Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Off Topic OT - Linn stops making CD players

Very interesting/significant move from Linn.

BBC - Linn ends CD player production

Well, the boy Tiefenbrun has clearly inherited his father's ability to make high handed pronouncements. I wonder what conversation is like around their dinner table, if everyone in the family deals only in absolutes?!

Cheers

George

I actually saw a small clip of Ivor T being interviewed on BBC Scotland's local news last evening - about 30 seconds or so... Sorry, can't find the clip or a link to it...

He was alarmingly(!) critical of CD as a quality recording/playback medium - obviously because he wants to change the agenda to promoting his served music products.

A 'road to Damascus moment' if ever I heard one.

It left me wondering what Linn customers or indeed anyone who had invested majorly in v. expensive, sub-optimal (by his reckoning) CD transports are left thinking.

Personally, I'd be pretty miffed if I'd shelled out majorly on a (Linn) CD transport/player recently only for the owner/founder of the company to effectively trash my investment at a stroke...

Zander

Interestingly, just about the polar opposite of Bob Stuart.

Indeed! The CD12 weighed in at �12,000 too if memory serves...

Cheers

George

It's significant and interesting that in one fell swoop Linn have dropped CD entirely from their manufacturing plans and marketing lexicon to go whole hog to served music and products. No staged migration path - just a night/day religious conversion.

I'm interested in the dichotomy that Meridian has between continuing to promote and develop CD transports/players and at the same time have Sooloos co-exist.

What will be better - an 808.2 playing single disks or a Meridian sauced-up Sooloos using the served music model?

I guess by now they will have Sooloos M-sauced-up in the lab and possibly/probably, if Ivor T is right about the inherent flaws/limitations in CD media and playback, out-performing a latest-spec 808.2. If that is the case, then how will they handle the promotion of CD transports/players vs. served music via Sooloos - from a playback quality perspective?

It seems to me that they'll get to a point where they can't have their cake and eat it...

One other point, if you were in the market for a Meridian top-spec music playback solution, would you buy an 808.2 now or wait for a (probably?) superior sauced-up Sooloos with all the attendant other benefits?

It would certainly make me hesitate to buy an M spinner...

Zander

Those of us who remember the launch of CD back in the 1980s well remember Linn's adverts proclaiming "Is it a lemon?" with a large colour picture of said fruit. Of course, they really saw CD as competition for their much-lauded LP12. I guess, twenty-five years later, it must be a lemon after all!

Bitter lemon?

Zander

Its a good thing to turn the selling of their network gear...
After a while they allways can say:"the customer want that we continue manufacture CD player"

But on the other side, why not "just" having a good network player?
People who likes "hardware" means a CD, have to buy it anyway and after stored it on the network,
the customer still have the physicaly CD in his hand for nostalgic reasons.
As long as the quality of their networkplayer as good as their CD player,
its just a decision of what the customer likes more.
The only thing is to take care that all data correct stored on the network.

If they still service the player its not a problem.
Anyway its a way to the future, or do somebody using a floppy disk instead of a USB stick ?

M also decide do NOT making a Bluray player, its just a matter of time when its obsolete.
Its better to concentrate their manpower to get the best out of the stored data to have a good sound.

Robert,

I agree. Linn's (new) point is that Linn 'served music' will always be better quality than that derived from a spinner - even their �12K CD12. This, due to the inherent flaws in CD production and playback...

Returning to M, how many spinners, at whatever price point are they likely to sell given that Sooloos is clearly the headline M source product? You only have to look at M's home page - no 808.2. Rather a Sooloos touch panel...

At what point will Bob/M say served music derived from a Sooloos is better than that 'scraped off' disk via an 808.2?

I wonder how may spinners (CD, DVD) M are manufacturing/selling currently? And how many people who might have bought an 808 are waiting for a souped-up Sooloos...

Zander

Tongue-in-cheek; I don't suppose this has anything to do with potential sales from Linn's download music store...

http://www.linnrecords.com/linn-downloads-why-is-linn-records-providing-a-download-service.aspx

My favorite bit of the report...


Forget jitter - it's the "quality of sound compression" that matters...

Chris