What is new with the Memory Player?

Raquel- Again, the relationship of Mark Porzilli and George Bischoff to both Nova Physics and Scaena Loudspeakers is well known and was specifically mentioned in this thread prior to my post by AudioOracle-hence it did not appear necessary to repeat it. It has been mentioned in almost every show report that has appeared about our shared rooms at CES and NY HE 2007 and contrary to not disclosing a shared heritage - we are proud of it, and attendees at shows are so informed. And no-Scaena Loudspeakers are not conceived, manufactured or assembled in Mark or George's garage, left or right side, or any other garage - unless that garage can accommodate: a million dollar CNC machine the size of a school bus that is used to fabricate the aluminum parts, the truck size water jet used to fabricate the base, or the equipment needed to form and make the ceramic composite parts. And finally, Scaena is a Florida Corporation since 2005 in which two(Mark and George)of the four Scaena shareholders also participate in Nova Physics.

Sceana1: Your first three posts to this thread (on 7/17, 7/18 and 7/24) very much give the impression that the Memory Player is completely unrelated to the Sceana speakers, but you now confirm that they share some of the same principals. If AudioOracle mentioned the relationship earlier in this very, very long thread, I apologize, but I trust you will appreciate that there has been a great deal of shilling in a variety of forms occurring on this site of late, and I again note that your posts very much imply that there is no relationship between the two companies.

In addition, Messrs. Porzilli and Bischoff are simply not household names to audiophiles as you state -- I happen to know of Melos and Pipedreams, but a large portion of the people reading this thread do not.

PS - I would not have suggested that these gentlemens' endeavors are a garage operation if they had actually managed to bring the Memory Player to market as a real product. Only a handful have been made, but the thing has supposedly been in existence for well over a year -- this is very typical of a two-channel garage operation. My comment was unnecessary, but I perceived a failure to disclose an affiliation between related parties deserving of ridicule.

Raquel, I think your points are well taken. Here is how I would comment on the whole garage based thinking.

I would say that that almost all of the smaller companies are one to 10 person operations, and almost all of the larger more established companies are not.

Examples of large companies; CJ, ARC, Krell, Levinsion,etc.

Examples of small compamies: CAT, Resolution Audio, Lamm, etc.

Some of the best sounding gear comes from some of these smaller companies.

I remember many years ago when a dedicated recording engineer hand made out of corrian an ultra high performance two way recording monitor to master his own recordings on.

That man was David Wilson. Fast forward and look at the company now, they are not in a garage now. This is the story with many of the now giants of this and many other operations.

Apple computer was started in a garage.

What matters is your comfort level in the product, technology, and the people behind the product.

Part of the charm is that most of the products we covet are rare hand made devices.

Audiooracle, I agree with your view. It's usually the small companies that push the envelope and come up with groundbreaking ideas. If that works out well and they can also manage business dynamics they may grow into larger outfits. So yes, buying product from smaller companies is more risky for the consumer but usually has the better sounding products in return because they are run by extreme enthusiasts. Larger companies have the more stable service and lower reliability issues, and unfortunately loose some edge over time. Their world is then run by metrics of ROI (Return On Investment) and sales growth etc.

How does this rationale work for the people behind the Memory Player? Well, if they can't bring a product to market within a year by building a steady customer base, then they haven't mastered the fundamentals of creating a solid business. Or the product just doesn't really fall into the "breakthrough" category as perceived by the market.

I personally would very much like to see this company succeed, I love the apparent new thinking, technology lead ideas. But it seems like the value proposition of the Memory Player is not catching on...and that's disappointing!

"Well, if they can't bring a product to market within a year by building a steady customer base, then they haven't mastered the fundamentals of creating a solid business. Or the product just doesn't really fall into the "breakthrough" category as perceived by the market."

Mtkhl567- Excellent point. It's been well over a year since
the ST's first report about the MP, and the only dealer NP has is Audiooracle....

Maybe they were waiting for the 32bit DAC chips before increasing production or maybe they've missed their window of opportunity.

PSAudio has already announced a new transport that will rip/playback from a solid state memory and have a PC storage interface, along with an updated version the Digital Lens.

If RUR is NP's "ace in the hole," maybe they should be in the software business.