scalford hall hifi show 2011

It is every man's god given right to charge as much as the market will bear, so in that respect I have no problem with Richard's costings. I am only suprised he does not charge more.

Chris

 

Ahhh that's really sweet of you Richard, unfortunately it's too late for me, but should any other 'idiots' decide to purchase from you, it's nice to know what you think of them...


Slurp, slurp!

 

I agree, it's only his derision of any one else trying to put food on their table, is what gets up my nose..

 

Nice to have a sensible post from you. My advantage is next to no overheads, as I work from home and employ no staff. This means the company is small, but also means I don't have to chase business, and this is going to be a small industry.

My problem is (as attendees at the recent bake-off know) it is a small house as it is only for me my wife and my cat, and now I have taken over at least half of it, so we have to move. House buying is the biggest pain in the arse on the planet and we just can't find what we need as she wont move further out of London and I wont move further in, and this band around London (known as the stockbroker belt) is just about the most expensive after Westminster and Mayfair. Anyway in the last year I have added £20k to the deposit and still had three holidays. Two one weekers to my favourite place in Italy (Ischia) and one two week one in Dec to Cozumel an island off Mexico, which I wasn't so keen on. But all in all I really cannot complain.

If I was back in the old days with a factory and 10 employees I would be very worried as is most of the rest of the industry.

 

I am happy with food, the slurpers are something else, they are addendas, unnecessary hangers on, out of time dinosaurs, fighting a rear guard action to try to retain their slurp. There are very few slurping manufacturers, but Linn and Naim take the biscuit, they are just taking the piss out of you all, and the like of Flatpopely just want to ride the shirt tails of that slurp.

 

My comments re the god given right of anyone to charge what the market will bear applies to Linn & Naim just as much as it does to you, Richard.

Chris

 

Come on Chris there must be a point where it becomes a piss take. Perhaps it should be some US manufacturers, or people who make little blocks of wood with magic properties, or cable manufacturers who have a little encapsulated box in the cable, anyway there are a lot of piss takers in this industry in my opinion.

 

Richard's problem with the Linn/Naim axis is that they thoroughly out-competed him back in the day. They used their market dominance to make it difficult for him to get his gear into the dealers which were likely to attract the type of customers who would be in the market for NVA kit.

Sound wise, the NVA kit of the time could give anyone, Linn & Naim included, a good run for their money.

Linn/Naim saw a credible competitor, and did what any sensible company would do. They made life difficult for him. He's never really got over it.

Meridian (another very credible Linn/Naim competitor) tackled the same problem differently and survived and prospered.

So it goes.

Chris

 

Yep.

Some people have a chip on their shoulder. Richard seems to have the whole chip shop.

There are other fish to fry. Get over it, FFS.

 

Yes, how many more axes are there? FFS..

 

It's actually dead simple, Richard.

Kit is worth what people are willing to pay for it. Linn/Naim have an army of unpaid fanbois promoting their stuff, and also use what must be a very limited (in real terms) marketing/advertising budget superbly well.

They have manged to position themselves as high quality aspirational brands. Also, they make good sounding, reliable kit. The kit, in the final analysis, does what it says on the box. Maybe not as good as other, cheaper stuff, but hey, it's like the old pre-PC saying....nobody ever got fired for buying an IBM computer!

I agree with you totally when it comes to marketing snake oil & voodoo for extortionate money. That is just plain charlatanry.

Chris

 

Hahahaha! Assuming I was sad enough to bother getting people to post on other forums for me, controlling the wigwam membership would be like trying to herd Cats. I'd have more chance of nailing jelly to a ceiling Richard. . and in any case I am still allowed to post on all the forums, and can argue with you wherever I like, and in person.

 

Well that is the difference I include Linn and Naim in that camp. Anyway I don't think either company consciously did anything to stop me or nva personally getting in shops, it applied to loads of other manufacturers as well. It was more the reps, with "why do you want to stock that" with a knowing frown on the face and retailers doing as they are told to keep the agencies. It got worse with the early 90's recession when Linn (followed by others) created illegal dealer contracts to contract a percentage of the shops turnover as minimum to keep the agency. This finished off (along with the recession) a large portion of the UK audio industry. Look at the companies now with their own enthusiasts and getting good prices on ebay, there are just too many to mention. I got around it by going export and virtually forgetting about the UK market.

 

No better than good £200-£500 cartridges IMO. Different but not better, if you get my drift.

 

Goody goody, see you have to repond to the piss take. But really it is a strange co-incidence that it all happened at once, but I have just had a look at your closed thread at Wigwam and that is probably what prompted it. I am pleased I am still so well loved there. Ever thought about starting a room at Wigwam for anger management problems.

I was just concerned about your last email to me where you said you would never talk to me again, it made me very sad, so I have been prodding you ever since, it has finally worked

 

An aggressive business strategy is not charlatanry. It's business. You think big companies got big through honesty, integrity and the right product lines?

Yeah, right.

 

That is my problem, I have always been an idealist.

 

“Idealist: One who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup†HL Mencken

 

No coincidence at all. More of a causal link don't you think? I saw a thread about it, which had been running for a few days by the look of it and thought, "ooh best give Chester another call". So I did, we chatted and sorted the details. So I posted hinting at some good news.

But you are odd, you really are, you seem to be taking credit for it somehow? It is simply amazing how pompous you can be.

Yes, and now I remember why.

Have you? Ever since? This thread was started by Zanash I posted in response to him.

You really do think the world revolves around you don't you! Amazing, simply stunning!


Anyway, thanks for reminding me of the promise I made myself; Good bye!


Ignore lists are great BTW!.

 

Oh dear I am sad again, but on the bright side I can start teasing and prodding again

Flatty tried the ignore list it, didn't work for him, lets face it both of you just *have* to know what I am saying