10 Loudspeakers Trends That Should End

[shadyJ]

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As a loudspeaker reviewer, I get exposed to a lot of different speakers over the course of a year, so I see a wide variety of practices performed by speaker companies. Much of these practices are very logical as would be expected of manufacturers with years of experience. However, some of the things that these companies do are long overdue for an expiration. These include marketing practices, design decisions, and logistical activities that defy common sense or verge on the absurd. Here is a list of ten of these trends in the loudspeaker business that I hope to see come to an end soon.

READ: 10 Loudspeaker Trends That Should End

 

[Hetfield]

Man, awesome, awesome article. Oh my God all that needed to be said and explained. Excellent, just excellent. Good job Shady.

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[Kvn_Walker]

Conveniently, SVS also sells upgraded feet for their subs as a separate purchase. Mighty nice of them to do so.

 

[XEagleDriver]

I kept picturing a Godzilla product that ticked all 10 boxes . . .
Such as a 150 lb ported, acoustic suspension, speaker packed in styro, delivered by a 110 lb elf, with port plugs, its AMT ribbon tweeter placed 2 feet from the mid, all on teeny tiny button feet, and dual or triple binding posts of course

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[Kvn_Walker]

I kept picturing a Godzilla product that ticked all 10 boxes . . .
Such as a 150 lb ported, acoustic suspension, speaker packed in styro, delivered by a 110 lb elf, with port plugs, its AMT ribbon tweeter placed 2 feet from the mid, all on teeny tiny button feet, and dual or triple binding posts of course

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[ryanosaur]

So true, @shadyJ . Another good write up! Thanks.

I think Shipping is one of the biggest problems. When I did all of my purchases back in 2018, I ran the gambit of deliveries from USPS, FedEx, UPS and Freight.
Perhaps the single biggest hurdle was in the delivery of my Subs via FedEx. Those Outlaws aren't too bad, but they are not light, either. Fortunately, I made "friends" with my FedEx contract driver and gave him the heads up that these were on the way, and since I had a little warning on the timing, I was able to give him my number just in case. The Subs arrived a day early and I was at work... he called me and I was able to arrange for him to come back around after making a small loop. I helped him offload the two Subs when he came back to my home, getting them just into my door.
That said, I had a couple of my smaller Speakers get tossed a bit, with one pair clearly having been the "ball" in a game of forklift Polo. The damage to the box was impressive, but fortunately, wise packing saved the Speakers!
My Mains were delivered by Freight, and this was by far the best delivery, even though the company broke down the pallet prior to loading the truck. The three boxes that comprised my towers were in pristine condition. Even though the cost was higher, it was well worth the piece of mind, in my opinion.

 

[Trell]

Conveniently, SVS also sells upgraded feet for their subs as a separate purchase. Mighty nice of them to do so.

I have those feet for my two SVS SB-3000, and that has two advantages: 1. The subwoofer stays put on my parquet floor and 2. I can easily get my fingers underneath the subwoofer in case I want to move it.

 

[Hetfield]

I have those feet for my two SVS SB-3000, and that has two advantages: 1. The subwoofer stays put on my parquet floor and 2. I can easily get my fingers underneath the subwoofer in case I want to move it.

I have them on both my SVS subs and they are very nice. I think they are worth the money but I understand people not liking that they still them in the first place and don't just have them on all subs they manufacturer.

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[Kvn_Walker]

I have those feet for my two SVS SB-3000, and that has two advantages: 1. The subwoofer stays put on my parquet floor and 2. I can easily get my fingers underneath the subwoofer in case I want to move it.

Yeah I've owned them before, I just find it funny that they sell their subs with feet that suck so badly that one would want to buy the premium feet. Like buying a burger and having to pay extra for the bun.

I prefer the Penn Elcom 9106 (or its many knockoffs) because the price is great... just need to buy your own washers and screws.

Amazon.com: Penn-Elcom 9106 Rubber Cabinet Foot 2.5" Dia. x 1" H 4 Pack : Electronics

 

[Trell]

Yeah I've owned them before, I just find it funny that they sell their subs with feet that suck so badly that one would want to buy the premium feet. Like buying a burger and having to pay extra for the bun.

I prefer the Penn Elcom 9106 (or its many knockoffs) because the price is great... just need to buy your own washers and screws.

Amazon.com: Penn-Elcom 9106 Rubber Cabinet Foot 2.5" Dia. x 1" H 4 Pack : Electronics

They are included with the PC-2000 Pro for some reason.

 

[highfigh]

​

As a loudspeaker reviewer, I get exposed to a lot of different speakers over the course of a year, so I see a wide variety of practices performed by speaker companies. Much of these practices are very logical as would be expected of manufacturers with years of experience. However, some of the things that these companies do are long overdue for an expiration. These include marketing practices, design decisions, and logistical activities that defy common sense or verge on the absurd. Here is a list of ten of these trends in the loudspeaker business that I hope to see come to an end soon.

READ: 10 Loudspeaker Trends That Should End

A couple of things-

WRT "One engineering practice that is very often nonsensical is the use of dual binding posts..."- this isn't an engineering practice, it's because of the marketing departments and it started in the early-'80s but yes, it absolutely needs to stop.

Also, WRT paint gloss level- no, it's not a standard. Get sample cards from 10 paint companies and you'll see at least 8 varieties of 'semi-gloss' that don't look the same, some have 'eggshell' that looks like satin and most don't even use the same word to describe the gloss of interior and exterior paints. Now, if you want to compare automotive finishes, you'll find a more limited palette- more colors, fewer levels of gloss. Then, there are finishing materials that are called 'Custom' and they can be all over the map WRT gloss. What is your reference for the 'true satin' that you mentioned?

 

[slipperybidness]

#11--Rating speakers with dips down into 4ohms or less as 8 ohm speakers--coughcough infinity primus P363.

 

[Audiosaur]

Regarding #10 (port plugs), I like the variable tuning options provided by my Hsu port plugs.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

View attachment 53074

or it's RL equivalent. May I present to you
Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust !

 

[ryanosaur]

or it's RL equivalent. May I present to you
Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust !

…though I see the potential for rural fed ex or ups contract drivers.

 

[Swerd]

@shadyJ – Thanks for writing that! Well said.

 

[shadyJ]

They are included with the PC-2000 Pro for some reason.

Probably because, as a down-firing sub, it needed more clearance from the floor than what cheap speaker feet could give it.

 

[shadyJ]

Regarding #10 (port plugs), I like the variable tuning options provided by my Hsu port plugs.

Variable tuned isn't the same as sealing the sub completely. But I do think variable-tuned subs is where all this madness started.

 

[SithZedi]

Great write up, Thanks! I had quite a few bad experiences with shipping so now I would only go pick them up myself if possible. Thank god I do not have to upgrade my 12 year olds.

 

[ryanosaur]

We could write a whole article about the shipping issues, alone!

I do like international companies (Buchardt, Arendal) that include shipping and all customs/brokerage in their pricing. But then you have domestic companies (SVS in particular) that includes shipping (+all of the cost of their customer bill of rights) in the pricing of each of their Speakers.
For SVS, while convenient, it skews wildly the perception of value, I think. How many posts have we had where potential owners are comparing Hsu Subs to SVS, then hem and haw over the shipping charges from Hsu? Or the reverse about the cost of a Sub from SVS?
To be fair, the international shipping is much more of a pain to the uninitiated than dealing with anything domestic. That, and the fact that it is way more difficult to return gear internationally is why I think that it is better applied to those companies rather than domestic service.

Rythmik used to offer a UPS Freight service for their larger Subs that gave you the option of picking them up at the Freight Depot for a discounted shipping cost. I'd bribe a friend any day with a good six pack and a pizza to hop in their truck and go get my gear with me! Hell, even a cheap U-Haul plus the cost of bribing a friend would be worthwhile.

That said, fright delivery is definitely the way to go. I know from a previous conversation with Jim Salk that shipping FedEx just got too expensive due to damages, and (at least for a while) he sent everything large, on pallet, through Roadrunner.
I mentioned above getting my Phil3s delivered. It was super easy and even with the transfer to a local freight company for the final delivery, everything was smooth. The biggest thing for me was just making certain that the freight company making final delivery knew that they couldn't send a full size truck. The guy pulled in and I helped him offload through the side door, and much like my earlier description of receiving my Subs, the driver helped me get the boxes just inside my front door.

Lastly, I know that everybody loves a sale, but my favorite aspect of my previous purchases with Outlaw was that they paid the freight on my 2018 holiday season purchases! I think more companies should look at Free Shipping sales rather than discounting the product. In all honesty, my gear from Outlaw was both discounted and shipped free.
But how can companies move forward in light of the completely borked system right now? Prices are up for everything from the smallest component the manufacturer buys to the cost of shipping the already more expensive final product to the end user.

We might all hope to just get our product delivered in a timely manner, and without damage, now. Sh!t, now that I look at that, we might just be glad to be able to get something, Anything!, even if its delivered broken considering the supply chain issues.