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Design a $60,000 Speaker - Start here

Hi Everyone,

Just thought for interest I'd talk about one of the most expensive woofers in the 10-12" varieties, the Accuton AS250-88-552 CELL, actually an 11" aluminum honeycomb sandwich construction. Retail price at hobbyist volumes: $1,400, each.

In addition to the exotic material, the suspension and motor assembly are also worthy of note, as they leave a very large amount of unobstructed space directly behind the dome, allowing it to behave most ideally like a piston.

So putting this together into say a modest 3 way with all drivers from the same company and of the same level, I estimate around $6k / pair of speakers for the drivers alone. Add the normal markups, and this is a $60k speaker.

Will it sound any good? I have no idea. I just wanted to share with you all where some of these speakers that cost as much as a luxury sedan get their prices from.  Obviously, my estimates are rough, and go up and down. The point of this is just a general expose.

Best,


E

erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,200 posts
 
Oooh, no.

As a manufacturer, I need to sell these speakers for $30k / pair, which means I must spend no more than around $10k to make them, including labor and packaging.

Let’s not even get into top end Copper Foil capacitors!

Of course, my goal is to spend no money at all, and sell you speakers, so I will engage a marketing and sales team to separate the retail price from manufacturing cost as much as possible. That’s where the profit lives.

Best,

E
shadorne's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
@erik_squires   

I think we agree. There are advantages and disadvantages to each business model in different industries.

So I think the very issues you raise about performance or the best is a determining factor in choice to go integrated or not. If you can't make a better mouse trap then it makes sense to use the best mouse trap that fits nicely within your design philosophy. 

I strongly suspect that those making certain in house drivers for their speakers are doing so because they can't find a better mouse trap that works well or it is too costly to ask an OEM to make a special run of drivers just for a limited high performance application. OEM are going to chase high volumes with low margins or low volumes with very high margins.....it is just economics.
erik_squires OP
16,200 posts
 
I wish I knew more about driver manufacturing. I mean, is there a show where I can go and buy a woofer press? :)


Erik
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,316 posts
 
This would be a great MBA program exercise.
Off the top of my head, major cost categories to consider:

R&D (including any licensing fees)
Raw materials (drivers, electronics, cabinetry etc.)
Manufacturing
Warehousing
Distribution
Promotion (advertising, dealer incentives, etc.)
Warranty support
Financing (unless the business owner is independently wealthy, there’s going to be a note to pay off! ;-)

Each of these major categories can be further subdivided and refined.

Ttl. Costs/(1-Target Profit Margin*)=Selling Price

*as decimal per cent
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
60k??

how much are Sound Labs these days?

or the new Quads?

or Kii??

or cheap out and buy 20.7 Maggies

will a 60k speaker really sound better than the above?  will the result be room dependant?   or are you just trading one distortion for another?

you could buy one of the 4 above and then use the rest to build a facia with a $60,000 sticker on it...
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