Starting a new speaker company

[MikeLaplante]

Hey,

About a year and half ago i started to think about getting in the audio business.Im currently in college taking marketing, management, accounting and finance classes.
My company would be based on the web, I would offer a at home 30 day trial so people can buy with more confidence.
There would be 3 series, obviously 3 different price range so people can buy depending on their budget.
To give you a idea, the price range would be around...
- ~500 for a single tower speaker
- ~1600 for a single tower speaker
- ~2500 for a single tower speaker

Each series would offer
-tower speaker
-bookshelf speaker
-center speaker
-surround speaker (similar design to the klipsch rs-42..52..62)
Subwoofer would definetly be a consideration.

Evertyhing will be made in canada so the quality control will be top notch.I will not be making the drivers.
Each series would be based on the scan peak illuminator, classic and discovery series.
They offer great product with a wide variety.
I will be assembling the crossover and speaker cabinet.
The speaker cabinets are not the normal simple square speaker, they have a nice simple design.
I have some rough sketch but i need to finalyse the dimension according to the drivers.
The first series will come with black ash finish and the option to get piano finish(black,white,light blue or red), the 2 other series will come with the piano finish.

I obviously still have a lot of work to do but its fun since this is a real passion for me.
Im looking to get any opinion good or bad and some advice.

I probably forgot to mention a few stuff, its getting late :P

Thanks and let me know what you think

[MikeLaplante]

Here are a pair of speaker cable that I made last week for my front speakers.
This can show you the kind of work that I do.

[talaerts]

Not to discourage you, but it's not as if there is a lack of speaker companies. Your designs need to be very good sounding (there is more to it than nicely soldering a cable), and preferably distinguish themselves from other brands visually and functionally. For example, just as an idea, create active tower speakers that can accept airplay music directly (most airplay speakers are at the low end).

[MikeLaplante]

Im aware that i need to come up with something that will make me different from other company, thats why im taking my time on doing research and trying stuff.

[norman bates]

I'd make bare wood speaker boxes (from ply) so people could buy their own fostex/audio nirvana/etc, and drop them in.

A problem would be that you would need a fe166e for the cutout size.

Perhaps even sell the boxes on Ebay.

Or have people send you their drivers and you make a box and put them in (flush would be even nicer).


norman

[JRKO]

You may want to try a hifi forum - You're asking committed DIY'ers about commercial speaker so you may not get many answers. After all we an build it for less than you can sell it!

check out these guys if you haven't already - Unity Audio and heres a review of their offerings at 6moons audio reviews: Unity Audio Whitewater, Inner Spirit & Clearwater They are your direct, established competition in Canada

You may want to try the multi-way forum (I didn't see you mention full range) although thats full of DIY'ers too

[lowpoke]

Doing well in business isn't necessarily all about having the greatest idea or the best product. It's knowing how to market your goods and/or services properly and making sure your message is on point.
You should put much thought into this or seek assistance from a professional with your brand and marketing strategy.
Good luck, I hope you do well!

(Nice looking cables by the way.)

[MikeLaplante]

Originally Posted by JRKO

You may want to try a hifi forum - You're asking committed DIY'ers about commercial speaker so you may not get many answers. After all we an build it for less than you can sell it!

check out these guys if you haven't already - Unity Audio and heres a review of their offerings at 6moons audio reviews: Unity Audio Whitewater, Inner Spirit & Clearwater They are your direct, established competition in Canada

You may want to try the multi-way forum (I didn't see you mention full range) although thats full of DIY'ers too

Thanks for the link. I realised I was in the full range section after I posted my stuff -.- I should of went in the multi-way forum.

[rjbond3rd]

My recommendation would be to focus on one single design, instead of three.

Even focusing on one single design is quite a challenge! It sounds like you are thinking excellent materials + workmanship + design will be sufficient. that's a craftsman's approach and it doesn't (usually) scale. But in my limited experience, a company (as opposed to a craftsman) would require a technological breakthrough, which could potentially take years of R&D. I'm not discouraging you by the way! Just chiming in.

If you read the history of Klipsch, it's very revealing as to what's required to launch a speaker company. PWK had a novel concept + excellent execution (Klipschorn), and he still had to work at it for decades designing his second through fifth speakers (LaScala, Cornwall, Heresy, Jubilee), and the last wasn't (yet?) a commercial success, perhaps because the market had shifted (but it still has its loyal diehard fans, just hasn't sold that many units compared to the Klipschorn).

In fact, he spent much of the latter part of his life trying to top his original creation, which he finally did while in his 90's (!)

So my advice is to consider what role a technological breakthrough will play in your company, vs. sheer excellent craftsmanship (which tends not to scale but isn't a reason to -not- go for it!)

[tuxedocivic]

You're entering an extremely competitive industry.

Could you post a picture of one of your designs?

Why limit yourself to scan speak drivers only? Are you planning on buying them off the shelf, or getting the developed for your oem application.