Sneaky soon to be discontinued..future design classic?

Lego · Post by **Lego** » 2011-07-03 17:20

Has anyone heard about the rumours about the Sneaky being discontinued?It was an unusually sunny day in Glasgow today and when out in such conditions you bump into all sorts:old acquaintances, customers,rivals, enemies, vagabonds and local Linn dealers.
I told the dealer that having bought myself a mybook nas thanks to Thomas' glowing account I was at last going downt the Ds route(Sneaky)..all be it backwards..
He shook his head about the sneaky muttering it wont be around for long to go for Majik DS.
My initial feeling was the Sneaky is a classic as far as design,performance(very musical) and v for m is concerned and I have never liked the AV boxes so I would never buy Majik Akurate etc. .I then realised that I only buy hifi if I like the design and appearance(and can afford),is this foolhardy and superficial?
Linn basik arm excepted(free)

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2011-07-04 09:33

I appreciate good design and don't think you are being superficial. It can enhance our enjoyment of something we own. Having said that, I am happy to settle for very average looking kit so long as it performs well, but that is mainly because the system is in a bedroom, not our living room. Also, you often pay more for better materials and design, i.e. Klimax electronics.

Not heard that about the Sneaky.

Do you like the Renew DS? Although, there is not much to dislike really. Shame it is about twice as much as a Majik, BUT you get a player almost as good as the original KDS/D, for about one third the price.

Failing that, what do you think of the new Akurate casework? Maybe there are some ADS1s appearing on the 2nd hand market already.

Lego · Post by **Lego** » 2011-07-04 13:28

The renew is ok in that' built it in my garden shed ' kind of way but the new ADs mos def not..I like my hifi gear to look like it's not working..lol .I like the Ripnas look.
I find most of Linns stuff far too bling for me especially the klimax gear.I prefer the understated look so for me it has to be the Sneaky.
So if Linn dont bring anything out to replace Sneaky and it is discontinued it should keep its current second hand value ..Is that not what being a classic all about?

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2011-07-04 14:06

Well, at least you know what you want, and don't want. Do you find the Klimax kit bling cos it is silver? Do you see black the same way?

I know you like the old LK boxes. I have to say that it is not so good in silver (like mine), but black is nice. Silver looks too plastic, but then a lot of kit looks better in black cos it doesn't show the panel joins so much (I've noticed the same thing with darker furniture and uneven gaps between drawers showing up less).

Looks like the Sneaky is your ideal digital streamer. You must be able to pick up one 2nd hand at a very good price.

rowlandhills · Post by **rowlandhills** » 2011-07-04 15:15

I've still heard no confirmation about the Sneaky being discontinued, but it might make sense with a refresh of the bottom part of the DS line, possibly to include a cheap DS source only which can be connected to clients existing Knekt systems as a local source, allowing slow migration from Knekt to DS.

They also need a "Songcast Sender" as I've harped on about on the Linn forum, but that's a whole different discussion.

If they could produce a "Classik DS" for about £500, undercutting the current Sneaky and Majiks, I think it would be a big seller, but they might not want to go after that market...

Lego · Post by **Lego** » 2011-07-04 21:20

Charlie1 wrote:Well, at least you know what you want, and don't want. Do you find the Klimax kit bling cos it is silver? Do you see black the same way?

I know you like the old LK boxes. I have to say that it is not so good in silver (like mine), but black is nice. Silver looks too plastic, but then a lot of kit looks better in black cos it doesn't show the panel joins so much (I've noticed the same thing with darker furniture and uneven gaps between drawers showing up less).

Looks like the Sneaky is your ideal digital streamer. You must be able to pick up one 2nd hand at a very good price.

That's true about black versus silver Charlie looking at our silver!? Classik..it's more like John Major grey..still looks ok.
Its the proportions I liked,the klimax boxes dont look fat or thin enough for me if you know what I mean.
My all time favorite Linn box is the LK1 pre amp or maybe Klout old case not the speckle finish.
I agree Rowlandhills as I asked Ivor earlier on in the year about a cheaper Ds and his reply was they'd would have to go down the' made in china' route(i.e ds, pre and power amp for £500) which is not going to happen.I got the impression that Linn want to stick with systems as he said at the sneaky price point its more economical to have a system in one box,sharing power supply etc..