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Thoughts wanted for new speaker design

I am working to introduce a new speaker at Capital Audiofest this year and have a few tentative designs but wanted to do a little market research and see what you guys would find most interesting. Since I don’t have $40K for focus groups, thought I would ask your guys POV.

I currently offer two stand mounts - one which is a fiberglass based composite (Nightshade) and the other is Carbon Fiber bases (Blackthorn).

you can see them here at:

www.verdantaudio.com

i am currently sold out but will be back in stock in about two weeks.  

i am looking to see what you guys would be most interested in:

1. a higher efficiency standmount - 92dB to 93dB but will be using compression drivers. Material could be MDF or Bamboo but most like Bamboo. Price ~$2500

2. A less expensive standmount made from bamboo or MDF that will be ~$2000. Likely be less than $2000 if it is MDF.

3. A Nightshade (fiberglass) Floorstander that would retail at $8-$10,000.

4. A floorstander that would look like 1 or 2 though I expect the efficiency of 1 will be closer to 100dB. Retail $3500 to $5000.

Unless you guys saw me at AXPONA or know someone who bought my first batch of speakers I know you haven’t heard my current stand-mounts. Just looking for a POV on what will be most interesting to you.

Thanks in advance.






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verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio OP
1,499 posts
 
@davignau  -  Think of it this way, if I spend $40K on research, that goes into the cost of the speakers and needs to be recovered increasing the price or increasing the number of units that need to be sold to break even.  You correctly pointed out that development costs money.  Spending the money on focus groups adds to that cost.  

Focus groups are intended to screen ideas and generate new ideas. I have a list that I think are interesting and received a couple ideas above that I had not considered.  I can take these ideas along with the ones I already have, drop them in quant research to see which has the most superficial appeal and then I can work on development.  I have to then deliver on the superficial idea. 

so no, I don't expect you to choose between things you have never heard. That would be silly. Just looking for ideas.  

I have successfully brought two products to market that were well received by both consumers and the press earlier in the year but they are expensive.  We shall see if I can make it a third that will ideally be at a more competitive price point.  




verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio OP
1,499 posts
 
@jeffseight   I have a cabinet maker who is working on a cabinet for those those magnesium SEAS drivers and millennium tweeter.  
elliottbnewcombjr
5,349 posts
 
When I was just starting out as an Interior Designer of Corporate Offices, I came back from a client meeting, met with the furniture and furnishings department head, and said "the clients wants cheaper furniture".

Betty batted her eyes, and said "You mean less costly, we don't offer cheap furniture".

You neither buy, make or sell CHEAP stuff, I advise never using that word again.
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio OP
1,499 posts
 
@elliottbnewcombjr    You are right!!!!  Can't believe I used that word in a post.  
wildfoxinn
69 posts
 
@jeffseight

The Joseph Audio Pulsars are using off-the-shelf drivers. You can easily find a professional who will assemble a comparable speaker for $4k or less. The main thing is the cabinet aesthetics probably won’t be comparable.

The markup on the (v1) Pulsars are quite high. It looks like retail price on the drivers is around $1200, and the MSRP of the speaker is $8k.

If you look at some internet direct brands the markup is significantly lower. For example the Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2-EX uses the 64-10 RAAL tweeter which is around $370/pair with Seas Excel W16 woofers ($570/pair) with CURV diaphragms. So that’s easily $900+ worth of drivers and the Sierra 2-EX only costs $1650 retail.

Of course Ascend probably (rightfully) assumes they can make up the difference in volume, and the Pulsar is likely a much lower volume product, so they went with much higher markups instead.
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