what would you like to see happen in audio and video?

[TLS Guy]

Hi-Fi brick and mortar stores can barely stay open as it is. You must want miracles.

The real factor it seems to me is the seemingly purposeful reduction in performance of all speakers in low price brackets. This is a manufacturer/market issue, however.

I see no reason why a high volume manufacturer could not have a WORLD CLASS tower speaker retailing for $1500 USD/pair. It would be impossible for small or even medium volume manufacturers to try it, but a company like Harman, Polk, etc. should be able to pull it off, IMO, based on what I have seen done in the 'budget' speakers today.

-Chris

To make a decent speaker you really have to want to do it. I don't think good speakers can be designed by committee.

Building a decent non resonant cabinet cheaply is non easy. Then a big problem gets to be the crossover, especially inductor quality. Once you have small miserable iron cored inductors with small gauge wire, there is no resurrection.

So to make a mass produced speaker, you need relatively wide band drivers, with no break up modes or severe response irregularities then can work with simple crossovers that need few components. That way you could afford quality parts.

I think this would be a very tall order.

I'm firmly of the view now, that if we could get geared to pre pros, you could mass produce better active speakers for lower net cost. Modern electronic board manufacture seems now to have become unbelievably cheap.

 

[majorloser]

This is my idea for the perfect movie!


<object width="512" height="296 "><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/aN5I6jQtBoY2mm9-KouQpw"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/aN5I6jQtBoY2mm9-KouQpw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" width="512" height="296"></embed></object>

 

[majorloser]

And bring back some of the classics is film production

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/k_B_n-Rbros&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/k_B_n-Rbros&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

 

[highfigh]

Heck, I can remember stuffing 3 150mb drives in a 486 First dvd writer taken 3 hrs to burn a movie Usenet being king

Oh, yeah? Well......

I had a customer who was the first Apple dealer in Milwaukee and possibly Wisconsin. I still see him around- his partners squeezed him out of the company. Nice, the way money doesn't change people, eh?

When I was in school, we used punch cards and used interactive Fortran. The accounting students then and in high school used Fortran and C+.

 

[highfigh]

I would like to see speaker retailers stop marking their products up 50%

I'll make a deal with you. Go into this business and sell speakers, or anything else, with a minimal markup and see how long you survive. If you last more than a year, I'll buy dinner.

You have obviously never owned a business or worked in retail.

Do you complain when a restaurant charges 3-4 times their cost for the food you eat?

 

[mtrycrafts]

I'd like to see all those snake oil and voodoo peddlers out of business

 

[highfigh]

I love the tags for this thread.

Trollin, trollin, trollin on a river....

Id dat John Foggitty & Creedance Clearwater Survival? Dat's a good goop!

 

[yepimonfire]

someone gave me a very very old laptop that was 40 pounds, had an orange and black screen, 16mb of ram, 30mb of HD space and one of those big 5" (or around that) floppys.

 

[highfigh]

Hi-Fi brick and mortar stores can barely stay open as it is. You must want miracles.

The real factor it seems to me is the seemingly purposeful reduction in performance of all speakers in low price brackets. This is a manufacturer/market issue, however.

I see no reason why a high volume manufacturer could not have a WORLD CLASS tower speaker retailing for $1500 USD/pair. It would be impossible for small or even medium volume manufacturers to try it, but a company like Harman, Polk, etc. should be able to pull it off, IMO, based on what I have seen done in the 'budget' speakers today.

-Chris

$1500 is pretty low, especially if the speakers make more than one stop before reaching the customer. Distribution costs money, which you know. Obviously, the tricky part is ramping up production numbers without the quality taking a dump.

I think the real reason is that they can get people to shell out more than that and since they can, they don't want to sell a world class speaker for $1500. Where's the mystique in that? You know a story has to go along with anything that's really great.

 

[highfigh]

i was around when a huge HD was 9gb
what MBs where to me then are now GBs

Look up 'Elcassette'. We sold those when I got into selling audio.

 

[yepimonfire]

one thing i would like to see is labels and producers coming out with more 5-7 channel music.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm very happy...

I'm very happy with DTS-HD MA.

I'm very happy with Dolby TrueHD.

I'm very happy with 1080p.

I'm very happy with HTPC.

I don't want anything changed.

 

[Seth=L]

More laser cats.

 

[yepimonfire]

zomg! i want one!

 

[yepimonfire]

this thread has gone sci-fi

now it is time to shut it down or i will crush your throat with my force powers.

 

[WmAx]

$1500 is pretty low, especially if the speakers make more than one stop before reaching the customer. Distribution costs money, which you know. Obviously, the tricky part is ramping up production numbers without the quality taking a dump.

I have extensive knowledge of loudspeaker design and the associated perceptual research. I have seen products in the last few years, when built by high volume manufacturers, that would have been impossible a few years ago. I estimate the $1500 as a realistic number for a world class performance speaker based on using this mass production and latest advancements in loudspeaker quality control/production techniques.

Take the Infinity Primus 362; it's drivers are of good enough quality for a world class speaker, though it's execution is subpar overall. It needs, of course, an added capable low distortion LF driver, a better crossover with some more correction filters and a 4th channel to add the LF. It needs to dump all electrolytic caps for plastic film types(for reliability). It needs to address resonance issues. It can certainly use a wider dispersion tweeter. But I think all of these things (and real veneer) can be done, with the mass production capabilities that a large corp. like Harman can manage to pull off and reduce production costs substantially.

My extensive analysis and modification work on the P362 for Jerry Love has really got me thinking about these issues. Of course, small scale modification ends up much higher in cost per unit, but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean to discuss what a major corp. could potentially pull off today.

As for the reasons this is NOT done, I'm not one to ask.

-Chris

 

[JerryLove]

My extensive analysis and modification work on the P362 for Jerry Love has really got me thinking about these issues.

Really loving those BTW: I've got "claibrated mic" on my "to buy" list, and will work up a review for the fun of it when I can include in-room behaviors.

 

[chadburger]

I wish a motorizied screen that could auto mask for content (16x9 to 235.1 and such) didnt cost an arm and a leg. And that Anamorphic wasnt such a hassle and expense.

 

[bandphan]

I'll make a deal with you. Go into this business and sell speakers, or anything else, with a minimal markup and see how long you survive. If you last more than a year, I'll buy dinner.

You have obviously never owned a business or worked in retail.

Do you complain when a restaurant charges 3-4 times their cost for the food you eat?

I whole heartedly agree. Many people can figure out the cost to manufacture a 1 speaker, but no concept of distribution, marketing, employees, r&D and thats just on the manufactures side. Then you have distributors and sales reps. Then you have the B&M stores that have ADV, rent/overhead, inventory, employees, ect. Its a nice thing that we have ID companies that offer great products at perceived value prices Most factories protect their dealers as to ensure long term business. Take someone like Emotiva or Outlaw or Oppo, if they didnt have big oem customers could they continue to bring products to market at such affordable prices? When we purchase from ID companies their profits are close to that of a retail store, just take out all the steps in the middle and end and they still make their margins. Companies are in business to make money, granted some overly greedy.. pigs get feed hogs get slaughtered, just look at lexicon

 

[lsiberian]

To make a decent speaker you really have to want to do it. I don't think good speakers can be designed by committee.

Building a decent non resonant cabinet cheaply is non easy. Then a big problem gets to be the crossover, especially inductor quality. Once you have small miserable iron cored inductors with small gauge wire, there is no resurrection.

So to make a mass produced speaker, you need relatively wide band drivers, with no break up modes or severe response irregularities then can work with simple crossovers that need few components. That way you could afford quality parts.

I think this would be a very tall order.

I'm firmly of the view now, that if we could get geared to pre pros, you could mass produce better active speakers for lower net cost. Modern electronic board manufacture seems now to have become unbelievably cheap.

I really want to go active, but the cost is prohibitive for the amps required. I suppose I'll have to go Passive. Of course the inductors cost a lot of money.