It looks like Tripath may be dead...they are looking for a third party to buy their assets/continue thier operations - read link below. Too bad.
These Tripath chips may be collectors items someday should they not find a suitable buyer...
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061229/20061229005245.html?.v=1
TI/CIRRUS LOGIC/NATIONAL SEMI - WHERE ARE YOU?
These Tripath chips may be collectors items someday should they not find a suitable buyer...
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061229/20061229005245.html?.v=1
TI/CIRRUS LOGIC/NATIONAL SEMI - WHERE ARE YOU?
As I said before, Dr Tripathi may be a engineering genius, but a not-so-good businessman.
As a stockholder, I got out 1/2 my investment before the stock tanked, but I have quite a bit still...and most likely will be worthless in a few months...Not happy, but I knew it was a gamble.
But then again, memories and lessons are priceless...
As a stockholder, I got out 1/2 my investment before the stock tanked, but I have quite a bit still...and most likely will be worthless in a few months...Not happy, but I knew it was a gamble.
But then again, memories and lessons are priceless...
not a surprise. i thought their products are OK at best. The T-amp thing is just hype that happens to have a large following. but it is still a hype.
there is such a gold rush in class D now that it wouldn't surprise me of most of the "Class D" companies die in the next couple of years once the hype wears out.
there is such a gold rush in class D now that it wouldn't surprise me of most of the "Class D" companies die in the next couple of years once the hype wears out.
right about now...
might be a Factor...
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=121527&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=903643&
might be a Factor...
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=121527&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=903643&
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fokker said:
It WAS hyped. The fact that it has lasted this long and gathered such a following indicates that it's a little more than just hype at this point. The price/performance was (still is I suppose) through the roof compared to most every other amp out there.
Tripath stuff has been around for a while before the little Sonic Impact amp was brought to the market. Like john said, it is unfortunate that Dr. T doesn't seem to be a very good businessman.
I certainly agree with Brian. Hyped they were, but not without reason.
The Tripath chips offer a LOT of listening pleasure for the money. I don't care for the stock Sonic Impact at all, but modded, or better yet, built into a good amp, these chips sound wonderful. Too many people with good ears and experience like them for it to have been just a fad.
Yes, sort of reminds me of James B. Lansing.
The chips will fall where they may. There will certainly be a shake out in the Class-D gold rush. But I will have to agree with several old hands in the audio biz who say (privately at least) "with Class-D sounding this good already, what's the point of continuing with Class-AB?"
The Tripath chips offer a LOT of listening pleasure for the money. I don't care for the stock Sonic Impact at all, but modded, or better yet, built into a good amp, these chips sound wonderful. Too many people with good ears and experience like them for it to have been just a fad.
Yes, sort of reminds me of James B. Lansing.
The chips will fall where they may. There will certainly be a shake out in the Class-D gold rush. But I will have to agree with several old hands in the audio biz who say (privately at least) "with Class-D sounding this good already, what's the point of continuing with Class-AB?"
My opinion is that Tripath chips are still the best in class D.
They reinvented class D with a bunch of patents in years 1999-2004, and made a lot of money:
http://www.tripathpower.com/
The nude truth is that there are lots of class D chips, much cheaper than Tripath ones: who cares if sound is wore?
Counsumer Market wants millions pieces at low price. Quality is a secondary option. Nobody can make money with few dollars chips sold in many thousand dollars high end amps.
P.S.
Profusionplc www.profusionplc.com produces autonomously the best Tripath chip, the TA0105A/TDA2500: its name is RA0105. It will be avalaible in the future because used in PA amps, but it costs 100$.
They reinvented class D with a bunch of patents in years 1999-2004, and made a lot of money:
http://www.tripathpower.com/
The nude truth is that there are lots of class D chips, much cheaper than Tripath ones: who cares if sound is wore?
Counsumer Market wants millions pieces at low price. Quality is a secondary option. Nobody can make money with few dollars chips sold in many thousand dollars high end amps.
P.S.
Profusionplc www.profusionplc.com produces autonomously the best Tripath chip, the TA0105A/TDA2500: its name is RA0105. It will be avalaible in the future because used in PA amps, but it costs 100$.
john65b said:
the interesting things from that filing:
a) they have ran out of liquidity since Aug, and couldn't even pay their auditors;
b) they have tried to sell their assets to 20+ potential buyers for over 5 months, and no buyer yet.
c) all they are asking is somewhere less than $4.7 million for the company! it is amazing that a company that is the heart and soul of "revolutionizing" the multi-billion dollar audio industry cannot sell itself for $4.7 million?
d) if they find a buyer, they will likely file. and if they cannot, the creditors would just liquidate, presummably for pennies on the dollar.
it doesn't sound like the t-amp fans have succedded in saving the company.
Re: Re: The End For Tripath??? Say It Ain't So!
if you go through the math, the principle amoutn of the debenture is actuall $3.5 million. and they mentioned that the debenture holders will likely receive a fraction of that amount from a sale of tripath's assets.
and even at that price, they have trouble finding a buyer.
fokker said:
if you go through the math, the principle amoutn of the debenture is actuall $3.5 million. and they mentioned that the debenture holders will likely receive a fraction of that amount from a sale of tripath's assets.
and even at that price, they have trouble finding a buyer.
pinkmouse said:
with a PP&E of just over $700K, I am less confident if they own any "premises".
and it sounds like they have shut down the entire operation and laid off the staff to reduce payroll expenses.
I can see someone buying them for the IP portfolio, or to revolutionize the audio industry with those little wonder chips,
.the financials for this company is just awful:
a) gross margin about 20%. for a fabless semi, it should be in the 50%+ range.
b) R&D + SG&A is more than its sales. you cannot survive too long that way.
c) they have about $5 million in inventory as of june. so maybe we will get a blow-out sales of their chips?
this is a werid company. they appointed their controller as acting CFO on 8/9/06. two days later, she told them that she would take that position until 8/30/06. how did that happen?
a) gross margin about 20%. for a fabless semi, it should be in the 50%+ range.
b) R&D + SG&A is more than its sales. you cannot survive too long that way.
c) they have about $5 million in inventory as of june. so maybe we will get a blow-out sales of their chips?
this is a werid company. they appointed their controller as acting CFO on 8/9/06. two days later, she told them that she would take that position until 8/30/06. how did that happen?
john65b said:
it is a tall ask. sounds like if the company has some IP issues and if they find a buyer for the IP portfolio, they will have to wash their liabilities through a bankruptcy filing which will take at least half to a million dollars off the table. a huge sum given that they couldn't fetch <3.5 million on the market after going to 20+ potential buyers for over 5 montnhs now.
in my view, tripath's death is due to its poor market positioning.
class d's selling point is its efficiency (its sound quality is either no better than traditional class ab or the mass market doesn't care). effciency is very important in the battery-powered portable markets: cell phones, laptops, ipods, etc. where power output is <1w (<100mw mostly). that's where smart guys like TI/National play: low-power class D chips in tiny packages.
high efficiency can also be quite valuable in very high power output (PA for example) as it saves significant money and footprint from heatsink and output transistors. However, those guys have moved to their own class D / H / G designs and need the design to be a differentiating factor so they cannot use or aren't willing to use independent chips.
in the <100w market, well, class D's efficiency gain isn't significant enough. while Class D can achieve *maximum* efficiency of >80% at full power, its efficency at lower output levels are significantly less than that. Class D needs expensive inductors (usually two per channel in a BTL configuration), and engineers have to be reeducated to deal with EMI issues. part count is about the same between a class AB chip solution (3875 for example) and a Class D chip solution.
the same thing can be said about UcD.
what may have value is for someone to come up with a scalable fully integrated solution that takes an input (analog or digital) and sends it all the way to the output stage (either outboard or integrated) + filter, similar to the class AB chip amps.
class d's selling point is its efficiency (its sound quality is either no better than traditional class ab or the mass market doesn't care). effciency is very important in the battery-powered portable markets: cell phones, laptops, ipods, etc. where power output is <1w (<100mw mostly). that's where smart guys like TI/National play: low-power class D chips in tiny packages.
high efficiency can also be quite valuable in very high power output (PA for example) as it saves significant money and footprint from heatsink and output transistors. However, those guys have moved to their own class D / H / G designs and need the design to be a differentiating factor so they cannot use or aren't willing to use independent chips.
in the <100w market, well, class D's efficiency gain isn't significant enough. while Class D can achieve *maximum* efficiency of >80% at full power, its efficency at lower output levels are significantly less than that. Class D needs expensive inductors (usually two per channel in a BTL configuration), and engineers have to be reeducated to deal with EMI issues. part count is about the same between a class AB chip solution (3875 for example) and a Class D chip solution.
the same thing can be said about UcD.
what may have value is for someone to come up with a scalable fully integrated solution that takes an input (analog or digital) and sends it all the way to the output stage (either outboard or integrated) + filter, similar to the class AB chip amps.
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