New amplifier manufacturer

[Bellgrove]

Good morning all. I'm trying to get the funds together to start a tube amplifier biz. The story is on my Kickstarter campaign. Bascom King has analyzed the prototypes, and he even hooked 'em up to his own stereo system. He said to me "I was impressed."

Look it up on Kickstarter, search for Bellgrove Fine Audio. Please help a tiny, woman-owned audiophile business get off the ground. Help me realise my husband's dream! Thank you in advance!

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hi.

How is your tube amp different from the other, tube amps?
Is it a SET amp or a complex tube amp? Mono or stereo?
Your market has very limited customer base and doubt you will get the new business of the ground or have a viable lifespan, sorry to say.

 

[Bellgrove]

Monoblock amps. Ours are special because of the high-quality craftsmanship, the attention to detail in the design inside and out. The inside is as thoughtfully laid out as the outside is. My husband had a doctorate in solid state physics as well as perfect pitch, so designing the ultimate tube amp was his goal.

Here is his design philosophy:

Our sophisticated tube amplifiers have maximized the qualities that everyone enjoys: a liquid, spacious, timbre-accurate, and dynamic reproduction of the music, a silent background, and no fiddling with bias adjustment. Who wants "mellow" when they can have "exquisite"?

I know I have a very limited customer base, and I know this project will probably have a limited life span. I just don't want to have a bonfire of all the parts and frames and notes that my late husband left behind. He also left prototypes for a pre-amp, DSP and DAC, all of which I hope to bring to market when I've got the cash.

I have done quite a bit of research in to this. I have very experienced, knowledgeable industry specialists advising me. The president of the LA Audio Society has shown support for this project. I am not flying blind here.

I hope you'll help. Because why not?

 

[TLS Guy]

Sorry to hear of the death of your husband.

This is tricky. There is not enough information available to really be able to solicit funds.
No idea of performance, especially from measured data. No formal peer engineering review of circuit details.

No filed reliability data.

Going from a few prototypes to production is a big leap, where unexpected problems can and usually do surface.

No details of arrangements for service, especially warranted service.

I don't see this project as ready for production, at least there is no evidence that it is.

Seems to me the funds requested do not match the scale of the task ahead.

Going into production with premap DSP and DAC sounds way over optimistic. You won't hand solder that and just the trial set up for the chip set boards is going to run to an enormous amount of money.

I'm sorry, but to me this project does not sound as if it has a realistic chance of success at this stage of development and the funds available.

Your best bet is to try and sell the design to an established manufacturer of tube amps.

 

[lovinthehd]

While I wish you good luck Cynthia an association with that fool Robert Levi doesn't say much....may as well just make silly cables which he also endorses and markets.

 

[TLS Guy]

While I wish you good luck Cynthia an association with that fool Robert Levi doesn't say much....may as well just make silly cables which he also endorses and markets.

I agree with you, that guy Bob Levi is a fool.

Cynthia touting an association with an Audiophool like Bob Levi will bring you no favors.

 

[Bellgrove]

Thanks for your responses.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for your responses.

Cynthia, you are welcome. Bascom H. King is anything but a fool and has designed fine amps and other components.

Have you asked him if your husband's amp could really get any traction at all in the market place?

What you badly need at this time is honest advice and not polite advice. At the very least I don't see how you can get this off the ground without a very competent engineer partnering with you.

 

[Bellgrove]

Actually I was being polite. Naturally you all assume I have spent 0 time on this, 0 effort on researching. You assume I have nothing but a hope and prayer. You assume I haven't talked to anyone besides Mr. Levi (and you have no idea what arrangement we have).

I knew going in to this that I was going to get some patronizing responses from a few men, but I truly didn't expect this level. I'm really sorry I posted here.

 

[everettT]

Actually I was being polite. Naturally you all assume I have spent 0 time on this, 0 effort on researching. You assume I have nothing but a hope and prayer. You assume I haven't talked to anyone besides Mr. Levi (and you have no idea what arrangement we have).

I knew going in to this that I was going to get some patronizing responses from a few men, but I truly didn't expect this level. I'm really sorry I posted here.

Since you didnt provide any additional info, you got constructive feedback, if you took it as anything else sorry. You stated new manufacturer and eluded to new tech, none of which has been shown. Even manufacturers like McIntosh dont claim great breakthroughs and the have been in business for 70 years.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Actually I was being polite. Naturally you all assume I have spent 0 time on this, 0 effort on researching. You assume I have nothing but a hope and prayer. You assume I haven't talked to anyone besides Mr. Levi (and you have no idea what arrangement we have).
I knew going in to this that I was going to get some patronizing responses from a few men, but I truly didn't expect this level. I'm really sorry I posted here.

I am sorry that you feel this way. I have not seen a single condescending or personally attacking post yet - our regulars just expect to see more data, not mere bold claims. So far the responses have been very polite for the most part and it dawns on me that you may have missed big bold slogan on Audioholics logo: "Pursuing the Truth in Audio and Video". We do take it very seriously around here and we fully expect to have bold claims to be substantiated and validated by subjective measurements and facts. If you want moral support, maybe this is not the best place, but if you want honest engineering advice then you're in the right place.

Our sophisticated tube amplifiers have maximized the qualities that everyone enjoys: a liquid, spacious, timbre-accurate, and dynamic reproduction of the music, a silent background, and no fiddling with bias adjustment. Who wants "mellow" when they can have "exquisite"?

I've highlighted some of more "flowery" adjectives which have little to no meaning in audio. These would be very welcome on less strict facts adhering to websites, but not here. btw: Dynamic reproduction just means playing it loudly.

 

[TLS Guy]

Actually I was being polite. Naturally you all assume I have spent 0 time on this, 0 effort on researching. You assume I have nothing but a hope and prayer. You assume I haven't talked to anyone besides Mr. Levi (and you have no idea what arrangement we have).

I knew going in to this that I was going to get some patronizing responses from a few men, but I truly didn't expect this level. I'm really sorry I posted here.

I'm sorry you feel that way. In case you think this is sexist, I can assure we would have been a lot tougher on a male asking for these investments.

If this had just been a notification of a product that would be one thing. You would have just got pleasant not commital responses.

However you are seeking start up funds from investors, for what is a very major endeavor catering to a small market, already crowded with non verifiable claims of the type you made.

None of us, including myself, said we would not invest in you. However the bottom line is that you have provided no engineering and production prospectus that any reasonable investor would demand before making any investment.

And truly we do not actually know this is not a sophisticated scam. Cynthia, there are a lot of those out there on the NET and multiplying like rats the whole time.

So to end I really do wish you well. However I can not see how your current approach is going to get you the start up funds you need. This is nothing personal, just the way I see it and call it.

 

[lovinthehd]

Actually I was being polite. Naturally you all assume I have spent 0 time on this, 0 effort on researching. You assume I have nothing but a hope and prayer. You assume I haven't talked to anyone besides Mr. Levi (and you have no idea what arrangement we have).

I knew going in to this that I was going to get some patronizing responses from a few men, but I truly didn't expect this level. I'm really sorry I posted here.

I'd certainly hope you spent more than 0 time and effort and that you're a woman has nothing to do with it from my viewpoint. I am a bit mystified how such a small ($13,500) goal will do much, and why this goal is just over half of what the failed kickstarter campaign goal was last year ($ 25,000 and only $655 raised by end of time period).

My point in naming someone like Levi (or his "society") was the nonsense he promotes, something that doesn't fly much around here. Maybe if you'd spent some time here you'd know that. Just asking us to throw money at a vaguely defined project....meh. There aren't even very many tube fans participating here. I would be interested in what @ski2xblack would have to say, though.

I still wish you luck altho I'm definitely not going to buy tube amps....

 

[ski2xblack]

Not sure what to add. It would behoove the OP to know her audience; this is a critical and technically inclined forum as others have pointed out. She may have better luck at a forum that concerns speakers appropriate to her wares, such as the Klipsch forum, and provide her wares to members there so they can be her unpaid shills. I can think of two boutique tube amp builders who have had at lest modest success with that stealth marketing approach: ampsandsound.com, and toolshedamps.com (Klipsch actually used some Tool Shed amps at CES this year as part of their display).