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GREAT POST and a marketing lesson to boot!

I bet you are a marketing consultant (that's a compliment).

I would like to point out two rays of hope:

Linn has developped leading-edge switch-mode power supplies, which if I am not mistaken debuted in the CD-12 and the Klimax amplifiers. Now they are using the same technology throughout the product line, at low cost and extremely high performance. This will give them a technical advantage in the AV marketplace. Maybe there are more proprietary technologies/processes, Linn is known to invest wisely and heavily in RD.
By the way Linn's inovation with the LP12 was not the suspended chassis, it was the painstaking care they took in machining to very strict tolerances (3 triangles AKA mirror finish).
Music encoded on an LP groove can be measured in tens of thousands of an inch. The LP12 was the first turntable to have zero play in its main spindle and in its tonearm bearing. At the time the LP-12 was lauched, a Thorens TD-126 or Technics SP-10 PRO turntable had one or two milimeters of vertical play in the platter. Imagine what that does to channel separation and retrieval of detail. Most tone arms made at the time had lots of play, including the knife-edge tonearm technology that SME dropped a few years later.
An LP12 sub-platter takes about 30 seconds to sink into position, during initial assembly... sometimes up to a minute if well lubed.

Second ray of hope: SME has focused on its main competencies. They used to make high-quality scale models (hence the SME brand).
I understand that nowadays most of SME's revenue comes from specialized military contracting work.

As for Naim, I am at a loss. They charge thousands of dollars for an additional power supply (Super-Cap and similar names) that has inside it a couple of toroidal transformers (maybe $50 each?), a few LM 317 chips (U$ 0.70 each)and lots of capacitance (regular electrolytic caps, nothing fancy like Black Gates or Dubilier's 50,000 hour caps).
It's been known throughout the DIY community that there are alternative electronic parts that provide audible and measurable improvements, like C-core transformers, large EI transformers, Schottky or Hexfred diodes and Linear Technology regulators.
For example, a schottky diode has no measurable switching noise vs 2000 nS of noise from a regular 1N4007 diode.
An LT 108X regulator has 10 db lower noise than an LM317 regulator (it's in the data sheets).
An Elna Silmic cap has distortion/self-noise 130 db below the main signal, however the mainstream industry keeps ignoring those better parts and techniques.
There are exceptions, companies that care and use really high-performance, leading-edge parts, like ASR, ModWright, Conrad-Johnson, AMR and several nordic manufacturers. In the meanwhile, the old guys continue using 70 cents chips within a fancy box.
Maybe you should factor into your analysis the sincerity of some so-called high-end companies. They are actually middle-market products disguised as high-end by means of a thick faceplate.

I am not associated with any of the above-mentioned companies, but I own an ASR Emmiter amplifier, a Linn turntable, a couple of SME arms and a parts closet with plenty of the caps, regulators and diodes mentioned.
Thanks for your very intelligent and insightful post.
Carlos


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  • GREAT POST and a marketing lesson to boot! - Carlos 05/1/0715:48:33 05/1/07 (0)


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