SB Acoustics Satori Monitor

[5th element]

Sounds promising! I know the final BE product isn't toxic, but I think Scan are playing it safe by not offering a replacement. The tweeter does after all have guidelines (send back to Scan) on the back should you wish to dispose of one.

[tvrgeek]

Originally Posted by gornir

Does anyone know the estimated retail price?

I might buy a pair just to test it!

/Göran

Post 197. 120 euros I found on the web.

[tvrgeek]

Originally Posted by 5th element

Sounds promising! I know the final BE product isn't toxic, but I think Scan are playing it safe by not offering a replacement. The tweeter does after all have guidelines (send back to Scan) on the back should you wish to dispose of one.

OSHA might dispute that. We had a big to-do with our capstan wheels. Our contention was not to soak them in your Coke or grind them up and snort them, but we were told to use plastic gloves. They were actually anodized and had a plastic coating on part of them, so no metal was actually exposed. Whatever that may be, you would not want them in an incenarator or landfill.

[5th element]

Originally Posted by tvrgeek

Post 197. 120 euros I found on the web.

I think Goran was referring to the new Scan BE dome, not the Satori

[tvrgeek]

Sorry. Add a zero?

[Joachim Gerhard]

I have also this for comparison :Speaker Building Supplies from Madisound

[5th element]

Originally Posted by tvrgeek

Sorry. Add a zero?

Ironically that wasn't too far away from the truth. Solen has them listed as $585, so almost $1200 for a pair. Granted that is in Canadian dollars.

Joachim, having worked in the business, how much do drivers actually cost at a wholesale level?

[Joachim Gerhard]

That depends on how much you buy and if you buy standard or a special version.
I am not in the position to tell but there is a very good margin.
In general i would say that most of the money goes into the cabinet and marketing.
A few companies use expensive drivers but then we are talking about speakers for more then 10.000,-¢.
The margins are even higher in Europe. When i compare prices at Madisound and a big German outlet like Intertechnik you can say that what it costs in $ in the US it costs in € in Europe.

[tvrgeek]

Having been in the manufacturing business, it is no surprise to me to know the unit cost vs the retail. The number of people who need to get paid is amazing.

What is totally amazing is you can but a solar powered calculator in the drug store for $5 retail. Impossible. Add up the number of parts, number of distributors, labor, shipping etc. Flat can't be done. If I am paying $100 retail for a driver, it had better cost the OEM less than $10, or he won't be in business very long. $5 would not surprise me. Their payoff is the "special" version may cost $12, but they get $200.

[5th element]

I think what bothers me the most about driver pricing is in something like the L15>W15 from SEAS. One costs 2.5 times that of the other which does not represent anything close to the extra required to make the excel. For all intents and purposes they are the same driver, except for the cone material, the extra copper in the gap and the copper phase plug.