I feel like I will be looking for a new job in 2025 anyway so I wouldn't be giving up anything steady to give it a try anyway.
I'm a cabinet maker by trade and can do the whole process from designing the cad drawings to toolpathing the CNC router then running it assembling the final product. I will probably have to take on other cabinet making work on top of the speakers to make ends meet.
I guess it depends on what your definition of success is. Mine would be making something I'm proud on my own terms in my own space in my own time.
I'm a cabinet maker by trade and can do the whole process from designing the cad drawings to toolpathing the CNC router then running it assembling the final product. I will probably have to take on other cabinet making work on top of the speakers to make ends meet.
I guess it depends on what your definition of success is. Mine would be making something I'm proud on my own terms in my own space in my own time.
Well, when you are learning, following rules is a sound idea.
You mean stumbling. Falling can be drastic especially if off a cliff.
Depends completely on the failure.
I know you geared your response towards a type of pep talk but to the uninitiated, that can be dangerous.
Once the stars in my eyes stopped flashing I listened even deeper to those in the know. It wasn't long before reality bitch slapped me into submission. With my tail between my legs I thought long and hard about a business plan. Turns out it was as far away from audio as one could imagine. Because of that, I have had a relatively easy ride and am able to retire comfortably.
If you're working in a large shop, then there could be the option of making boxes after hours or on the weekend. Obviously, you'd need to be on good terms with the owner.
jeff
Your cabinet making ability could possibly be the key to getting into the speaker business. It's rather hard to compete with some of the best on just audio performance, but offering a beautiful cabinet combined with top level performance might just get you the attention and difference you need. Maybe some exotic woods for the cabinet that most others wouldn't attempt to use. Or something that just says "WOW" when someone looks at your cabinets. They say, "I want to be looking at those in my audio room."
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Aren't rules made to be broken, have you ever broken any?
Life's too short to follow rules and be boring.
😉
Perhaps this project will be of interest to you, Happy New Year 😊
“MTM Speaker - New Markaudio MA200 8" Driver'
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/new-markaudio-ma200-8-driver.416282/post-7874392
Attachments
Also, there are high-end DACs in the works - mostly inspired by the community here. OEM/ODM versions and customisation possible :
Perhaps our valued members missed the part about ‘when you are learning’
You listen and you listen again. You listen hard. There is much free information available to you from those who want you to succeed. The personal mentors are your best resource. They will stick with you if you stick with yourself.
You renegades go ahead and spout some line from a B movie. At some point, you stop with the conjecture and you start moving forward. If you are ready, the steps forward far outnumber those backward.
I am an okay example of this philosophy, having made my own way for the past 44 years.
That said, I was lucky enough to hang my skates up yesterday.
You listen and you listen again. You listen hard. There is much free information available to you from those who want you to succeed. The personal mentors are your best resource. They will stick with you if you stick with yourself.
You renegades go ahead and spout some line from a B movie. At some point, you stop with the conjecture and you start moving forward. If you are ready, the steps forward far outnumber those backward.
I am an okay example of this philosophy, having made my own way for the past 44 years.
That said, I was lucky enough to hang my skates up yesterday.
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My skates got yanked out from under me by the CEO of Motorola in one two page email over 10 years ago. The abbreviated story read like, "You are old, have worked here 41 years, and make too much money. You can take a year's pay and go away or stay where you are and be laid off with 2 weeks' severance pay and a boot print on your backside." I took the money and ran 1100 miles north. A few months after I left, 350+ people were laid off.
Mine reads:
You are old, your spirit is waning after 30 plus years of the same thing, you no longer look safe on a ladder, you made enough money, you need to head to pasture while you can still bend over and feed.
BTW, Take the Mrs. with you, she has earned her dues as well.
Get in the trailer and just keep going.
You are old, your spirit is waning after 30 plus years of the same thing, you no longer look safe on a ladder, you made enough money, you need to head to pasture while you can still bend over and feed.
BTW, Take the Mrs. with you, she has earned her dues as well.
Get in the trailer and just keep going.
BTW, hanging my skates up means I took myself off active duty, but will need to fill in under certain circumstances. I didn't close or sell the company, I left it in the hands of the inmates, so hopefully they can finally start to earn a decent wage.
That depends on how large you want the business to be and whether you can find some good subcontractors.
Schiit Audio started in June of 2010. It's hard to argue that they aren't successful. But yeah... Most businesses fail within the first three years.
Tom
@Cal Weldon Congratulations on your retirement. I pulled the plug at the beginning of the pandemic and certainly don't regret it.
Hi,
Yes, revelant for me. But. There are a lot of why's. First, as mentioned previously, many brands have been raised and are non existent now. With what you want to compete on the market, if every shop is literally flooded with dozens of brands being sold. There is oversupply of loudspeakers now.
Traditional amplifiers and CDs - I'm the world where most people are moving into all-in-one solution, where they want a sold manufacturer with solid software, Yamaha and Onkyo are kings.
How your amplifier will differentiate from other 50 amplifiers on the shop shelf?
Most of the well known brands that are several years old and been always in the industry either were insolvent, or had to be sold due to financial troubles. Yes it includes B&W and Dynaudio too.
Do you know that 90% of the worlds R&D upon raw driver cones is being done by literally one company, and that in Europe ther is one company supplying most of the market for raw drivers cones? Sorry I do not remember that German name now.
What is the point of making another 50-100W solid state amplifier or TMWW speakers, if the shelves are full of them?
Yes indeed a lot of brands have gworn in the last years, but these are mainly chinese ones connected with streaming devices and mobile listening (DEC'S and headphones).
Yes you can do a new hi-end brand, and this is the only place where I see possibility to do something different. Mass market it too flooded, unless you already have a great factory like Pylon Audio or Tonsil.
This is EXTREMELY SMALL environment actually. You can find manufacturers being on the forums themselves and talking with people.
Don't take me wrong. I know it's like fulfilling your dream going on your own, making your own.
Much easier if you are insider. But have you thought what exactly kind of audio equipment you want to do? Who do you want to serve? Who is your customer and what are their expectations? What about building distribution, who will finance the company in the first year or two?
And most important - what is the value that will make your speaker special? Being expensive or looking good is not enough today - as you know you can find top build quality in mass produced loudspeakers for cheap like 2k euros.
Sorry for it being so long, but this is how I see the market and business ideas.
But good thing is: audiophiles love new things, new hype so here is chance 😉
Scott must have built and measured these already?
I have a CNC router and a calibrated mic 😀
I believe designed only but not physically tested so the plan to build accordingly and then do some measurements/listening tests. Hopefully, Scott could help us fine tune for best performance 🙂