spwal said:I was just wondering why more people in general dont sell some of the things they make. Alot of them look just great, and probably sound great. i was wondering why people dont put them up for sale.
This is a "WTB: your nice amp" post
Thanks
Sean
I'm working on a decidedly non-revolutionary Gainclone design with a LM3875 and a single op-amp per channel. It (finally) works properly, and after I send out the PCB design to Olimex, I'll be selling them for about $200 for a complete amplifier.
(Please don't ban me! I'm using PCBs of my own design, the LM3875 datasheet's schematic, and a simple, un-regulated power supply. I'm not ripping off anyone else's work - just trying to make an honest buck.)
DonoMan said:
I happen to have a rather strong hatred of companies who clone obviously innovative mechanical designs. Much as I'd like to manufacture amps based on the MyRef design, it belongs to Mauro, and until I get his permission I won't be selling any (unless, of course, I've bought some Twisted Pear kits.)
That, and I've seen the savage beating that some far-east cloners have recieved on the Pass Labs forum.
As a side note, I intend on starting my own hi-fi company after I finish college. My buisness model is very simple: Build amplifiers that work well using as few parts as possible and using tested, proven designs. I'm working on a LM3886 + PGA2311 combination amplifier on a single board; while hardly innovative, it should offer very good performance for a very reasonable pricetag.
(Yes, I'm well aware that it's inferior to the products of Pass Labs and Peter Daniels' excellent Gainclones, but I'm going to be charging a much, much lower price than either of the above.)
Spasticteapot said:
So, I guess your Business Model is: selling amps that give more performance for the same/lower price than others. It is important to know where you will focus on if you want to be succesfull. People don't buy amps because they use using as few parts as possible or whether it has a single board or not.
My 2 eurocents worth.
Jan Didden
Spasticteapot said:
To include all the costs of doing business that means, including your time spent building them, that they should cost no more than $50-80 to build. You need to think about taxes, cost of business premises, bills, advertising, customer support, consumables, insurance, safety certification, a living wage for you, legal fees, it goes on and on. By all means go for it, but spend some time on your business model first. Get some help, certainly in the UK there are lots of organisations that will give you free advice on setting up a small business, and I'm sure that is the case in the USA as well.
A mini-amp for people to use between their iPod etc and speakers isn't a bad idea. The trick is to make it small enough, cute enough, and cheap enough to be competitive against what is already available.
Back to the original thread - Equipment built to order by hardcore DIYers has a longstanding tradition, but people aren't normally going to sell the stuff they originally built for themselves - you dont usually make any money, and if its only to recoup part of the parts cost its usually better to disassemble and recycle ... or keep around "just in case".
So rather than "Wanted : your amp." perhaps "Wanted: someone to build me an amp." would be a more productive approach. Be prepared however to pay a premium for the privilege of having quality work made at your express request.
Back to the original thread - Equipment built to order by hardcore DIYers has a longstanding tradition, but people aren't normally going to sell the stuff they originally built for themselves - you dont usually make any money, and if its only to recoup part of the parts cost its usually better to disassemble and recycle ... or keep around "just in case".
So rather than "Wanted : your amp." perhaps "Wanted: someone to build me an amp." would be a more productive approach. Be prepared however to pay a premium for the privilege of having quality work made at your express request.
rjm said:
The amplifier I'm working on is not just an iPod accessory - it's a proper, well-built amplifier. (Specifically, a clone of the critically acclaimed Gaincard from 47 labs.) Because I'm using surplus parts, I can afford to use WIMA metallized polypropylene capacitors for DC blocking instead of electrolytics, and for the sake of quality, I'm using 2% metal-film resistors for everything but the power supply. Even at $200, it's not a very bad deal, and competes well with Jolida's tube-mosfet hybrid amplifiers starting at $300
30 watts per channel is a conservative rating for a LM3886 gainclone, and that's more than enough for all but the least efficient pair of speakers.
To be honest, my amplifier is a a slightly inferior version of Peter Daniels' PATEK amplifier in pretty much every way, an amplifier with a nearly identical design but using higher-quality parts and machining. The PATEK costs five times as much, though - and I doubt I could hear the difference anyway.
As a seperate question, is it acceptable to sell amplifiers based on Jan's (41hz.com) kits? Full credit would be given to the original designers and producers, of course.
pinkmouse said:
I've already done exactly that. You're correct - it would be rude.
pinkmouse said:
I'm just a student! Although I do eventually hope to set up a proper buisness, for the time being audio is not my primary method of making money. (That would be computer repair.) It's more of a hobby than anything else; selling completed amplifiers leaves me money to get parts for the next one.
These are intended for people who know basic electronics and are familiar with amplifiers and their characteristics, but don't want to build one from scratch - think most of the people at Audiokarma.
Yes, but if you're selling a complete unit it has to be certified by the relevant bodies! Now if you were to do a parts kit, with an assembledPCB and the casework predrilled and ready to go with everything you need, then you would get away with it.
Oh and don't forget to cost your labour properly, if it takes you a day to do each amp, then you'd be better off getting a job behind the counter at Mc D's.
Oh and don't forget to cost your labour properly, if it takes you a day to do each amp, then you'd be better off getting a job behind the counter at Mc D's.
pinkmouse said:Yes, but if you're selling a complete unit it has to be certified by the relevant bodies! Now if you were to do a parts kit, with an assembledPCB and the casework predrilled and ready to go with everything you need, then you would get away with it.
Now THAT'S a good idea. I'll leave off the rubber feet and knobs, disconnect the power supply from the amplifier modules (they'd be attached via Molex), and leave the top off the case. Anyone who'd want to buy the amplifier would appreciate being able to look at the inside, anyway.
pinkmouse said:
Oh and don't forget to cost your labour properly, if it takes you a day to do each amp, then you'd be better off getting a job behind the counter at Mc D's.
Thankfully, Gainclones have very, very few parts. I bet that I could build an amp in an hour if I can get easy-to-use enclosures. I'm also thinking about using surface-mount components instead - once you get used to them, I'm told they're much faster, and 1% metal-film resistors are often much less expensive in SMD variants.
The estimated total cost per amp, assuming I use a Parts Express Avel transformer and parts at full cost from Mouser, is $120 with enclosure and Alps Blue Velvet potentiometer. That means $80 profit for 2 hours work - more, if I can build them fast enough.
This is really a hobby more than anything else, and I'm only going to make a few. I just figured that if I'm going to have an expensive hobby, it should be self-funding!
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