back to article Man who nearly killed physical media returns with $60,000 vinyl turntable

There must have been a time when Apple thought that anything Sir Jony Ive touched turned to gold. Now luxury hi-fi manufacturer Linn will be hoping the same – with a £50,000 ($64,000) turntable dreamed up by Cupertino's former design whiz. Ive is responsible for guiding the aesthetics behind some of Apple's most successful …

  1. tip pc Silver badge

    Worth more in the wrapper

    Probably worth £60k in 20 years time if left in the wrapper.

    1. ITMA Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Worth more in the wrapper

      And which part did Ivy's company actually design?

      That is what always gets me when designs of electronic products are attributed to thos who have "styled" it and not those who have designed the bits that actually make it work.

      Do they know anything about audio and designing audio products (beyond designing their "appearance")?

      1. Youngone

        Re: Worth more in the wrapper

        They're designers. They don't really "know" anything. They do have feelings and stuff though.

      2. GruntyMcPugh

        Re: Worth more in the wrapper

        The corners down even look round.

        1. TeeCee Gold badge

          Re: Worth more in the wrapper

          Funny you should mention that. He did those, the lid hinges (which now hold the lid at any angle) and that round switch at front left IIRC.

          Worth mentioning that he did the whole lot for free though. He's a massive Linn fan and admits that one his life's highlights was taking a tour of the Linn factory as a young man.

  2. Randy Hudson

    Poor design in my opinion

    There's really no reason to combine the power and the playback speed into a single button with multiple modes.

    1. Eclectic Man Silver badge

      Re: Poor design in my opinion

      When Linn made CD players, their top of the range one, the Sondek CD12https://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/86/index.html * did not have any actual buttons. The CD tray was the control. When empty, you tapped it to get it to extend to receive a CD. When extended you tapped it to get it to retract. With a CD installed various taps and prods controlled the device (or so I believe, I couldn't afford one). Of course there was a remote control available, but why spoil the fun?

      *"The drawer is of chrome-plated aluminum alloy, and locks solidly in place when closed. The drawer is also the only means (other than the remote, of course) of controlling the player, as there's nary a knob or button on the CD12's face—optical sensors detect "nudges" against the drawer. The machine understands a hard shove to mean Open or Close, while a gentle nudge is interpreted as Play—or, if a CD is already playing, as Next Track. A nudge will also stop play—but only after you've become sensitized to the control system. It takes a few tries to learn the differences between a Next nudge, a Stop nudge, and an Open shove. Pause is handled solely through the remote." (from page 2 of the review.)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Poor design in my opinion

        What happened if you tapped SOS in Morse? High speed assault level eject of the CD?

        1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          Someone turns up in a red Jag?

          1. David 132 Silver badge
            Thumb Up

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            Now there's an amusing Thaw-t.

            1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge
              Coat

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              I Endeavour to support your Thaw-t.

        2. FrogsAndChips Silver badge

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          It would play The Police's Message in a Bottle.

        3. a pressbutton

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          No

          John Thaw's deep disappointment in the low standards of modern cryptic crosswords

      2. Ian Johnston Silver badge

        Re: Poor design in my opinion

        I was impressed that they managed to sucker audiophiles (OK, maybe not a high bar) into believing that a sooper-dooper mechanism ("Karik") would produce more accurate digital data for their D-A converter ("Numerik"). I bet it opened up the soundstage a treat.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          You can just go onto any audiophile forums for people telling you how £1000 mains cables or £200 HDMI leads improve their system sound. (clown face).

          1. 42656e4d203239 Silver badge
            Pint

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            Why go AC when speaking the truth?

            Have a pint anyway.

          2. Will Godfrey Silver badge
            Facepalm

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            Don't forget you can't have the speaker cables just lying randomly on the floor. They must be supported by ceramic stand-offs, that coincidentally look exactly like high voltage overhead insulators.

            1. ShortLegs

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              Ceramic standoffs?

              No, you need wooden cable elevators

              https://www.russandrews.com/cable-elevators-set-of-4-42279990004/

              1. MJI Silver badge

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                Fronts sit on the floor, rears run under the wood flooring but not next to each other.

              2. ICL1900-G3 Silver badge

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                Jeez, there are some dicks in this world!

                There was a relevant cartoon in, I think, the New York Times, two hipsters in a loft apartment, one says: 'What first got me into vinyl was the expense and the inconvenience.'

                1. Eclectic Man Silver badge

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  Just wait, the updated version will have sorbothane(TM) pads. And cost twice as much.

                  They must be awful to vacuum around.

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbothane

                  1. GruntyMcPugh

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    Sorbothane? Doesn't that make you fart? Oh, that's Sorbitol. Mind you, HiFi snobbery is a load of stinky wind.

              3. Toni the terrible

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                Nah, wooden work

            2. dch0ar

              Re: Wrong material

              I saw somewhere that cedar cable supports are better than pine. Never tried because I'm not so gullible.

          3. MJI Silver badge

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            Digital signal.

            Buy something mechanically well made and solid.

            Analogue signal

            Buy something very well shielded and decent thickness.

            As i own a premium quality SCART lead I can tell where the VFM is.

            I could tell between a cheap SCART and my good SCART, all due to better shielding in the cables.

            My HDMI are decent mechaical quality but no different picture wise to a freebie one.

            Speaker cables, just thick wire, biwired due to I had it.

            All is base audiophile/AV system level. Good enough to last and not ruin the picture or sound.

            I also run Castle speakers.

            1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              For analogue, there is a noticeable difference between a $10 interconnect and a $100 interconnect (or SCART). There is a tiny bit of difference (to audiophile/videophile ears and eyes; 99% of us couldn't tell them apart) between a $100 interconnect and a $1000 interconnect. There's no difference at all between a $1000 interconnect and a $10,000 (or higher) interconnect, apart from bragging rights.

              For digital, as long as the cable is mechanically sound there is no difference at all between a $10 HDMI, a $100 HDMI and a $10,000 HDMI. Same goes for optical. The 0s and 1s get from one end to the other just fine. The problem with (very) cheap cables is that they tend to BE less mechanically sound; but you don't need to spend much more money to avoid this.

              1. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                For a long time I used to use lighting circuit wire for my speakers, because oxygen free copper is oxygen free copper at the end of the day.

                Then I bought a second hand Arcam CD player off eBay, the seller stuffed a load of related crap in the box, including a pair of QED Reference speaker cables, that when I checked cost about £500.

                These cables really opened the soundstage, although not so much that I'd willing spend 500 notes on another pair...

                1. 42656e4d203239 Silver badge
                  Happy

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  >>These cables really opened the soundstage,

                  With respect sir, bollocks. You knew the cables were expensive, therefore they sounded "better".

                  What, exactly does "opening the soundstage" mean, in real, measurable, terms? what characteristics of the cable (other than cost) make a truly audible difference (independent double blind A/B test results only please; the physics is pretty much settled)?

                  1. zuckzuckgo
                    Alien

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    I think he must have had some extremely low grade lighting circuit wire.

                  2. NeilPost

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    Amp to speaker = analogue… so maybe an improvement… but not £500 worth - LOL.

                    1. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

                      Re: Poor design in my opinion

                      Did I say it was £500 worth of improvement?

                      I said it was an improvement and I also said I wouldn't spend £500 on cables.

                  3. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    With respect, you know not what you're talking about.

                    The sound improved, which is good enough for me.

                    Inverse snobbery is just as bad as snobbery...

              2. 42656e4d203239 Silver badge

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                >>For analogue, there is a noticeable difference between a $10 interconnect and a $100 interconnect (or SCART)

                Disagree - care to share any double blind A/B testing that shows this?

                I would bet 50p that in a double blind A/B test there would be very little, if any, difference between cheap audio interconnects and expensive ones. 24 strand is, electrically, plenty good enough and you could get away with 2mm^2 twin and earth if you want to go posh.

                SCART? well if you are in an RFI rich environment, more shielding is better I guess, but somewhere around the £10 break point. Any higher than that you are paying idiot tax or buying your cables from an "Audiophile" shop instead of an electrical supplier.

                Of course a true [audio,video]phile will challenge the validity of double blind testing because hand waving reasons... but they would still be wrong.

                All that said - don't let me get in the way of anyone who wants to pay for emporers new clothes; it's their money after all.

                1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  "Disagree - care to share any double blind A/B testing that shows this?"

                  Sure - here's one on speaker cable. Definite difference between cheap (crap) and 'proper', and basically no difference once you get into the 'proper' territory. Which is what I said.

                  The difference is in the shielding. It comes down to:

                  No shielding vs some shielding, noticeable.

                  Some shielding but not properly wound vs 'proper' shielding, noticeable by a trained ear, but not by normal mortals

                  'Decent' proper shielding vs 'Unbelievably expensive' proper shielding, no difference at all.

                  1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    Gosh, what a great study that is. N=3 and subjective evaluations. Wonderful methodology. I'm super convinced.

                    1. Lord Elpuss Silver badge

                      Re: Poor design in my opinion

                      ”Gosh, what a great study that is. N=3 and subjective evaluations. Wonderful methodology. I'm super convinced ”

                      I’m not trying to convince you, and I literally couldn’t give a shit what you think either way.

                      Be well.

                  2. FIA Silver badge

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    Sure - here's one on speaker cable.

                    From the link...

                    To find out, we’re going in completely blind. At least: fellow authors Martijn ten Napel and Yung Lie are going in blind. Your author has measured and sampled all cables and is therefore no longer objective. His only task on the listening day is to change the cables and drink coffee…. ah, well: someone has to do that.

                    That's not double blind, one person knows which cable is which and can introduce unconscious bias. Double blind test requires both the tester and test subjects to be unaware of which 'thing' is which.

                    The difference with audio cables is often the older interconnect or speaker cables are dirty and oxidised, whereas the new ones aren't.

                2. MJI Silver badge

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  SCART I did find an improvement between my £10 and my £40 cable, the cheapest SCARTs were unusable due to lack of wires.

                  When the display was top end and the source RGB you can tell. Basically a cleaner picture.

                  It is heavy though!

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    The main difference between SCART cables is whether the RGBY wires are individually screened or not. The cheap cables which aren't individually screened do suffer from crosstalk which can be seen on screen. Other than that, price makes little difference. Gold plated ones are a con, since the sockets are still nickel plated.

                    1. ITMA Silver badge

                      Re: Poor design in my opinion

                      "Gold plated ones are a con"

                      Nowhere near as much of a con a gold plated TosLink optical "cables".... WTF???

                      1. MJI Silver badge

                        Re: Poor design in my opinion

                        I have one of those, pees me off as it is ridiculous.

                        But it is what they had, and still quite cheap.

                    2. MJI Silver badge

                      Re: Poor design in my opinion

                      And different levels of shielding.

                      Worst - composite only

                      Low - only shielded as a whole

                      Good - all wires shielded

                      BEst - shielded as much as possible and good construction techniques.

                3. Toni the terrible

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  Just like wine tasting, the experts know as little as complete noobs

              3. David 132 Silver badge
                Trollface

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                > The 0s and 1s get from one end to the other just fine

                On any cable costing less than around $1000, the 1s will be blunted and the 0s will be squished or deformed - or worse, be filled in as ⚫️.

                Real enthusiasts spend in the $10K range, to get cables that can transmit 2s for higher dynamic range.

                1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  2? Philistine. Mine go all the way up to e.

                  1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
                    Facepalm

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    For proper digital you need to go up to f

                  2. David 132 Silver badge
                    Coat

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    I thought I had one that went up to i but it was just imaginary.

              4. MJI Silver badge

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                My DVD SCART was £40.

                I found it a bit better than a £10, which was 100x better than a cheapo one.

                That TV did not appear to convert RGB to component to RGB but run RGB straight through from any RGB source, it was a Digital Wega.

              5. Fred Dibnah

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                I’m not sure I’d want to brag that I’d spent £10k on an interconnect! It brings this to mind:

                https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XbUF0aXHLhw

                It’s interesting to note that studios use good quality cables, but eschew the magic earthing boxes & other nonsense so beloved in the hi-fi world.

          4. 43300 Silver badge

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            The claims regarding magic 'audio-grade' ethernet cables are even better - all those 0s and 1s clearly need a top quality cable to transmit properly (and the cable does of course need arrows on it to indicate which way round to connect it, otherwise all those 0s and 1s could end up going the wrong way and just think what carnage might result!)

            Best example I found last time I looked was about 20 grand as I recall, for a 10m one, Bargain!

            1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              On moral grounds I couldn't justify personally selling such overpriced bollocks to audiophiles but I do have a secret lurking suspicion that they in fact deserve to be massively ripped off by con men for being such utterly prattish poseurs.

        2. John Sager

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          I had an early Sony CD player in the 70s that was all discrete logic. One of the CDs I had was slightly off centre. I hooked up a scope to the R/W line on the RAM and it was fascinating to watch the variations caused by the offset. The disc played OK though as the RAM read out to the DACs was crystal controlled.

          I think the most audiophily thing would be to put a GPS-controlled OCXO in there for the accuracy, and charge $$$$ for it.

          1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            I had an early Sony CD player in the 70s

            I've still got a decent Tecnics stack (bought in 1990? ish) at home - it moved with us in 1997 to our current house. It sits in the lounge with none of the cables connected (apart from the speaker cables) and mainly serves as something to put the TV base reflex speaker on..

            Can't remember the model - has a turntable (used about 5 times), CD player, AM/FM radio and dual tape unit - all separates. At some point I'll sell it on ebay - when I can amass sufficient tuits to get round to it.

            1. IGotOut Silver badge
              WTF?

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              "I had an early Sony CD player in the 70s "

              No you didn't.

              1. Eclectic Man Silver badge

                Re: Poor design in my opinion

                Hmm, I bought my first CD player in the mid 1980's, a Sony, and I thought I was an early adopter. 1970's does seem a tad early.

                "The Sony CDP 101 is widely believed to the first ever compact disc player. It was launched in Japan on 1st October 1982." (https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/sony-cd-player-1983#:~:text=The%20Sony%20CDP%20101%20is,during%20the%20Spring%20of%201983.)

                1. John Sager

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  Yes, that was the one. I apologise profusely and abjectly to commentards for whom the mis-remembering of dates is an unforgivable sin!

                  1. David 132 Silver badge
                    Happy

                    Re: Poor design in my opinion

                    All I could think was, “it must have been so frustrating for you to have that player, yet nothing whatsoever to play on it until nearly a decade later”

                    “Come onnnn Sony, hurry up and invent the audio CD so I can finally USE this thing!”

                    1. Anonymous Coward
                      Anonymous Coward

                      Re: Poor design in my opinion

                      Pedant alert!

                      It was Philips who invented the audio CD, not Sony.

                      1. Eclectic Man Silver badge
                        Boffin

                        Re: Poor design in my opinion

                        I thought the two companies invented it together? I heard that the requirement was that it could play the whole of Beethoven's 9th symphony from one disc, which determined the storage requirements, and therefore the physical size:

                        https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/why-is-a-cd-74-minutes/

                        "Both Sony and Philips knew that the legendary conductor Herbert Von Karajan would be instrumental to the success of their new format. He had agreed to endorse the CD at the Vienna press conference where they would announce the company's prototype.

                        But he had one condition: that the new technology could allow listeners to hear the whole of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony without interruption.

                        The longest recording Sony could find was Wilhelm Furtwängler's glacial 1951 recording which ran to a length of - you've guessed it - 74 minutes."

                2. ske1fr
                  Mushroom

                  Re: Poor design in my opinion

                  Oh God, that was the one I used to run out of the HiFi shop when it was being demoed, it sounded like breaking glass, Dire Straits bad enough but on that thing, argh. The equivalent Phillips at the time sounded bearable with the same Dire disc, at least I didn't have to run from it. Thankfully DACs and circuitry improved. Linn Sondek...no. 33rpm only back then. I've always been a nightmare to ...'creative sales pitchers '.

        3. 43300 Silver badge

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          There's some other amusing phrases in ther too, e.g.:

          "The sonic improvement comes by way of Linn's all-new Bedrok™ plinth technology; formed of orthogonal layers of beech placed under extreme pressure to create an entirely new, solid and massive material."

          I think the word they are looking for is 'laminate'... But the above no doubt convinces audiophiles better than describing it as 'beech laminate'!

          1. Joe W Silver badge

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            Glorified plywood.

            OK. Beech multiplex.

          2. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
            Facepalm

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            If they really wanted a stable platform, then, go find a stonemason and get a BIG granite block installed in the middle of the room - so big that you have to add new foundations for the stone to sit directly on

            1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              I just put my stack on top of Denali. Your granite plinth can never be too big.

        4. Snar

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          Just wait till you start reading the bollocks about "Audiophile Ethernet switches"!

          1. 43300 Silver badge

            Re: Poor design in my opinion

            Like this, you mean?

            https://www.fanthorpes.co.uk/english-electric-8switch-network-switch

            No doubt much better at handling all those 0s and 1s than bog-standard 8-port ethernet switch costing 20 to 30 quid!

            I like the way they've reused the name and branding of one of the most significant English manufacturers of the mid twentieth century - a company which made everything from domestic appliances to aircraft to power station equipment to railway locomotives. Delusions of grandeur or what?!

            1. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              Chord also sell £1000 mains leads.

              A fool and their money are soon parted

            2. Nick Ryan

              Re: Poor design in my opinion

              Direct from the ridiculous conman website:

              The 8switch by English Electric (a Chord Company brand), is an 8 port GbE Ethernet switch modified and upgraded to our specific requirements for high-performance music streaming networks.
              Right... what this really means is that they:
              • Purchased some no-name GbE network switches from a cheap sweatshop somewhere in the world.
              • Applied a label to the outside.
              • Opened the unit and used sandpaper on the top of the ICs to obscure that they are regular, standard ICs and no different to any others in any other similar GbE switch.
              • Encased the ICs in something like hot melt glue to ensure that they can't be seen, I mean to "ensure audio protection is maximised".
              • Made up as much bullshit as possible and listed the price as at least 10x the original purchase price they paid for the no-name item in the first place.

        5. Toni the terrible

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          Of course you may need to upgrade your actual ears to get any real benefit, your hearing loss by the time you can afford one may be a mite concerning.

      3. Stratman

        Re: Poor design in my opinion

        Nudge it to change track? Just like a vinyl record player then.

    2. khjohansen
      Headmaster

      Re: Poor design in my opinion

      Ummh - that's from the previous design - he changed the button from square to round, is all!

      IMHO he nicked a few clues from Jacob Jensen, look here: https://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=269

      1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
        Alert

        Re: Poor design in my opinion

        That would be a "Jensen Button"

        1. David 132 Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: Poor design in my opinion

          Booooo. Get out.

  3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Saw the headline, not in the least surprised on finding out who the company was.

  4. Sgt_Oddball

    That's a decent enough home office setup..

    Though I'd look at a better cart for the Pro-ject (I'm partial to AT-115 carts on free vintage dual I've got in my home office).

    1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

      Re: That's a decent enough home office setup..

      I'd actually upgrade the entire Essential. I never did like the bare-bones design of that turntable!

      Mind you, my upgraded Debut II is probably not a lot better (although it's sporting my vintage Ortofon VMS20E-II on a Debut-III arm with an add-on acrylic platter to compensate for the lower body height - sounds sublime)

      Rather than looking for Cambridge Audio amp, I'm still happy with a rebuilt NAD 7020, although I have a C-A CD player and DAC.

      What I can't get over nowadays is how expensive Pro-Ject decks are. When originally bought, my Debut II cost £108 (I came across the receipt recently). Current Pro-Ject turntables seem to start at north of £350.

      Looking at the Linn, I think I preferred the looks of the original squared-off corners. Rounded corners (yes, really) don't look right on a Sondek!

      1. msknight

        Re: That's a decent enough home office setup..

        I had the debut carbon with an acrylic platter. Replaced the ortofon cartridge with an AT.

        Now I've got an SL-1200 Mk7 and ported the cart over. £800-ish in silver from Richer Sounds. Enjoying it much more. Don't need the DJ stuff, but the non-DJ versions were going £1K+

        Speakers, Castle Durham 900 bookshelf. Nice rich sound for not much cash on ebay. (£70 in 2016)

      2. R Soul Silver badge

        Re: That's a decent enough home office setup..

        Steve Jobs liked rounded corners. So it should be no surprise if Johnny Ive still obeys his master's voice.

    2. VBF

      Re: That's a decent enough home office setup..

      Indeed - Linn Audio - the very definition of "The King's New Clothes" fable

  5. Andy Non Silver badge
    Coat

    Balmuda toaster

    For the price I'd expect it to hold dialogues on the virtues of various bread based delights and to suggest bagels as the solution to all of humanities problems.

    1. Michael Strorm Silver badge

      Re: Balmuda toaster

      The Balmuda toaster isn't new- Techmoan did a video on it a couple of years ago, and IIRC he wasn't that impressed.

      1. NeilPost

        Re: Balmuda toaster

        That’s absolute *NOT* a Toaster … it’s a fucked up mini-oven Umerican’s call a Toaster (Oven).

        A toaster is vertical, for bread/crumpets/hot cross buns - my daughter puts in filled tortillas too - and any pizza put in it would delaminate and end up as a pile of burning goo in the toaster crum tray.

        1. Stork

          Re: Balmuda toaster

          Not necessarily, there’s also flat bed toasters

    2. Howard Sway Silver badge

      Re: Balmuda toaster

      "The Toaster boasts a Sandwich Bread Mode, Artisan Bread Mode, Pizza Mode.."

      Pizza Mode? How big is it? And how disgusting does a toasted pizza taste? They even do a $150 kettle. Presumably it has an Artisan Water mode.

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: Balmuda toaster

        Close - it has an Artesian Water mode.

        1. David 132 Silver badge
          Happy

          Re: Balmuda toaster

          Well, really.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Balmuda toaster

          Now that is taking the piss.

      2. Marjolica

        Re: Balmuda toaster

        What no bagel mode? - toasts just one side.

      3. Joe W Silver badge

        Re: Balmuda toaster

        Can't recall what my kettle cost - it is mostly metal, no plastics in contact with the water, looks nice (yeah, and works well). No, it wasn't €150, but pricey enough. But it makes me happy that it does not have the plastic touch and feel the previous one had, every day I use it (ok, hyperbole... slightly).

        1. Eclectic Man Silver badge
          Facepalm

          Re: Balmuda toaster. HELP ME!!!

          O M G, I am a nerd and a geek and enslaved by technology and advertising agencies.

          Won't someone please help me?

          I have a 'KitchenAid' Artisan kettle. It has a temperature selection lever for heating water to between 50 and 100 Celsius. It is also double skinned so the outside does not get too hot to the touch.

          And I do use it for my Whittard's 'Chelsea Garden Tea' (heat water to 80C, brew for 5 1/2 to 6 minutes before decanting into my Wedgwood Hibiscus teapot).

          Am I beyond help? Or does my being 'gay' excuse my liking for 'nice' things?*

          https://www.kitchenaid.co.uk/kettles

          https://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/chelsea-garden-loose-tea-MSTR315259.html

          https://www.wedgwood.com/en-GB/collections/all-collections/hibiscus?xnpe_tifc=4fes4IbjbuY8OIzXhIodbMpLbd4vEf8lMds_O.1XxIQPxF1XxFPxa9BjCJeBo9puOIQNhIodOFophIVpx.zD&utm_source=bloomreach&utm_campaign=WW-GB-DO-EM-content-Kings_coronation_standard-loyalist-2023Apr8&utm_medium=email&utm_content=GB-loyalist-2023Apr8&sfmc_id=0034I00002YFaZrQAL#aq=%40collectioncode%20%3D%3D%20(%22HIBISCUS%22)&numberOfResults=20

          Yes, I really do won the above.

          *Yes, I really am gay, don't make a thing of it. And I like the pattern, plus the Wedgwood is 'dishwasher safe' :o). I got he Wedgwood after realising that drinking vessels in my home amounted to a disparate collection of mismatched mugs, some chipped.

          1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
            Alert

            Re: Balmuda toaster. HELP ME!!!

            Nothing to do with being gay, but, IMHO, beyond help.

            I know someone with a kettle, toaster and Nespresso machine, all from Kitchen Aid, who is sort of a Hyacinth Bucket character

    3. ske1fr

      Re: Balmuda toaster

      I'm not interested, even if there's a happy ending.

  6. abend0c4 Silver badge

    The best vinyl playback performance Linn has ever achieved

    So, still rather worse than the first generation of CD players, then?

    Mind you, not all old technology is rubbish. If I'm ever in the market for a pricey toaster, I'm getting one of these. If I can.

    1. heyrick Silver badge
      Flame

      Re: The best vinyl playback performance Linn has ever achieved

      Hmm. Just get a generic toaster in a metal body, not a cheap plastic one. Then hook it across two phases. 380V rather than 230V. Glows nice and bright and the toast is done pleasingly quickly.

      1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

        Re: The best vinyl playback performance Linn has ever achieved

        Then hook it across two phases. 380V rather than 230V

        And watch that electricity meter spin baby!

        (Assuming you have a mechanical one like wot we does. Rather pleasing to see it going backwards when the PVs are dumping electricity back out to the grid.. Yes, yes, strictly speaking I should get a smart meter and do a proper outbound tarrif but they give you less than you pay per unit and, with the meter going backward, we are actually offsetting more than we'd get for an outward feed tariff).

        1. Fonant

          Re: The best vinyl playback performance Linn has ever achieved

          I like to think of it as "using the Grid as power storage".

  7. Michael Strorm Silver badge

    In pondering the question of whether it's worth *that* much, I keep getting annoyingly distracted by the vague recollection of a 1950s quiz show whose name I can't quite remember.

    I'm pretty sure it's "Double Your Money".

    1. Arthur the cat Silver badge
  8. hittitezombie

    Make sure you also purchase £5000 gold-plated, low-O2, directional audio cables, with the arrows pointing to the direction of electrons flowing (towards the speakers, of course, to be converted into sound waves).

    1. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge

      And don't forget your £3,500 Acrolink mains lead...

      1. Andy Non Silver badge

        Mains? No, no, no... it needs to come with a portable fusion powered generator with a dedicated super smooth electricity supply. None of this sharing of mains with your cheap and nasty fridge!

        1. that one in the corner Silver badge

          We take the freshest of deuterium nuclei, plucked from the morning dew on the Alpen grasslands, delicately swirled in a classically formed toroidal confinement chamber whose hand-polished curves accentuate the delicate purple hues of the all-natural plasma. Only the most dynamic and excited neutrons are collected in the fluffiest of thermal blankets, heating the organically sourced coolant, to provide the smoothest and most refreshing electron flow available today.

          This isn't just any fusion power, this is M&S fusion power.

          1. Paul Crawford Silver badge
            Gimp

            But if you are playing Venus in Furs it has to be the S&M fusion power.

        2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

          None of this sharing of mains with your cheap and nasty fridge!

          I'll have you know our cheap 1997-vintage fridge is still working fine! (It's a Beko - when we moved in 1997 our fridge-freezer unit wouldn't fit anywhere so we bought a new fridge and freezer. Beko were at the cheaper end and, if they only lasted a couple of years, it wouldn't matter if we had to replace them.

          Both are still chugging along. The fridge was struggling to get properly cold so we bought a replacement, moved the freezer out to the garage and run both fridges at the same time.

          Turns out that the old Beko, if not rammed full, actually still works fine. Because we don't entirely trust it, no meat gets put in that fridge. And the freezer is still relagated to the garage,

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Get a whole lot of them so you can link them in series back to the generator. It's the only way to be sure a noisy, distorting oxygen atom can't creep into the supply.

        1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

          Hmm, maybe there's a market for a filter to remove them before they get into the ring main?

          For that matter, perhaps I should patent unidirectional ring mains, to be sure that all the electrons flow in the same direction.

          1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
            Coat

            With of course properly aligned vampire taps...

            1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

              Properly aligned vampire taps...

              I don't want to get bitten every time I go to get a drink of water!

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            That's if you believe electricity is electron flow. ISTR reading that there have been experiments to prove that isn't the real situation when we get down to quantum theory. Besides most domestic electric mains are AC...

      3. 42656e4d203239 Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Always wondered why Audiophiles don't use offline batteries for their power needs... especially as the price of lithium cells keeps descending (rare earth metal markets not withstanding).

        With competent design you can get any voltage you may require out of a battery pack so why bother with all this mains malarky (and associated hum)?

        1. MrBanana

          My Crimson Elektrik 610 pre-amp from the mid 1980s was originally powered with a pair of hefty PP9 lamp batteries. Later, they were powered from the matching power amp, or from an external wallwart. Certainly the noise floor seemed to be lower on battery power.

        2. Neil Barnes Silver badge

          Batteries are fine as they are; if you want them to provide some other voltage they are in general either noisy or inefficient or both.

        3. Stork

          I think I read a story about that back in the 80es, someone buying a pile of lead/acid batteries to power his stereo. And charging them when they didn’t.

    2. A Non e-mouse Silver badge
      FAIL

      I could never work out why a cable carying AC electricity has "direction".

      1. Anonymous Coward Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Because otherwise the connectors will probably be the wrong gender.

      2. MJI Silver badge

        one end kettle like, other end BS1363

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Maybe not.

    If I were ever to return to vinyl it would be with a Technics SL200MK II if I can get hold of an original one in good nick. Its direct drive was one of the better designs out there, stable by design and so much oompf that it got up to speed in at most 120º of a turn. Belt drives tend to demand a serious table mass to camouflage irregulaties in drive spindle, belt wheel or the belt itself.

    That said, it had many imitations so it may be possible to pick up a more recent incarnation at a sane price..

    .. but I'm quite happy with CDs :).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Maybe not.

      I've got some old vinyl with no digital equivalent, so every now and again I think I must buy some sort of reasonable-spec turntable, even if only to digitise. I have a vague look around, hum and haw about prices, wonder whether anything I might buy is worthwhile, then shelve the idea. Again. Is there any sort of worthwhile turntable in the £200-300 range? I don't want to buy something crappy, but then I'm not any kind of mad audiophile either...

      1. Intractable Potsherd

        Re: Maybe not.

        I'm in the same quandary.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Maybe not.

          Get together and do a time share on a decent device?

          :)

        2. werdsmith Silver badge

          Re: Maybe not.

          Me also, I have four vinyl albums I want on my phone and I want a turntable to digitise them. Looking for recommendations.

          I will probably do the job and immediately resell the turntable.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Where do you live?

            I'm not sure that I am into selling it but I have a Rega Planar (2?) in the loft that I might consider loaning out (FOC)

            It cost about £200 in the late 70's.

            1. Anon

              Re: Where do you live?

              It'll need a new belt by now, and probably also the rubber suspension band that holds the motor will need to be replaced, if my Planar 3 from the 80s is anything to go by. New belts/bands are cheap. Careful of the screws: they are only plastic. Oh, and have a look at the capacitor too—they used those infamous RIFA ones. A safe replacement one is cheap from RS.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Maybe not.

        Are there any sane audiophiles?

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Maybe not.

          Yes, the ones with systems which they can afford and enjoy using for the music.

          (OK my amp was £500 and my front speakers around £450, and they are over 20 years old)

          1. Already?

            Re: Maybe not.

            “Yes, the ones with systems which they can afford and enjoy using for the music.“

            That’ll be most of us then. Very few ‘audiophiles' sink themselves into debt to buy a decent system, more often (from forums I’ve been on) it’s a combination of getting to the stage where the kids have left, mortgage is paid and the career has gone well enough to provide a comfortable existence, and the desire to improve the music system meets a surplus of cash. What else should we spend it on? My sister (also nr retirement age) is away on her 3rd holiday this year tomorrow, on top of their numerous weekend breaks. Who’s right? Her doing that with [apparently] nothing to show for it, or me with a little stack of Naim boxes on Fraim shelves and nice speakers sitting in the living room? It’s taken a few years of part ex, pre-owned and the simple ‘what’s your best price?' deals to get here and I wouldn’t care to guess the actual cost, but I f I walked into a dealers tomorrow to buy it all again it’d be the cost of a very a decent car to do it. But the enjoyment factor? Off the scale esp when the house is empty and you get into a flow picking and ordering tracks to build a mood, in awesome quality. I’d recommend it.

      3. Joe W Silver badge

        Re: Maybe not.

        Look at some of the record players techmoan had a closer look at - there was a bunch at your price point.

      4. khjohansen

        Re: Maybe not.

        I'd look at the Technics SL-BD2X(X) series or there abouts (USED) - plentiful & "young" enough that it should be possible to find one that hasn't been worn to bits

      5. dinsdale54

        Re: Maybe not.

        Get a second hand Thorens TD150/TD160. Should be possible at that price.

        If you also spend a bit more for a better arm then you effecively have a Linn Sondek with at least one zero missing from the price.

        I ripped all my remaining vinyl and sold my TD150 to a mate so he could do the same thing.

        1. Eclectic Man Silver badge

          Re: Maybe not.

          I actually have a 40 year old Thorens TD105 Mk2 (not for sale). Nice to know it is recommended. Not used it for a while, though. How is it effectively a Linn Sondek?

    2. Andy The Hat Silver badge

      Re: Maybe not.

      Belt drive requires a large mass to damp any oscillations (the level of which are dependent on bearings, motor and belt), direct drive require high frequency drives and decent feedback to prevent oscillations (the level of which are dependent on bearings, motor and control board). The argument is roughly equivalent to whether a linear or switched mode power supply is better in an amp ... Eventually you open your wallet and become a fanbois ...

    3. MJI Silver badge

      Re: Maybe not.

      Same here. My cheapy TT has failed and I have about 20 LPs still.

      I use a DVD player now for CD as it is pretty good for CD. It is a Pioneer.

    4. MonsieurAardvark

      Re: Maybe not.

      *looks up and to the left*

      SL-J300R

      Agrees

  10. sebacoustic
    Coat

    Plywood

    Also known as "Orthogonal layers of beech placed under extreme pressure" by certain kind of suckers.

    1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

      Re: Plywood

      Yup, aka plywood. I don't get that. If the objective is mass, why not make it out of tungsten? Or depleted uranium? Ok, audiophiles may have reservations about that, or could mebbe spin it as helping reduce static.

      Seems like a case of style over substance, like much in the audiophile world.

      1. DJO Silver badge

        Re: Plywood

        If the objective is mass...

        Concrete works really well here and is easy to form into odd shapes. Only favoured by dedicated fans of industrial design though.

        1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

          Re: Plywood

          Concrete works really well here and is easy to form into odd shapes. Only favoured by dedicated fans of industrial design though.

          I think Linn needs to hire more engineers. Or even marketing types to extol the virtues of concrete. Or they'll lose market share once lunar materials can be exploited and I can launch a turntable made out of lunacrete. The properties of that one still intrigue me since diving into the dual realms of off-world colonies and concrete properties. NASA publishes some fascinating research on that, and how lunarcrete could be interesting given the 'sand' can be very fine and unweathered. But given my limited knowledge of materials and the claims made, I'm really curious why plywood would be considered better than alternatives.

          1. DJO Silver badge

            Re: Plywood

            I'm really curious why plywood would be considered better than alternatives.

            Solid wood can have knots, voids and imperfections, plywood does not, at least not to a significant extent. As for other materials, hard metals can have too much resonance (there are cast iron plinths available so I suppose it's not an unsurmountable problem) and soft metals are, well, too soft, glass has been used and can perform well, plastics tend to be a bit on the grotty side and lumps of rock are good but difficult to work.

            Also plywood is cheap and easy to work.

            1. DJO Silver badge

              Re: Plywood

              Found this cast iron plinth, no idea how much it costs but it's very pretty if you like that sort of thing.

              https://oswaldsmillaudio.com/sp10-plinth-system

            2. FatGerman

              Re: Plywood

              Plywood is a really good structural material. It's equally strong in all directions and it tends not to resonate or warp. This is why it's used in construction and is definitely a good choice for something that needs damping.

              But you can't sell a 50 grand turntable and tell people it's made of plywood, because people associate that with "cheap", so you have to resort to marketing bollocks. Which is a shame.

        2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

          Re: Plywood

          Concrete works really well here and is easy to form into odd shapes

          Had a friend who had some 1960's era homebuild speakers with a massive lump of concrete in the bottom of each speaker..

        3. Mike 137 Silver badge

          Re: Plywood

          "Concrete works really well here"

          G. A. Briggs (founder of Wharfdale Wireless Works) described a brick speaker enclosure to be built into the corner of the room, stating "the characteristics of the brick front are practically perfect...".1

          1: G. A. briggs, Sound Reproduction, pub. Wharfdale Wireless Works 1953, pp103-105

          .

    2. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: Plywood

      "Hyperbarically fused laminate of cross-linked polylignols in an organic polyglucose matrix, optimised by Nature over millions of years."

    3. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Plywood

      But, but, artisanal!

    4. mikecoppicegreen

      Re: Plywood

      Came here to say this!

    5. steelpillow Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Plywood

      This is not ordinary plywood, this is compressed super-dense M&S plywood. More remarkably, contrary to the claim, it is nothing new. These compressed laminated woods were used extensively in the late 1930 and early stages of WWII for aircraft propellers; the Mk. ! Spitfires had them for a start. The debate over metal vs compressed wood propellers raged as fiercely as which kind of guns to fit. Some nations, such as Russia, used them extensively for many a whole aeroplane. One trusts that Linn have the sense to resin-impregnate the stuff, like everybody else does.

      A big advantage of this material is its lack of resonance, it naturally damps out any vibrations, while metals can resonate and start to vibrate wildly.

      Back to HiFi record decks and the advantage is clear. Other good materials for this application include dense, hard rocks such as marble or granite. But these are less easy to machine without chipping the odd bit off, of more variable consistency, and you get failure rates where you cut into an internal flaw.

      So this is probably the only bit of the whole shebang that is not purest audiophile-shit.

  11. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Lack of internet connection is a premium feature

    $299, and it doesn't even connect to the internet.

    The internet connected version only costs £199, but it only works if it can monitor your internet activity continuously. When its motion sensor detects you it shouts 'relevant' adverts at you which you can shut off for £9.99/month - until the price goes up.

  12. JulieM Silver badge
    Joke

    Obligatory joke

    Q. What do you call a belt-drive turntable fitted with a crystal cartridge?

    A. A waste of a good crystal cartridge.

  13. martinusher Silver badge

    I'll wait for the $199 Chinese knockoff to come out

    It will be almost as good, maybe equally as good. There really isn't a whole lot you can re-engineer in a record player. The cartridge, maybe (I notice that this unit doesn't come with one....surprising nobody's noticed). The preamplifier is now routine -- a decent design does make a noticeable difference but there's no need to skip on the design any more to cut costs. The rest is cosmetic.

    BTW -- Sorry to say this but FLAC beats legacy analog media. Once you've got a decent file then that's it -- no wear and tear, just perfect sound forever. Recording vinyl is just a matter of a decent preamplifier, a decent A2D encoder and a bit of signal processing to remove mechanical artifacts from the recording. (...and, yes, I've got legacy hi-fi equipment, up to date hi-fi equipment etc etc etc -- however you slice and dice it its just low frequency these days -- you've got to make everything 'bespoke' to differentiate it!)

    1. katrinab Silver badge
      Megaphone

      Re: I'll wait for the $199 Chinese knockoff to come out

      Never mind FLAC, 128k mp3s from your 1990s Napster collection beat vinyl. It might not beat a decent reel-reel tape recorder, but yes FLAC definitely would beat that, as would 256k acc.

      1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

        Re: I'll wait for the $199 Chinese knockoff to come out

        Concrete works really well here and is easy to form into odd shapes

        Ahhh.. Napster. I used it to discover lots of Prog bands that I'd never heard of before. And then spent lots of money on CDs (which I promptly ripped at high VBR rates, made sure that they MP3 tags were done properly to suit my slightly anal nature and then deleted the Napster downloads.). I've still got a lot of MP3's from that era.

        I mostly use Apple iTunes store now - but make damn sure that everything in my library is backed up in several places just in case Apple does something silly again (U2 album springs to mind - I've never knowing bought any of their output so was slightly miffed when Apple foisted it on me..).

    2. steelpillow Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: I'll wait for the $199 Chinese knockoff to come out

      Not if it connects to the Internet, I won't. I don't want those Chinese spooks pwning it and playing all my John-Lennon-backwards conspiracies forwards!

  14. heyrick Silver badge

    So, how is it driven?

    Maybe I missed it in the article and/or site. Are we looking at a belt drive here (ugh), or (given the price) some sort of epic fancy direct drive stepper motor that will run at so exactly the right speed you can use it to calibrate your strobe (rather than the other way around)?

    1. martinusher Silver badge

      Re: So, how is it driven?

      They're surprisingly reticent about the drive mechanism. I thought the original LP12 used a belt drive because the combination of an elastic belt and heavy turntable provided considerable damping between the drive motor and the turntable proper. Direct drive is one of those things that sounds cool but is going to cause both electrical and mechanical isolation problems.

      The thing is, technology's moved on so much in the last 40 years or so that designing something to rotate at a constant rate is now too easy. It should be possible to get the angular speed so precise that both the record and the mastering system that made it are going to seem a bit wobbly. (Note -- measuring angular velocity is actually quite tricky but only if you're trying to track varying speeds in a servomotor system or similar; for a constant speed device like a turntable the problem really is trivial.)

      BTW -- I've never trusted their tonearm. I think the 9" SME has never been bettered; its a bit inconvenient with all the weights and stuff but it tracks well. Of course, these days we could actively track the grooves -- just take a picture of the record and play it from the picture maybe, it just lacks the "je ne sais quoi" of an authentic turntable.

  15. Martin Howe

    Best known for audio? Not if you're a computer architect :)

    "... and is best known for the Sondek LP12 turntable." Among audiophiles I'm sure it is; but surely for Regizens, what with us being IT geeks and all, I'd say the Rekursiv microprocessor would be well known. I mean, if it wasn't for that, I'd have never heard of Linn. Mine's the cheap Sanyo boombox and the drawer full of Motörhead tapes.

    1. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: Best known for audio? Not if you're a computer architect :)

      I've heard of Linn - made the world's first digital drum machine. Not sure what all this crap about turntables has to do with him.

      1. R Soul Silver badge

        Re: Best known for audio? Not if you're a computer architect :)

        Well I'm not sure what an obscure piece of 90's electronics has to do with a company that makes gramophones and was named after a district of Glasgow.

        1. F. Frederick Skitty Silver badge

          Re: Best known for audio? Not if you're a computer architect :)

          80's technology, and hardly obscure. The LinnDrum LM2 in particular was all over recordings by a vast array of artists. I'd suspect more people have heard of Roger Linn (pretty much anyone involved in electronic music) versus the purveyor of an overpriced record deck.

  16. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Happy

    More money in music these days and far fewer groups

    When we were buying 45's and LP's then the artists made money and the companies helping made the records did well too - both working (and smoking) together in those days but today we have a lot of bands (e.g Captain Ska on Bandcamp) trying to make a little income from their music. Remember the days when Disraeli Gears appeared and was a huge hit and Dark Side Of The Moon appeared ... it was so fantastic that we all listened to the music and bought the albums (I still have mine and am plying them) ... everyone LOVED music back then (us and the musicians too) ... I remember buying Dark Side Of The Moon the day it was released and opening the windows in my friend's Oriel College room on the top floor, putting the speakers out and playing it to everyone that night. We all had a great time, smoking together, happy together, and loving the new album, but these days people only comment on Social Media. I'm still playing all my albums that I brought originally, it's so much nicer memories for me ... listening to the groups and remembering listening to the records with my friends and sharing a little roll of puffs. Back then "social media" was just happy people sharing puffs with each other, never any bad comments about anything, or even the politicians (they might have been shitty but music was so much better).

    OK, I'm old and eventually I hope to be eventually talking with Brendan Behan about his quotes with minor updates that define today, "It's not that Social Media is cynical. It's rather that Social Media has a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody." ... Brendan loved music too.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

      Fewer groups? You must be kidding, there's 100+ new ones a day.

      I don't care to ever again hear oldies like Led Zeppline, ACDC, Metallica or whatever. I hope you're not depending on radio FM to hear new music... dear lord. I remember ~35 years ago when the Jacor president said he'd always see to it that more songs from the current year were played than any other year(s) combined. Guess how true that was... shoot the radio.

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

        Ta - you've reminded me to pick up those Led Zeppelin albums (I'm slowly gathering the stuff that I used to listen to friends' copies off, when we were living closer).

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. DJO Silver badge

      Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

      Every era produces good and bad music, you just don't know which is which until about 20 years down the line.

      Yes "back in the day" there was Led Zep, Floyd et al, there was also tonnes of unmitigated crap that we have thankfully forgotten.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

        there was also tonnes of unmitigated crap that we have thankfully forgotten

        YMCA? Funky Town?

        (evil grin)

        1. DJO Silver badge

          Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

          Oh no, far worse than that. Consider 1975: the best selling singles in the UK included at #4Queen with Bohemian Rhapsody, #14 David Bowie with Space Oddity - well that doesn't seem too bad until you look at the rest, #1 selling single in UK 1975 (cue drum roll) was, The Bay City Rollers with Bye Bye Baby the next was OK if you like that sort of thing (I don't) Rod Stewart with Sailing, rolling in at #3 was Windsor Davies & Don Estelle with Whispering Grass.

          And it just get's worse, lots more Bay City Rollers, about as much miscellaneous Osmonds some Sweet and so on. Nasty.

          1. Already?

            Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

            Whispering Grass is superb. Don Estelle had a magical voice and had been a singer in an earlier life. It’s also from a time when records were made to sound great. I was playing this the other night on the hifi - Don and Windsor Davies' voices have a brilliant presence. Don’t knock it. :)

        2. that one in the corner Silver badge

          Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

          Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba tweet tweet tweet

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: More money in music these days and far fewer groups

          "Oh superman"? That was a truly horrific waste of vinyl.

  17. Natalie Gritpants Jr

    "orthogonal layers of beech placed under extreme pressure"

    Pah! - that's just plywood, I'm renovating my gables and am replacing the split and rotten pine with Tricoya. It's guaranteed for 25 years in the ground without any protection. At £300 per 2.4x1.2 m sheet it's a bit pricey, but I'm planning on not going up there again. It's very un-resonant when you tap it. I might build a speaker cabinet out of the offcuts.

    1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: "orthogonal layers of beech placed under extreme pressure"

      £100 per m², and you have offcuts?

      1. R Soul Silver badge

        Re: "orthogonal layers of beech placed under extreme pressure"

        No you know why this piece of overhyped tat costs $60k.

  18. bofh1961

    Snap, crackle and pop...

    Can easily be recreated in the digital world by using a cheap external sound card that doesn't have any shielding, placed close to a laptop/phone charger. Replicating the warmth of vinyl is even cheaper with a FOSS sound editor.

    1. Len
      Happy

      Re: Snap, crackle and pop...

      Don't forget to put a resistor between left and right channels to create some crosstalk, add a 50Hz hum (60 for muricans), a bit of rumble, and a 16KHz low-pass roll-off filter.

  19. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Most sense I have heard from a vynil collector

    The records are things to hold, look at and financially support the musicians. He does not actually play them. FLACs are more convenient, sound better and last longer.

    I prefer the absence of junk cluttering up the house but there is plenty of room on the planet for people with a different opinion. As for the turntable: not enough eagles.

    1. martinusher Silver badge

      Re: Most sense I have heard from a vynil collector

      (If the truth be told -- and I'm going back a few years (decades?) -- the overriding advantage of an LP over any other form of recorded music is you can roll a joint on an LP cover.)

    2. David 132 Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Most sense I have heard from a vynil collector

      > As for the turntable: not enough eagles.

      Is that a sly Futurama reference I behold?

    3. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: Most sense I have heard from a vynil collector

      I prefer the sound from vinyl. My set up involves a bluetooth receiver which plugs in to the music center's AUX port. So I use my record player to stream music through it.

      Thing is, the vinyl album sounds different to the Spotify version. The Spotify albums are also tinkered with. Sammy Hagar's "Standing Hampton" is ordered differently on Spotify compared to the record, and sounds different (note: not cleaner, different). Same with the Brian May stuff he's re-releasing.

      Vinyl records, and I suppose CDs and cassettes too, are a snapshot of a musician's work in a specific time period. Its how they wanted it to be heard. Spotify, while shafting the artist, also allows the artist to change the record so it's not the same as it was when released.

      For me, Spotify exists to listen to a record to see if I like it. If I like it enough, it gets bought on vinyl. If it's new vinyl then I download the MP3/FLAC for it, if it's not then I'll get the CD.

      1. shade82000

        Re: Most sense I have heard from a vynil collector

        I also prefer sound from vinyl. Not claiming it's better or worse, just a different sound and a different experience. I've seen claims that "vinyl is mastered differently without using compression/normalisation etc." Definitely not a valid claim for every album but I certainly have some albums where the quiet bits are quiet and loud bits are loud, vs. the cd or streaming equivalent where every instrument is just a sea of same-volume noise. Probably not an issue with recent music that was produced digitally and meant to sound like that, but a lot of older tracks sound weird on streaming services, when I have 30 years knowledge of how they should sound.

        Also playing vinyl is a whole experience, I like it much more than a digital playlist because I can appreciate the art, and having to turn it over halfway through is more engaging and an appreciation of the old technology.

        I generally listen to a streaming service outside the house. When I find an album I like, I still buy it on CD. A few albums make it to my list of all time favourites and I buy them on vinyl if available. Even then I have albums from modern bands that are still obviously mastered differently on vinyl and not normalised.

        I only have a £150 Audio Technica turntable and a tiny valve pre-amp, but it sounds really nice through my old Arcam AVR350 and MA RS-8 speakers.

  20. upsidedowncreature

    “ orthogonal layers of beech placed under extreme pressure to create an entirely new, solid and massive material”

    Plywood, then.

    Edit: I should have read the comments first, I see this observation has already been well made.

  21. Catkin Silver badge

    I love those AM5 amps (in the author's photo), I snag as many as I can for when I'm setting a friend up with their first system. They're just new enough that the caps don't leak like the earlier A series CA amps and, unlike the later Azurs, don't have a protection circuit that goes overly sensitive. The one thing I would say is to get those speakers on a separate piece of furniture from the turntable to prevent feedback or stick a paving slab under the mini stand to add some mass.

  22. tekHedd

    Your $500 pro-ject

    There are three classes of turntable:

    - Sub-$150 junk

    - Midrange: Anything from $150-1000 - if you spent more than $200 you got ripped off

    - Audiophile: Anything over $1000 - if you spent more than $1000 you got ripped off

  23. Mitoo Bobsworth

    Surprisingly orthodox for Jony

    I would have at least expected it to be in the shape of a birdbath or a toaster - anything but the conventional.

    1. that one in the corner Silver badge

      Re: Surprisingly orthodox for Jony

      You are not getting the full effect from just the images on the web.

      To enjoy it as Ives intends, the LP12-50 must be placed upon a perfectly flat and level surface, alongside an original LP12. They must be set at an angle of precisely 3.6 degrees from each other and 2.78 inches apart. Arrange your amp and speakers so that the stereo sweet spot is exactly on the line separating the two decks and no more than seven feet away. As you listen to an LP on the new model, defocus your eyes as though looking at a 3D magic image and let the two machines merge into a single form: hold onto this for the first two thirds of the side.

      You will now see the subtle differences between the two as a ghostly shimmering, fading in and out of your reality as the rotating LP on one side captures your attention and then releases it again. The newer, more rounded, corners will float before you, pulsating gently. The drift of the tone arm will send colours you have never seen before into your consciousness as the migraine slowly builds.

      As the room darkens around you and your vision draws in on itself, the last thing you will observe is the true beauty of this new form sculpted, as only Jony can, from the obsolete forms of yesteryear.

      1. Mitoo Bobsworth

        Re: Surprisingly orthodox for Jony

        Now THAT'S the Jony Ive flannel I remember.

    2. Martin an gof Silver badge

      Re: Surprisingly orthodox for Jony

      I would have at least expected it to be in the shape of a birdbath or a toaster

      But from the article:

      LoveFrom has applied their design expertise to the new, precision-machined power/speed control button and hinges

      So he didn't actually do very much at all?

      M.

      1. martinusher Silver badge

        Re: Surprisingly orthodox for Jony

        People don't "precision machine" things like that these days. They print them.

  24. BenDwire Silver badge

    Dust?

    I'm amazed at how similar techie people's workspaces are. I too have a turntable next to my desk, a big amp and big speakers behind me, but unfortunately my office is way dustier than the Vulture's nest pictured. At least my guitar and effects pedels are in a different room ...

    But getting out of a bean bag at my age? Forget it.

    1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: Dust?

      But getting out of a bean bag at my age? Forget it.

      My dog manages it fine! But then she only (estimated cos rescue) 3..

  25. ecofeco Silver badge

    Ah! The perfect addition...

    ... to your hand crafted artisanal firewood!

    Both to be admired while sipping on your Juicero!

    1. cageordie

      Re: Ah! The perfect addition...

      I was in the office above Juicero when they were in the Googleplex. I was working on a 70GB/s flash array. We met one of their people as we went out to lunch one day and she told us about the product and the backing they had. We were polite and didn't laugh in her face. Anyway, can't complain about startups, they got me the house I'm in how. And out of the Bay Area.

  26. Already?

    Well. I chanced on this article looking for a Who Me.

    It’s a given that anything that vaguely references audio will attract the snide and the sarky, and lo - all are here. Dismissive posts about mains, about anything over £1k being wasted, how digital files aren’t up to it. And so on.

    If you want to brag about how you’ve never sat in front of a serious hifi this is your chance. And not just sat for 5 minutes through half of Comfortably Numb and got bored before you wandered off. Maybe you should have made it a hobby. Wife apart and Leicester unexpectedly winning the Premier League the other year, there’s not much to beat being left alone with a serious stereo and a NAS full of your own favourite music plus a Qobuz hi-res account. And a bottle of nice wine.

    Flac files beat any vinyl. Mains cables do make a difference. Better interconnects and speaker cables change the sound. Directional? Maybe not…

    But being in front of a seriously good streamer that goes into a magnificent preamp then a chuffing excellent power amp and out into a pair of tremendous speakers isn’t to be sniffed at, especially when the upgraded mains cables improved things for each box. Honestly, the sound is magnificent. Not just quite good or 'nice bass', but genuinely fabulous. It’s why I’m still up at quarter to three.

    If your baseline is £899 worth of Richer Sounds' finest, fill yer boots. If you’ve arrived at the top end of a specialist audio manufacturer’s range, it all looks (and sounds) a bit different. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

    1. Martin an gof Silver badge

      Flac files beat any vinyl.

      I'll give you that.

      Mains cables do make a difference

      Nope. There is so much else going on with mains supply to your HiFi that four feet of "audiophile grade" mains cable isn't going to make any difference at all. Mains cable is already 99.99% (or whatever) pure Copper (as is the wiring in your walls), mains flexes are already stranded (if you're worried about things like that) but the mains wiring in your wall is solid. Mains flexes (certainly the 3-core types) are twisted, but the wiring in your wall isn't. You might get some benefit from a "filtered" mains strip, but any decent power supply in your kit will already have more filtering than you can imagine.

      Better interconnects and speaker cables change the sound

      I'd turn that around; worse interconnects and speaker cables change the sound, but who on earth is wiring their kit up with bell-wire these days? Anything better than that is good enough, and anything costing more than £10 a meter (arguably £5) is snake oil. I used to wire professional studios using 2.5mm² mains flex to the speakers. The "golden eared" brigade thought it sounded wonderful. Then again, all the "interconnects" were balanced and on proper Neutrik XLRs or jacks, not phono connectors.

      Directional? Maybe not…

      It's alternating current for heaven's sake! "Directional" has nothing to do with it.

      If your baseline is £899 worth of Richer Sounds' finest, fill yer boots

      My baseline has always been £300 of Richer Sounds' finest, but I see that the Cambridge AM5 is no longer available which rather raises the baseline :-/

      M.

      1. Already?

        Mains cables

        Thought this item had died a death but a couple of days later it’s still prominent, and I see a couple of posts busily dismissing mains cable upgrades in response to my late night views.

        You’re probably right in what you say about the wire not making any difference. I have Naim gear and their mains cable upgrade is called the Powerline. It uses bog standard 3 core cable, but Naim don’t make claims for the wire, their claims are for the mechanical properties of the mains plug at one end - for which they don’t claim much at all tbh - and their own version of the kettle plug at the other. The two key claims are the firm mechanical clamping action of its prongs onto the pins in the socket on the back of the receiving box, and the isolation of vibration incurred by 240V AC. Naim are big into mains power with most of their top line kit being two boxes; a separate power supply and the main unit - streamer, pre amp, power amp.

        The biggest upgrade most Naim owners find is installing a separate mains for it, taking a parallel feed from the meter to a new CU running to dedicated wall sockets avoiding the radial that feeds fridges, freezers, the boiler and everything else. That’s next for mine, given how much it improves late at night when the house is asleep.

        Just to add, a huge amount of the comments on this thread confirm what I suggested in my first post - that too many people have never experienced sitting in front of a decent stereo and don’t grasp a) how absolutely magnificent top-line hifi can sound, and b) how apparently tiny differences can have such an impact on the sound, differences that with the best will in the world a £299 one-box stereo from Curry’s with its flimsy 3” drivers in a stapled together box but described as 'hifi', isn’t going to deliver.

        To the guy laughing at changes in soundstage, it’s where the speakers effectively disappear and the music becomes a 3D image with height depth and width. That’s what can change with different speaker cables and different combinations of source and amplification where the one constant is the choice of speakers.

    2. Catkin Silver badge

      I agree that you can get a noticeable improvement over £1k all in or even £1k on speakers alone but have better power cables (beyond something that's patently defective) ever been shown to demonstrate a measured or double blind identified improvement? Similarly, for the speaker cables, beyond getting thicker copper (more strands to avoid HF loss rather than just a thicker conductor) on longer runs has an advantage ever been demonstrated?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        > more strands to avoid HF loss rather than just a thicker conductor

        Nope. Skin depth at audio frequencies is something close to 1cm, if you're running speaker power that needs that then I pity your neighbours.

        1. Catkin Silver badge

          I checked, it's about half a millimetre at 20kHz.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Sorry, I meant to say 1mm, not 1cm. 1mm dia copper cable is good for 1kW, if you're near that at 20kHz I still don't want to be your neighbour.

            1. Catkin Silver badge

              Melting isn't the issue, it's the frequency-dependent resistance presented by most speakers. Introduce an interplay between that and the cable and you'll alter the frequency-response (irrespective of volume). This is also why a thinner cable is more acceptable for a shorter run.

              For reference, you should be considering amps (unit, not the component) for a conductor, not Watts. For example, if you're feeding 676W into a 4 ohm load (overkill, I realise), that's 52V, 13A. The same current as a conductor would experience at 240V and 3kW. Obviously, you should also consider the breakdown voltage of any insulators too since, on both counts, house fires aren't too neighbourly.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > Mains cables do make a difference.

      Only insofar as not having one can limit the volume.

    4. tiggity Silver badge

      I have heard some amazing setups in "proper" hi-fi shops (most of those shops no longer exist) of stuff I could not afford.

      I was always on a budget with sound kit as other things were more important in life (& still are - happy with music sound that is "good enough" - especially now I'm getting older and hearing decline is noticeable (probably not helped by attending many loud gigs, including some of the bands that have had "loudest ever" status (though that's a very arguable thing)) and differences I could easily detect decades ago would probably not register now ).

      Back then if you were buying an affordable turntable the best "bang for buck" vinyl sound improvements you could get (assuming decent amplification setup, speakers & good quality speaker cable) were a decent tonearm (if turntable supported a choice of tonearm), cartridge & stylus - makes a huge difference (& can have a surprisingly big impact on the sound, especially cartridge - can be a compromise choice depending on what type of music you most listen to)

  27. Tim99 Silver badge

    Probably "Not a good investment"

    But, back in 1975, Mrs Tim99 bought us one of the first LP12s wth a neon mains switch. Including the arm and cartridge, it was expensive at about £250. We listened to it a lot. For some of the time we didn't have a TV - Partly because we were "too busy". I had to sell it 25 years later after a serious car accident meant that I couldn't drive it properly (After spending an insane amount, trying to get everything else that was audio related up to a similar "standard"). The good news was it still sounded more pleasant to us than an upmarket CD player; and the better news was that we managed to sell it for quite a lot of money.

    These days our hearing is shot - The "HiFi" is a AU$300 stereo pair of Apple HomePod minis, which are fine...

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    LP covers and gatefold lyrics

    The kids today, they are really missing out.

  29. cageordie

    It's not a Thorens Reference

    So... just another great way of taking money from fools who don't mind surface noise and think they have 'discovered' a better way to listen to music. Been there, done that. Went digital and would never go back. Save me the BS.

    1. C-Clef

      Re: It's not a Thorens Reference

      Ah! Thorens.

      Back in the days of vinyl (now long superseded) I owned a TD125 mk ii. It beat the LP12 (which is cheaply based on Thorens subchassis design) in terms of clarity and bass extension without any doubt.

      It was sold off more than ten years ago for a good quality Arcam CD player and a REL Storm 3 sub woofer.

      1. Tim99 Silver badge

        Re: It's not a Thorens Reference

        Both the Thorens and the Linn (and the Ariston) came from the Acoustic Research XA from 1961…

        1. C-Clef

          Re: It's not a Thorens Reference

          My understanding was that the Thorens turntables were initially developed, starting around 1957, at St. Croix in Switzerland. The first commercial player being the TD124. Thorens were building cutting machines starting in the 1940's - at least, according to their on-line history.

  30. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    Tonal?

    The only legitimate reason to use a record today is that it imparts a unique tonal quality that you like. Will a Jony Ive player do that? I doubt it. Photos of the LP12-50 on the web site suffer from low quality digital upsampling so we're off to a bad start.

    I'm glad I can get by with FLAC. (Played from solid state storage so the drives don't skip crash on the bass)

  31. Anthony N

    Hmmmm

    We're not provided with any tech details and I don't think this product is worth the time searching. The first thing that hits is the tone arm. I can't see any means of ensuring full dynamic balancing for starters. Quite unlike the 1x SME Mk I and 2x MkII arms I bought about 60 years ago. I wonder how the turntable is driven, by "rubber band" or pulley? What design steps have been implemented to minimise motor noise? How is the turntable frame isolated from its mounting box? I suspect without proof that this item would be accurately reproduce the footsteps of the user walking around it.Nothing about the quality of the pickup cartridge and stylus type.

    Far better product and huge savings made by obtaining a Garrard 301 and Mk II SME arm and Shure 15 cartridge from eBay. Parts for these are STILL being manufactured 60 years later and a total refurbishment of the 301 possible very cheaply.

    The cost of this offering is just nuts and suggests that there are some very wealthy audiophiles out there with more money than sense. After they purchase 1 or more of these things it's comforting to think they'll have less money than sense.

    1. JulieM Silver badge

      Re: Hmmmm

      Ah, yes, the Garrard 301. That does have rubber between the motor and the platter, but at least it's squashed, not stretched.

      Someone should make a new idler-driven turntable. They could even make an updated version of the Collaro "Conquest" changer, with its theatrical trick of measuring the record by raising the tonearm and bumping the it against the edge of the stack (and then maybe it could even do a second pass using an optical sensor to locate the breaks between tracks). Motors are cheap enough now for it to be worth using a separate one (or more?) to power the change cycle.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dieter Rams

    Say no more

  33. Herring` Silver badge

    Plan

    Buy one, then use it to play your records getting the "amazing" sound. Record that and convert to MP3 then sell the turntable. Then you get the benefit of the sound without laying out.

  34. AndyMTB

    I bet it still jumps...

    ..when the kids "dance" (bounce up and down) on the lounge's wooden floor.

    Yes, I know it should be attached directly to the wall but not all of us live alone.

    1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: I bet it still jumps...

      Yes, I know it should be attached directly to the wall but not all of us live alone.

      I still have an LP with a big scratch across it from when our then male (7kg+) cat tried to bat at the tone arm (despite the cover over the turntable - int was very much his dump stat) and knocked the turntable sideways.

      I miss that cat. *Really* laid back unless someone foolishly gave him catnip..

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    mugs eyeful

    I like this stuff but its really only for people with too much money. If you join in you are a bit of a mug when something for a few hundred quid will be fine.

  36. Zimmer
    Happy

    Never mind the turntable......

    ...... what Gibson have you got hiding in that case in the corner? (far more interesting than a turntable)..

    1. Excellentsword (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Never mind the turntable......

      Hi! It's a Firebird Studio. I don't think I like it very much but it has been my main and then only ax for almost two decades, I think. I grew up and had a family so it's been sorely neglected (as have any skills I might have once had), but the kids are now saying they want to play so it might come out this weekend if I can restring it.

  37. mmonroe

    78s

    It doesn't look like you can turn the needle over to play 78s. My old 1960s portable turntable can.

    1. Martin an gof Silver badge

      Re: 78s

      My dad has a still-working "Murphy" turntable & integrated (mono, but with stereo capability) valve amp. It's a bit quiet and some of the pots are a bit crackly, but it sounds quite good for all that and it plays 78s on one side of the needle, and 45, 33¹/₃ and 16²/₃ on the other side. He even had some of the slow records at one point but they seem to have disappeared over the years. He's most cross about having to sell his 'original' Glenn Miller records in the 1960s. No idea how or when he got them as he was still in school during the 1940s but it's the one thing he really regrets doing back then.

      M.

  38. dt545

    >> It's alternating current for heaven's sake! "Directional" has nothing to do with it.

    It's best to double up all the cabling, one set for the positive-going peaks, and a reversed set for the negatives.

  39. renniks

    Don't forget to seperate the floor that the turntable rests on from the rest of the house, with its own foundation!

    Also, what about the power cables that feed supply to the house itself...?

    Factor in the age of the listener, and the fact that your ability to hear top end frequency decreases with age

    Audiophile hifi is a perfect example of the law of diminishing returns, if ever there was one.

    1. Martin an gof Silver badge

      Don't forget to seperate the floor that the turntable rests on from the rest of the house, with its own foundation!

      You mock, but that's more-or-less how the studios were built at the radio station I worked for. The actual studio boxes (through the airlock, behind the triple-glazed, angled-pane windows) were separated from the rest of the building by brick pillars down to their own "foundations" if you like, lumps of neoprene on top of those and a cast concrete* floor slab on top of the neoprene. In the AM studio (where even in the late 1990s we played quite a lot of vinyl), the original IBA grade turntables (sorry, really can't remember the models) were on concrete paving slabs, on wooden plinths filled with sand, on another concrete paver, on the concrete floor slab.

      In the FM studio, by the end, it was mostly SL1200 or SL1200 mkII on the sidepods.

      M.

      *the floor was a solid slab but the walls and roof were an odd concrete / chicken wire / straw mix which was somewhat awkward to drill, if you had to

    2. Already?

      I’ve seen pics of such an upgrade for the speaker bases. The owner cut a roughly 1 sq metre hole in his floor and removed the concrete below as a column down to a depth. Not sure where he stopped, DPC maybe. Then with something in place to separate the existing concrete base from the new he poured in a column of concrete back up to just below floorboard level, and fixed a custom plinth of steel base with granite upper to the top of that new support. Full credit, it looked magnificent, and sat with a small gap between the floorboards and the granite. Plonking the speakers on that gave him the requisite results; speakers on a very solid base instead of wooden flooring, effectively isolated from the house.

      1. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

        A little more practical - I had a non-functional fireplace removed and used part of the enormous space to build a sealed subwoofer enclosure. The hardest part is finding a new low frequency subwoofer every ~12 years. Most of them of them are heavy, rigidly suspended, and tuned for 40 Hz using the resonance of a small enclosure. Efficiency drops to nothing around 20Hz. Large enclosure and infinite baffle subs are practically built-to-order. Sometimes they're called "home theater" subs now.

        Ives would say that it sounds amazing and there's nothing like it. I'll say it sounds amazing and there's no record player that will like it.

        1. DJO Silver badge

          ...sealed subwoofer enclosure...

          Subwoofers should be vented. Apart from increasing the low bass response it also reduces wear where the cone meets the rubber surround.

          When next replacing the speaker consider PA suppliers rather than overpriced HiFi suppliers. A 15" bass bin speaker would probably do the job a treat and should last a lot longer.

  40. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

    Nothing much to add to the very humorous set of comments here that hasn't already been said. Fucking load of bollocks if you ask me? Toys for the rich boys.

  41. Losing blueness

    Are Linn going to modify the turntable electronics and charge an extra £20,000 for circuitry that detects the orientation of the turntable and corrects for the effect of the earth's magnetic flux on the circuitry.

    That would be a first, as nobody else does that.

    1. DJO Silver badge

      I'm reliably informed that is scheduled for after they get the coriolis force compensation working properly.

      1. that one in the corner Silver badge

        Nobody tell them we can measure continental drift down the subsea cables or they'll be flogging a special spring-loaded cable tie to "dampen out the bathypelagic flow signals" from the subcarpet speaker cables.

        Hey, I've just this great idea for a Kickstarter campaign...

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Audiophilia

    Homeopathy for gramsphone nerds.

  43. anthonyhegedus Silver badge

    I bet nobody's thought of this

    How about - and I'm sure I've mentioned this in a previous article - they use some sort of special coding on the vinyl to correct for any dust particles? They could maybe use some type of modulation, perhaps involving pulses that represent the waveform, and being binary in nature, it would be able to reproduce the sound every time with less chance of error. Then, they could make the pickup a laser instead of a mechanical pickup. Finally, they could make the disc smaller and more manageable, and protect it behind a plastic substrate.

    It could be called a Petite Disc or something. Nah, it'll never catch on.

  44. PerlyKing
    Go

    Reproduction

    All I can add to the discussion is Flanders & Swann's Song of Reproduction

    1. Anthony N

      Re: Reproduction

      Hi Julie

      Ha, love it. Incredible how accurately they picked out the relevant current nonsense of the then audiophiles. Their last line "But we never did care fr the music much, it's the Hi Fideliteeee".

      Says it all. Still have their original vinyl

  45. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

    I can't wait ...

    ... for my Sondek LP12-50 to arrive. Now where did I put all those 45 RPM spindle adapters?

  46. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

    Don't think it's that innovative

    "Linn’s all-new Bedrok™ plinth technology; formed of orthogonal layers of beech placed under extreme pressure to create an entirely new, solid and massive material."

    H'mmm. On my desk I have a really posh coaster. It's made from an offcut of basically extremely dense plywood - I think beech layers that have been bonded and compressed under high pressure. The material was developed in WW2 for aircraft parts, notably control panels, to reduce the need for metal, which could be better used for other bits.

    I'm blowed if I can remember the name but if I come up with anything I'll pop back.

    1. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

      Re: Don't think it's that innovative

      Well, a little digging and I can say it's called Jabroc, invented and manufactured by Jabroc Ltd and is definitely a highly compressed laminate of beech veneers. My great grandfather, Wallace, was making templates to produce pressings for aircraft consoles, possibly for De la Rue.

  47. retiredmonkey

    Orthogonal layers of wood glued together is normally called plywood, unless an especially high degree of pretentiousness is called for.

  48. BD 1

    It's like a Rolex vs my Casio watch. The Rolex clearly tells better time because it cost £6,000 where as my Casio cost £20.

    On the other hand, maybe Linn hi-fi equipment & Rolex watches are about displays of conspicuous wealth?

    1. MJI Silver badge

      No, posh watch is just for posing.

  49. MJI Silver badge

    Impaired hearing my thoughts

    OK My hearing is damaged, but find I need good quality stuff more than ever.

    Rolls off at 12KHz, bad tinnitus.

    MP3s now sound like a squelchy mess, I can't understand speech on some TV channels (shITV).

    I need really clear audio.

  50. SammyB

    Re: Expensive interconnects vs cheap interconnects

    Just wondering, how many skeptics out there would be able to tell the difference in the sound of a $1,000.00 violin and a Stradivarius?

  51. Walt Dismal

    flush with success

    My Jony Ive-designed wireless toilet is the envy of all my friends who poop. It is stylish, fits my butt perfectly, and allows me to play video games for hours on end without leaving the bathroom. In fact, I think I'll live in here.

    Truly, Jony is the Michaelangelo of tech gear design.

  52. Katy_B

    Undiscerning would-be audiophile

    Many years ago, with my first couple of months wages in the bank, I went to see Thomas Heinitz in Moscow Road, Bayswater, then the top audio equipment shop in London. I wanted a tyrntable and was determined to spend as much as I could. Mt Heinitz sat me down in front of the six foot tall electrostatic speakers in the shop and set up behind me a couple of turntables with the records synced. 'I will switch from one to the other and you must tell me if you can hear any difference,' he said. I listened and after a long few minutes decided that I couldn't hear any difference between the two. 'Now turn round.' There was a Sondek LP12 and next to it a )realitively) cheapo turntable. The interesting thing was that he had put a box of matches under the felt on the platter of the cheap one and that set the record at a very odd angle, with the tone arm riding along like a small boat in a heavy sea. He advised me to buy the cheap one. (That shows how long ago it was.)

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