics 'store' nestled between the washing machines and hair-dryers.

That's like finding a Martin Logan speakers at Costco!

Or Naim at a Shahinian dealer! (I'll get my coat...)

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My dealer remebers the years of Linn telling their former dealers that they were wasting their time with hifi, now they are attempting to 'focus on their core competencies'.

Linn always tried to boss the dealers around.(Do this, do that.

Naim were always more educational.(Try this, try that).

My night out in Salisbury was also more fun than my night out in Glasgow...

Both factory visits were great though.

Best irony is that Doug the Scotsman flogs English HiFi...(Hi Doug!)

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Originally posted by Deane F:
Or Naim at a Shahinian dealer! (I'll get my coat...)

I don't know, somehow they've managed to produce a handful of products which have worked really well for their time. I had Keilidhs for a number of years and really enjoyed them - they lasted through quite a few Naim amp and CD upgrades! The Classik was obviously a popular product, and it seems the new Majik CD and preamp are actually very good for the money. Anyone who's actually heard their latest speakers (e.g. the Akurate 212 and 242) will know how good they are. But the problem remains, as a company it's hard to trust them, hear their products, or have confidence in the future.

And they have an arrogance unlike any other hifi company I can think of.

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And they have an arrogance unlike any other hifi company I can think of.

Awwww I dunno - Shahinian's website get's waaaaay out there with its 'all other speakers sound wrong - which they are! There I said it' section.

Funny thing irony.

The problem of not providing a simple and effective upgrade path is a killer for Linn. It limits the sales process badly. I know other companies have similar problems, i.e. to improve the sound throw the electronics away and start again, but they are usually at a lower price point.

Also if you want to move into the high cost lifestyle arena beware of B&O's long standing presence, backed up by years and years of positioning and well supported dealers in dedicated stores. Linn has failed to embrace this approach and looks like losing out in a big way.

All the hi-fi/electronic products on the market contain parts from China and other "low-cost" countries, so what? These same places cannot compete with the design IP tucked away in the UK design houses. If Naim and Rega, amongst others, can also afford to build products in the UK for a reasonable margin we should continue to applaud them and support them with our money.

Linn appears to be another lost plot moment. Never did really like the sound of their kit, Nait3 + CD3.5 vs Classik(?) no contest.

Jono

B&O is a very different scenario. The whole sales model hangs on the fact that they don't have dealers, rather they have franchises. B&O ask for a heavy investment from the franchisee which guarantees coverage, story and commitment. Linn could choose to do something similar I guess, but establishing Linn shops everywhere must be difficult. That would be quite an endeavour, especially if they're trying to save money. Furthermore, B&O's range is expensive for what it is but it also appeals to a far more diverse group than Linn's range does at the moment.