Are these damned brands or not good speakers?

Compared to starting an automobile manufacturing firm or a nuclear power generating company the barriers to entry for starting a loudspeaker company are very small. As a result there are plenty of small companies entering the field. There is absolutely no reason that a small boutique firm cannot produce and outstanding product. The technical knowledge of loudspeaker design is fairly well understood and in the public domain. There are multiple sources of high quality drivers. Plus any decent woodwork shop can build a high quality cabinet. If the boutique designer has a good ear and takes the time and effort to refine his product it can be competitive with the products from larger manufacturers.

Sometimes the boutique firm's product is higher priced than the bigger firms' offerings because of poor economies of scale resulting from limited production runs. Other times the boutique firm can offer comparable performance for a lower price because it doesn't have an advertising budget, doesn't maintain a large inventory, much smaller staffing requirements, no big production and warehousing costs and eliminating multiple middlemen by selling direct to the customer. It's wrong to paint small manufacturers with a broad brush. As consumers we must do our homework and find those firms that offer excellent performance and high value. They could just as easily be a large or small firm.

Well on Green Mountain Audio, I heard the $2900/pr. Callistos while on vacation a month and a half ago, and they are certainly worthy of their praise. Ugly as mud IMO, but quite good sounding indeed.

That said, the point about limited distribution channels does have some merit. The dealer I heard them at treated me very snobishly, and I would never buy anything from *him* after that negative experience... Too bad there are only a few dealers available for the brand.

---Dave

I'll add another voice to support GMA's speakers. Amazing product for the money. Can't comment about dealers, but some high end shops do tend to be snobbish.

14 years and still happy with my Caravelles!

As someone who makes boutique speakers and am 4 months into my companies existence (we launched at AXPONA), risk of the company going out of business is what makes people anxious.  Which I get, but it is lower risk than you think.  It costs me about $50/month to maintain my legal entity and keep my web store open.  I might scale back on marketing but I can maintain that indefinitely. 

Incidentally, check me out at www.verdantaudio.com

A speaker is largely made from three key parts, cabinet, driver and crossover:

- Cabinet - by far the hardest to get right.  It requires knowledge to design, technical skill to manufacturer and is the easiest place to cut corners to save money.  I spent six month studying cabinet design and testing different materials to develop one, simple, stand-mount cabinet and hired an aerospace company to produce it for me.  This is the foundation for a great speaker and the most expensive drivers and a good crossover are meaningless if this is wrong.  There are consulting firms that will do this for you but it is pricey.  I am going to introduce wood cabinets at Capital Audiofest and again, I hired a master cabinet maker who specialize in custom cabinets.  

- Crossover - By far the hardest to actually do well but  it is inexpensive to hire someone to design one for you once you have selected your drivers and have a cabinet design.  Once you have a good sounding base crossover, it is also easy to make modifications.  I attempted to design my own and they were not good.  Hired someone.  Tested a few configurations  and they are spectacular.  I don't even make my own crossovers.  Assembly is $15 a unit.  Relatively low risk.  

- Drivers - No small company is making their own drivers.  We all buy from Scanspeak, Seas, Accuton, Eton, etc...  Frankly, so do a lot of midsize companies.  This is extremely low risk as the companies producing the drivers are large and competent.  And, if the world ended, the drivers are backed by their warranty.  

The balance is assembly and soldering.  Are they using OFC or CCA in terms of wire?  What kind of binding posts, ports, etc...  Soldering requires some practice but even that can be worked around if you are incompetent with torx screws and quick connects.  

The other question is consumer direct or retail. 

- Retail adds margin.  A small company selling through retail is almost assuredly a poor value vs. a large company.  Margins are the same but costs are certain to be higher due to purchasing in much smaller quantities.  

-Consumer direct is not necessarily a better value but does allow smaller companies to compete in mid level price points.  I can make an acceptable margin and compete with Harman, Kef, B&W, etc... and deliver a product that is as good or better compared to the Performa, R or 700 series if I sell consumer direct.  I am a poor value if I tried to sell that same product through retail.  Anything below that is very challenging.  

If you choose your products correctly you can feel good that the product is made in the USA if that sort of thing matters to you and you are supporting domestic craftspeople at least in terms of cabinet, crossover and assembly.  Plus, most consumer direct companies offer you 30 days in-home to demo the product.  Try getting your local retailer to let you take home a pair of Sopra No1s to do an in-home demo with no restocking fee.