"Bret Ludwig" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ayn Marx wrote:
George M. Middius wrote:

snip


PS: On one point I think we'd agree. To achieve decent outcomes in
something like analogue engineering processes, such as the design and
manufacture of say, a turntable/arm/cartridge that's state of the art,
large amounts of money must be spent.

The engineering per se is not expensive. It has long, long since been
reduced to practice, documented, discussed. There is nothing
proprietary or radical about it. The best example is the Linn Sondek,
essentially a uprated, better made version of the JFK/MM era AR
turntable. Any patents ran out decades ago.


The Sondek was also based on Thorens turntables of the time. I don't think
there were any patents involved.

The price is high because the market is inversely-price-sensitive, the
units are built in small quantities, and because there is a fair bit of
skilled hand labor involved at Western salaries (though I'd venture to
say that if there's a Ferrari in Linn's parking lot it does not belong
to any of the assemblers or technicians.)


In the 1970s and 1980s, when it was at its prime relative to the rest of the
market, the Sondek was actually not bad value for money. The machining of
the bearings to better than 5 microns was quite expensive, requiring
tempertaure controlled lathes etc. Linn's Glaswegian workers were paid f.a.
and the company was heavily subsidised by EU money - Ivor had a mere Jaguar
XJ 12.

Given a positively-price-sensitive market condition, substantially
higher quantities of product (leading to increased automation, design
to use more precise techniques on automated bases, etc.) and the use of
less expensive assembly labor-although that's a nominal part of the
whole package-it is absolutely and conclusively certain that the exact
quality of a current Linn table-arm-cartridge combination could be
reduced, probably drastically. However, arguably, a small specialist
firm like Linn could _then_ build a product yet better than the one
they currently do for more money than the mass produced version.

As Ayn points out below, the Sondek has not been up with the pack for some
time. Initially this was due to political considerations inside Linn. I
suspect now it is more due to a realisation that tLPs are at best a medium
resolution system and they have concentrated more on SACD players which can
outperform any turntable.


There will always be "more", a "higher end". However there have to be
objective standards or the "higher end" will be "higher" only in the
minds of the buyer, who will be a laughingstock in the eyes of others.


In a British trade magazine, Ken Kessler continually makes the point that
hifi high-end will only survive if it can model itself on the high-end car,
watch etc trades where people buy things as much for status, looks etc as
for engineering utility - and are marketed by much more sophisticated means
than hifi. Very few hifi companies, including hi-end ones, make much money
these days. I think consumers in there eagerness to get things at the lowest
prices often forget the other half of the equation, producers who may love
their chosen field but also have to eat.

Rod

(Dr) Rod Crawford
for Legend Acoustics
www.legendspeakers.com.au