Originally Posted by
jcbrum
IMHO, the most significant evidence is the price asked for the equipment. Bearing in mind that hifi is a consumer product.
Higher quality goods are available to do a better job at much lower prices.
This is because of the manufacturing and retailing model that Linn employ. For example, in other fields, avoiding a dealer markup can reduce the price by half.
I would imagine that Naim and a few others have the same problem.
Their goods imo are not the best sound available, and at the price cannot sell effectively against other, better products.
If they are not already irrelevant, then they may soon be so, because they'll be out of business.
I predict company sell-offs to "brand-buyers" asap.
I'll go and hide in the cellar now. [/QUOTE]
I have to agree with JC here, there are better quality components available for less money. However both Linn and Naim were very strong contenders in the 80s and 90s and they built an excellent name and strong brand loyalty for themselves. Whether that loyalty continues is questionable, if the companies get too lazy then it's all too easy to undo decades of market leading, however if they suddenly drop all their prices (a la Musical Fidelity) then people lose faith in the brand and start to buy without assumption, which is normally when people find a much better product at a lower price.
Originally Posted by
jcbrum
I'll go and hide in the cellar now.
No need!
Ben Duncan mains conditioner
2022 MacBook Pro 14" M1 Pro 10/16/16/16
Samsung QE75Q90T 75" QLED TV
XMOS DSD Async USB to Coax converter
RME Audio ADI-2 FS (AK4493) DAC
Chord Clearway XLR interconnects
Audioquest Crimson USB interconnect
QED Quartz Reference optical interconnect
Edifier S3000 Pro active speakers
Atacama SE24 stands