Inflation SVS

[lovinthehd]

Yeah it's crazy.

Yep he confirms your numbers (altho a bit high for pre-covid west coast rates) and getting worse. Holy sh*t. He also pointed out that the shift to the ever-larger container ships has exacerbated the problem of container availability what with the backlogs at so many ports. He mentioned 72 ships waiting at LA/LB last week alone, that could easily represent something like 500,000 TEU (twenty foot container equivalent units, the way capacity is generally termed in the industry) tied up for many weeks to come. He pointed out there are a few ships operating on the west coast that can each represent 18-20k TEU too. I remember some backups in that port during strike times but these are much worse. I dealt myself more with air than ocean freight so he couldn't give me much on that except to say the costs are skyrocketing there as well.

Glad I'm retired....good luck to you!

 

[lovinthehd]

Dude, if you want to read the news for free, gotta use waybackmachine

Global Supply-Chain Problems Escalate, Threatening Economic Recovery

Shortages of components, surging prices of raw materials, transportation backups and pandemic lockdowns are squeezing manufacturers around the world—and the bottlenecks keep compounding.

web.archive.org

Thanks, all three snapshots on Oct 8th still had WSJ paywall in the way, but the first article on Oct 9 works! Thanks, haven't used the wayback machine like this before!

 

[vader540is]

Yep he confirms your numbers (altho a bit high for pre-covid west coast rates) and getting worse. Holy sh*t. He also pointed out that the shift to the ever-larger container ships has exacerbated the problem of container availability what with the backlogs at so many ports. He mentioned 72 ships waiting at LA/LB last week alone, that could easily represent something like 500,000 TEU (twenty foot container equivalent units, the way capacity is generally termed in the industry) tied up for many weeks to come. He pointed out there are a few ships operating on the west coast that can each represent 18-20k TEU too. I remember some backups in that port during strike times but these are much worse. I dealt myself more with air than ocean freight so he couldn't give me much on that except to say the costs are skyrocketing there as well.

Glad I'm retired....good luck to you!

Thanks! I'm not too worried about it.

My clients will pay, they have no choice... Crap rolls down hill and the end users ends up paying the higher price.

 

[ryanosaur]

Why would that be a problem? It's easy to grow and it grows damned fast. Why isn't it farmed in the US?

Strangely, that’s what I thought when Ascend told me in 2018, I would have to wait several months into 2019 before some speakers could be produced… because of a Bamboo Shortage.
IIRC, there were some issues when apogee (god, I hate auto correct! … should read @Pogre ) was placing his order too…

Anyway, most articles about bamboo seem to focus on pandas. I did find this from 2007 and thought it interesting enough to share:

Solving the bamboo shortage

Bamboo is a versatile, ancient plant that shows up in creation myths as well as in pots on decks and terraces. It comes in clumping varieties that behave themselves and running “timber”…

www.chicagotribune.com

 

[ryanosaur]

Thanks! I'm not too worried about it.

My clients will pay, they have no choice... Crap rolls down hill and the end users ends up paying the higher price.

This is why we now have two threads lamenting SVS’ price increases!

 

[vader540is]

This is why we now have two threads lamenting SVS’ price increases!

Lol

Welcome to the new normal.

 

[Danzilla31]

Something keeps running through my mind everybody

The first is polk doing this sale in the middle of all this. I wonder if the price increase may slow down buying fror audio companies. Profits I'm sure aren't always super high as is. Not in a niche market like ours. I'm wondering if companies while not lowering prices again may do more sales like this from time to time to keep up interest or get new buyers. It's just logical to think that if everything is going to cost more the first thing to go out of everyone's budget is things like audio I'm hoping companies can swing through this.

I'm just wondering how these issues could possibly change the landscape of our favorite hobby.

 

[ryanosaur]

Something keeps running through my mind everybody

The first is polk doing this sale in the middle of all this. I wonder if the price increase may slow down buying fror audio companies. Profits I'm sure aren't always super high as is. Not in a niche market like ours. I'm wondering if companies while not lowering prices again may do more sales like this from time to time to keep up interest or get new buyers. It's just logical to think that if everything is going to cost more the first thing to go out of everyone's budget is things like audio I'm hoping companies can swing through this.

I'm just wondering how these issues could possibly change the landscape of our favorite hobby.

I made a joke about that somewhere else... raise the prices just in time to have a "sale" on Black Friday...

...

It may not change the landscape, per se, but it will change something.

 

[lovinthehd]

Polk may just be in a better position with inventory or simply needs the cash? Dunno Really hard to guess.

 

[JoeThePop]

I bought a pair of SVS Prime Wireless speakers at Christmas last year for $600. Still at $600. Wonder how long that will last. At the time, I also considered Klipsch The Fives, which on the Klipsch website and Crutchfield have gone up from $800 to $969. You might still find them for $800 or so on Amazon, but I wouldn't wait if you are considering them.

 

[highfigh]

Strangely, that’s what I thought when Ascend told me in 2018, I would have to wait several months into 2019 before some speakers could be produced… because of a Bamboo Shortage.
IIRC, there were some issues when apogee (god, I hate auto correct! … should read @Pogre ) was placing his order too…

Anyway, most articles about bamboo seem to focus on pandas. I did find this from 2007 and thought it interesting enough to share:

Solving the bamboo shortage

Bamboo is a versatile, ancient plant that shows up in creation myths as well as in pots on decks and terraces. It comes in clumping varieties that behave themselves and running “timber”…

www.chicagotribune.com

Bamboo is a grass and most grasses will grow in adverse conditions, which makes them perfect for use as fuel, building materials, etc. These manufacturers may not be able to get it, but I see no shortage of Bamboo mats, cutting boards, spoons & forks, tongs for cooking, etc. It also grows very fast, making it possible to harvest a lot in a short time although I haven't seen anything about drying time. This link shows that some species grow almost 3' in a single day-

Public Goods

Beautiful essentials for a healthier, more sustainable home. One tree planted for every order.

blog.publicgoods.com

 

[highfigh]

Looks like it's limited to certain zones, very limited to which species and still requires special attention in the winter. It also doesn't mention in the article if it's a type of bamboo that's useful for production. I'm not saying it isn't useful, I just didn't see it mentioned in the article. Ima keep digging a little.

Dave at Ascend Acoustics is who I saw talking about how hard bamboo is on tools and the need to replace often. Initially he had a hard time finding a manufacturer willing to work with it and had to pay a premium for it.

Well, SOMEONE is working with it because it's a $70Billion/year industry. WalMart and other stores sell kitchen items made from it, it's available as flooring, plywood, substrate for plywood and many other uses. Maybe they can't get it because they don't buy enough to move up the list WRT priority.

OTOH, if one material isn't available, wouldn't it be a good idea to find some kind of alternative?

Maybe they need to look into ceramic router bits and saw blades.

 

[Teetertotter?]

Wasn't SVS over priced to begin with, with what's out there? Here is one review by Amir if looking for bookshelf: SVS Ultra Bookshelf Speaker Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
How does the rest of their line test out? Just saying....that's all

JBL seems to get a lot of, "YES" marks in various price ranges, from the amount of mfg speakers tested.

 

[Danzilla31]

Wasn't SVS over priced to begin with, with what's out there? Here is one review by Amir if looking for bookshelf: SVS Ultra Bookshelf Speaker Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
How does the rest of their line test out? Just saying....that's all

JBL seems to get a lot of, "YES" marks in various price ranges, from the amount of mfg speakers tested.

Hmmmm time for an actual serious response

I think there speakers were not that bad priced at all. There subs were decent priced it's just for the money on the upper range you could get a lot more performance

But SVS was smart to know that the average human in the average living space won't need all that extra headroom anyway so they were very innovative and I think smart to put that price into other things such as excellent customer service and generous return policy and bill of rights

I don't know of very many towers for a 1000 bucks that could do every thing the ultra towers could do there big strike was very picky on placement

My caveat with them because I've trialed the bookshelves and listened to there towers is they measure well and they play clean with low distortion at very high levels. Dynamics good great great imaging and soundstaging

But they lean towards warm in there midrange and the treble is surprisingly laid back they had detail just a bit recessed in the high end compared to there low end.

Which actually isn't bad it's not fatiguing at all. I just like a brighter more dynamic detailed speaker in the treble and less warm and more neutral midrange basically I like the highs to match the lows and the mids to be very present and strong but neutral and I want dynamics in all 3 areas.

It usually takes a lot more money to pull off that then what SVS is asking for the ultra or was asking they did a great job of making speakers that in there high end speaker line do everything good not great and of course emphasis the bass in both the lows and mids a bit more then I'd like. It leaves you with a warm sound with surprisingly less zip then I like in the treble but I like a lot of zip some people don't. A lot of people I think would enjoy the ultras sound

But that's taken me years to learn through a lot of critical listening what my ears like and don't like

Even at 1300 it's still not bad for what you get but it was a huge markup I think it just shocked a lot of people

I think the critical reaction from many here is especially on there subs some of those price bumps put them up there more towards the real big boy performers. So if your now within a few hundred of getting what you really want. Why not save up wait and get what you really want?

A lot of ID companies that could undercut the market to the point that you could overlook a few compromises are know forced to price themselves in a range where it's like well if that's closer to what I'd really want to have why not wait and go for it.

That's my feelings on the matter

 

[D Murphy]

Dennis and Internova ordered in enough 8" Revelators to fill the current batch as well as the next two batches of BMR Towers. Of course, they still have the cabinets shipped from overseas for final assembly here.
(Apparently, that was the single largest order for those Drivers ever at Scan Speak! And Dennis and Internova are still waiting on them to come in.)

Shipping the cabinets used to cost us $6000. That went up to $14,000 on the last batch, and the latest quote we have for the next is $16000. We're holding the line on the BMR's, but we had to increase the price of the big hog towers by $200/pair. Although our profit margins are going to suffer, quite frankly from a competitive standpoint this is an excellent time to keep price increases to a bare minimum.

 

[Danzilla31]

Shipping the cabinets used to cost us $6000. That went up to $14,000 on the last batch, and the latest quote we have for the next is $16000. We're holding the line on the BMR's, but we had to increase the price of the big hog towers by $200/pair. Although our profit margins are going to suffer, quite frankly from a competitive standpoint this is an excellent time to keep price increases to a bare minimum.

Wow 16000 man Damm that hurts me just thinking about it can't imagine what it does to you Im so sorry to hear that

 

[lovinthehd]

Shipping the cabinets used to cost us $6000. That went up to $14,000 on the last batch, and the latest quote we have for the next is $16000. We're holding the line on the BMR's, but we had to increase the price of the big hog towers by $200/pair. Although our profit margins are going to suffer, quite frankly from a competitive standpoint this is an excellent time to keep price increases to a bare minimum.

How many cabinets per container, tho? Now looking to US sources instead or just managing logistics costs?

 

[D Murphy]

How many cabinets per container, tho? Now looking to US sources instead or just managing logistics costs?

I think it comes down to something like $230 per pair, but it's more for the towers, less for the BMR's.

 

[Kingnoob]

It’s been pointed out before, this isn’t just a shipping issue that is affecting prices… cost of materials and part availability is wreaking havoc across the board.
And while you may think that other thread turned a bit over the top, all of this was hashed out there as well, prior to several of us just blowing off steam.

End of the day, the problems the world is facing are profound and wide ranging. And yes, even the market volatility due to American politics and our ability to pay our existing debts is a part of that.

We are in for a bumpy ride over the next few years, and that assumes we can avoid an outright market crash, full blown depression, and new wars.

Wonder what percentage there costs went up to raise the prices so drastically of every brand , hardly just svs !! Is there a list of brands that I haven’t raise the prices yet that Are wotth getting?

Shipping cost or shooting through the roof ,.. for these big speaker companies was such a small market of customers it must be hard to stay in business.
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