+1
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Iâm not convinced. There are examples of companies that need this sort of backing and unless they received it they would likely have issues now.
I donât fully understand the business model behind all this. There must clearly be one where both parties benefit. Iâm sure Mr Ives will not only improve his LP12 as a result of this collaboration.
Anyway, letâs see what happens shall we and quite right to enjoy the music after a long day preparing for the electrician coming next week to start the work on my new basement listening room.
Well said, Kev.
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I think that there many benefits to a lot of parties;
- Linn; Good PR / press / marketing. Injection of cash. Able to invest in the future. New customers unaware of Linn.
- Jony Ive; Good PR / press / marketing. High rate of exposure.
- Linn customers; New and improved products will be developed from this, which will make enhancements to our existing excellent Linn products.
- Mega rich people; Ability to a limited edition item. Exposure to Linns existing product range
- HMRC; Revenue from the selling of the LP12-50 / increase in component / equipment / tooling sales
- Suppliers; Benefit from increase in sales, Linn investing in new components / equipment / tooling.
The above list is not exhaustive, but just some thoughts off the top of my head.
DGâŚ
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A 50 grand deck and itâs really not difficult to make an Aro. All the research and trials have been done by Naim, just make one.
One would not recoup the costs of tooling up. 
âHow manyâ is probably a reasonable question. Or 2 questions â how many to make it a business, and how many will they sell.
Whatâs stopping an Aro âNew Classicâ being a crowd funded project. I canât imagine Naim have any patents or design rights. You could machine a clone with enough backing of almost anything as long as the lawyers wonât get involved in doing so.
Why wouldnât Naim have patents or design rights? I would be surprised if they didnât want to protect their IP.
Bool
Haha. Itâs surprised even me when Mrs. FZ decided she wanted to base the entire colour scheme for the new home we built by pointing to my Omega speakers and demanding black and walnut throughout to match them. I talked how dowb a bit but I still have dark grey walls, black ceilings and dark hardwood floors all because of a speaker.
The exterior looks like my Luxman amp, subconsciously of course. Black base with matt silver fascia.
Back on topic, I can see how someone emotionally committed to the old fluted LP12 design might be turned off by the 50th edition (ironic name because it feels like there have been more than 50 upgrades). But for those not attached in any way, the new look feels more timeless. Like 1960s Danish furniture.
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Itâs strange world, isnât it?
Am I really reading - of someone wanting to copy a Naim product unlawfully - on Naimâs own website?
I think youâre misinterpreting the context here. Thereâs a multitude of tonearm designs, all based on the same basic principle.
Creating something that is crowd funded as a homage to a legacy product in the absence of an equivalent already being available.
They did a variant for Solstice already (a product co-produced with Clearaudio ironically), crowd funding the production of a generic version could also still involve Naim directly, its development and manufacturing/tooling costs would however be funded directly by those with an interest in wanting to own one.
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But the law prevents you copying someone elseâs design for your own profit, as much as anyone may want to disguise their felonious intentions by referencing a âhomageâ.
The owner of the design (Naim, M Lamotte, or whoever) can obtain legal protection from the courts to stop his or their copyright, patent or trade mark being infringed.
Otherwise, the world would even more awash than it is with cheap knock-offs, many originating from the sweatshops of the Orient.
WAS⌠a Naim product. Hasnât been produced for many years now and by all accounts is unlikely to be resurrected. Also note that the inspiration for Aro was the classic Hadcock Unipivot 
Thread gone well off topic
Roksan Nima (see what they did here) 
was a respectable âcheapâ knockoff.
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I couldnât think of any part of the Hadcock that I would describe as âclassicâ, and yours is the first ever suggestion that I have heard that Guy Lamotte drew any inspiration from that horribly unstable thing.
And, of course, the Solstice had an ARO of sorts on board.
It has a touch, BUT, I do tend to feel that Jonnyâs rounded corners would really shine with an Aro mounted 
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Ah, right, thank you for that confirmation.
I always forget about the Decca tonearm. The build quality doesnât exactly inspire confidence, and I wouldnât allow that monstrosity anywhere near my LP12 - or my LPs, come to that!
I imagine that, in order to qualify to play records with that tonearm, you would be obliged to wear grey carpet slippers and to smoke a pipe! (BOD, who used to produce cartoons for Hi-Fi News, would have produced a wonderful drawing of its stereotypical owner.)