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O2 Headphone Amp Premium Front Panels?

How much would you be willing to pay for such a product?

  • ~$20

    Votes: 3 14.3%

  • ~$15

    Votes: 5 23.8%

  • ~$10

    Votes: 11 52.4%

  • Not interested

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • Total voters
    21
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Yangoran

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Joined 2012
yzrandome.wordpress.com/
#1
I guess the O2 Amp is rather old news now but I want to know if there would be any interest from the community in a slightly more premium front panel for it. I'm not too happy with the front panel I received from JDSLabs and I just think it looks way nicer in the picture than it actually is.

The dimensions are based on the FrontPanelExpress file posted on NwAvGuy's blog. The part would likely be made of 12GA 304 stainless steel and the lettering and symbols would be actually physically engraved into the part rather than just printed onto the surface.

Unfortunately cost may be a serious barrier to this part ever coming into existence, as initial setup for CNC milling and engraving services is typically quite expensive. Unit price should scale well with quantity produced though which is why I'm asking how many people would actually be interested in such a product. (distributed via eBay most likely as I have an active seller account there)

Also note that the design isn't really finalized yet so if you have any suggestions (such as different material/finish or perhaps a different font) feel free to post below with your ideas.
 

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#4
Yangoran said:
Alright I just got these back from the shop and I posted up some images here:
YZRandomE: Objective2 Headphone Amplifier SS Front Panel
Looks pretty good in my opinion....though pretty expensive though I guess heh...
Click to expand...

Dang! Can't believe there's no interest. Perhaps needs a bit of marketing in the main o2 thread, old front panel groupbuy threads (lots of despairing bleatings there, I noticed), anythingbutipod, head-fi etc?
 
#6
Indeed I was a bit surprised by the utter lack of interest (seriously no one is even responding to the poll here!) but I suppose most people just don't want to spend more than $10 on their front panels. Either that or not as many people are building O2s as I had originally thought. I guess I haven't really posted around about it much either besides on NwAvGuy's blog and right here.

I doubt I will be able to get costs under $20 for production quantities of 50 or under anyway. For me I figure it's a good amp that deserves a nice front panel and audio was never a cheap hobby to begin with...

The SS finish is easier to scratch than the anodized/brushed aluminum but it generally shouldn't be an issue unless you open everything with knives like me...
 
#7
I've been looking into this again:
For a batch of 10 I can hit a $30 price point, for a batch of 50 I can hit a $15 price point, and for a batch of 100 I can hit a $10 price point.
The problem right now is that I don't know how many people would actually buy this thing, so I'm afraid of making 100 of them and getting stuck with a bunch. Are a lot of people still building O2s at all?
 
#9
Count my interest in (I was indeed looking for a couple of no-nonsense front panels) , but I guess shipping to EU might just cost a bomb :-/ . Do you have plans to produce a back panel with Mini USB and an line-out slot for ODAC+O2 ?
 
#10
I have no plans for making a back panel at the moment - I don't see much point in making one out of stainless steel since you don't really look at it anyway.
I do plan to draft one for the ODA once it comes out though.

I think shipping to the EU would be about $4-5 for an O2 panel - it isn't that large or that heavy of a package so First Class shipping isn't too absurd.
 
#17
Just got these in today and they're definitely looking good. I'm glad to have found a nice supplier for these finally and I'll definitely be using them when I design my ODA front panel as well. I'm trying to get rid of my older rev panels on eBay first, but I'll have listings up for these soon enough.

O2 Stainless Steel Front Panel pictures by Yangorang - Photobucket

IMG_20121016_202945.jpg
 
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