Trying to Enter the "HiFi" Bizz

Great post TWL.

Your advice is pretty much the key to successful marketing of all kinds of goods. I can think of a few audio manufacturers that have faltered, due to wandering too far away from their core ideas.

I think it is also advisable to assume this new audio venture would NOT produce a profit for at least three to five years. Success may be tremendous, but seldom without a long wait.

How quaint: Here is some bad news for you. There are roughly 350 loudspeaker manufacturers (50-75 new each year). Most have minimal technical competance and even less capacity to manufacture. All but a scant few rely on outsourcing for drivers, xover components, connectors and often enclosures. Have you ever wondered why B&W, Magnepan, Thiel and Martin-Logan enjoy such primacy? Easy...they build most if not all of the subassemblies in their products. Get it? They are real manufacturers. If you want to build speakers as a hobby, enjoy. If you want to build more me-too 6-sided boxes using drivers from Morel, Seas, Dyanudio or whatever, spare yourself the inevitable financial loss and time. Here is the one question that I ask everyone who is thinking about getting into the high end as a manufacturer: Why should anyone buy your product over an existing manufacturer? I would be happy to respond to your rationale should you be bold enough to post it here. I am not trying to rain on your parade, but merely to add some much needed realism to the discussion...hope to hear back from you as you progress.

Ultra - while your points are well-taken for the most part, the fact remains that new speaker manufacturers do actually sell their wares. If B&W, Magnepan, Theil, Martin Logan, etc. - the "establishment" as it were - had such a stranglehold on the market, how on earth can we account for the success of such excellent little upstarts as Joseph Audio, Meadowlark, Silverline, Gallo Acoustics, Talon, Gershman, Norh, or even Egglestonworks? Everyone starts somewhere ...

If this guy has the stones to pursue this avenue and he has something of value to offer (unique design, bang for buck, etc) and he has the money and patience, and he has the social skills (and it does take diplomacy), he's got a chance at making a living. There's always room for something new, and usually room for something old that's just been repackaged ... many if not most speakers on the decks these days are something old that's been repackaged.

So why would someone buy this guy's speaker vs. one of the established names? Because they are already buying other stuff - the pattern already exists. What are the chances of our friend usurping the Bose market? Infinitessimally small, probably. But with the right combo of attributes (cojones, money, design, luck, industry relationships, money, cojones, Ramen Noodles, etc) he'll be able to make a living at it eventually.

It can take years to become an overnight success, but it can be done.

There are many successful speaker companies that use off the shelf parts. It's not necessarily the parts, but how you combine them. And let's not forget the art of crossover design.
This guy could get it right, and start the next Merlin. Cut him some slack.

You guys have forgotten the most succesful of all times, Dr. Bose...

Make up a theory, back it up with the most clever marketing and you'll be RICH!!!