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I feel bad for speaker manufacturers

Think about it. If you were going to start a company that manufactures audio components, which would you pick? Arguably the worst business to get into would be the speaker business. Right? First, it’s painstakingly hard to market a new speaker that can break through in today’s ultra-competitive environment. Second, the development costs are relatively high because you have to invest in expensive cabinetry (at least on the high end) , electronic components, and drivers. And except for bookshelves, you have to absorb or charge so much more to get your product to your customers because of the relatively large size and heavy weight of the product. Third, and again especially if you have any floor standing speakers of any size, which, let’s be honest, any speaker company that wants to make money will have to have, you have to pay to hump these things to shows around the country and likely internationally as well.

Now let’s compare the life of a cable manufacturer. Let me state up front that I am a big believer that cables, interconnects, digital cables, and power cords can make a big difference in the ultimate sound of an overall system. Tires on a car, right? And yes, they also have several variables to deal with: silver, copper, tinned, dielectric, shielding, connectors, cryogenic, etc. But they’re all small, light, and relatively cheap. You can ship your product for next to nothing with almost no risk of damage, and you can travel to audio shows carrying all of your wares pretty much in a medium-sized backpack. Oh, and then there’s this. While speaker manufacturers are lucky if they can retail their products for four to six times their cost of production, cable manufacturers get to retail their wares for ten, twenty, or even fifty times or more of their manufacturing cost. There’s the well-worn tale of speaker manufacturers coming to shows in a rented minivan while cable manufacturers show up in Ferraris. It’s sad but funny because there’s some truth to it. I credit @erik_squires with generating this thread because in his recent thread he made me think about how hard it is to successfully create and market a truly successful speaker today. Anyway, it almost seems unfair, especially since speakers contribute so much to the ultimate sound of our systems while cables, while crucial, contribute RELATIVELY much less. What say you?
soix
erik_squires
16,051 posts
 
It's not. You plug the information into a computer and it spits out the characteristics.

This is a bit of a glaring over-simplification. Yes, simulation tools are available to anyone for a fraction of what they would cost, if they were even available, decades ago, which makes the speaker designer's work much easier and lets them iterate through possible design choices with breathtaking speed and cheaply.

That doesn't make someone with simulators a decent speaker designer. :)
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
1,019 posts
 

"So, show me the example where rotating a block of wood in a box measurably alters it’s acoustic properties, please."

an interesting an unexpected conversation

Just got off the phone with a reviewer who is getting ready for more of my products to write about. He happened upon this thread and had some questions for me and interesting comments.

From his point of view these threads need to be ultimately troll free if they are ever going to be helpful for the, as he said, "real audiophile". He had some choice words toward the trolls but also said that he feels readers are probably more discerning than we give them credit for. It was an 1.5 hour talk and he filled my ears with encouraging thoughts. What was interesting is he brought up the trolling happening here without me ever saying a word. He wasn’t surprised to hear me blow off these few and complimented me on my "cool".

One thing he said which I thought was interesting is when the troll comes up and makes a misstatement and then continues to repeat themselves it gives the opportunity for me to share the designing with accuracy. For example in the case of the Tuning Bar Technology this reviewer now has a better understanding of the hows and whys of the design and process as compared to before. Obviously we don’t have rotating blocks of wood inside of our speakers so the whole "premise" (reviewers word) of the troll is false, but he went on to say that the good press I get and will be getting is even more noticeable because of the attention the troll has highlighted.

Kind of a reverse psychology thing. The trolls are having a reversed effect on the readers. It was also interesting to be asked how my speaker and wire sells have been. When I shared they have been up and growing he pointed out that audiophiles are like bloodhounds, if a troll attacks a designer these days on public forums the reader is more apt to explore the product in question.

I’ve always wondered about this since I started posting over on Stereophile and now here, cause when I get trolled here it has always been followed by increased sales and very positive client reviews.

I don’t know I just enjoy listening & designing and find some of these forum type events as fascinating to a degree.

hope everyone has a great weekend!

Michael Green

http://www.michaelgreenaudio.net/

janpro
21 posts
 
janpro
21 posts
 
I sadly agree completely with Soix' post.

Far gone are the days of innovative inventions, these days when OEM-manufacturers came up with a new line of improved drivers once or twice a year, and countless small companies spread up with new ideas about improved response, dispersion, time alignment and minimalized distortion.
Verdicts changed daily, and the self-acclaimed audiophiles had to fight some kind of Laokoon's struggle with the snakes to hold their ground.

In these days (until 1992) I ran a speaker developing and building business here in Germany. My products were easy to integrate in all kinds of living rooms and soundwise stood the test of time- still up to date.

But things have changed, especially when the market split up in two directions: On the one hand the high gloss-/low tech-companies using handsome speakers/drivers of far-east production to take their mass products into the malls and on the other hand these tinkers afflicted with conceit, turning out every little detail of their speaker to show how much better they are than anybody else on the market- and the purchasers clap enthusiastically.

Is there any way out of this mess?

Maybe- but only with regionally offered high-end niche products, not with speakers for amps providing several hundred watts before they come to life. But that requires a rethinking towards listening habits and listening abilities…

Jan
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
1,019 posts
 

"My problem with speakers is that too few suppliers offer something that is unique and beautiful enough to be shown off yet integrated into the living room."

My conversations with clients and reviewers have been exactly along these lines over the last year. Recently clients and couple of reviewers have brought my speakers into their places and have given me the feedback that every speaker designer dies to hear. Unique, logical, cost effective and sexy. It's interesting to have been getting high end home designers calling along with reviewers telling me want they have been wanting me to do. Just really started with the most recent Rev6 craze. "creating a huge soundstage twice the size of my Sonus with such a small box" is one that I don't mind saying because it is published by someone else. The same comments have been made in reference to several super costly HEA brands vs the new Rev line. The instrument looking and sounding speaker is starting to be asked for by private mini show sponsors. We're doing those mini shows now and am excited for the feedback to continue. We have been seeing HEA run it's course of male fatal attraction for many years and the corner is being turned by the smaller size Class D movement and also the streaming revolution. For me this is perfect timing and I believe I'm not alone by any means. Big soundstages with smaller low mass boxes and the move toward tunable technology, pretty darn sweet and it's the industry who is asking for it, that's nice!

Michael Green

http://www.michaelgreenaudio.net/

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