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In Reply to: RE: I believe Roger is correct on the repair rate... posted by Mark Man on March 29, 2014 at 14:37:47
The 'fee' for the upgrade is probably a flatrate.
Just like when you take your car in for a given repair. They'll check the 'book' and charge you book time….regardless of how long it really takes. A good mechanic makes lots of money by being paid basically piecework per repair and BEATING book time. A friend of mine, MANY years ago started as a car mechanic. His first task was installing Air Conditioners in Subaru. The 'book' time, IIRC was something like 5 hours. Even as a novice (albeit Talented) he could do one in 3 1/2 hours. The pro guys? About 45 minutes quicker which meant they could do 3 in an 8 hour day. I don't know if my buddy EVER figured out how he was 'wasting' 45 minutes!
I suspect Magnepan is simply charging some kind of flat rate for the upgrade and not actual hours or whatever.
And until there is Greater Disclosure, that's all 'ya got to go on.
10 hours? that's 5 hours per panel or ONE complete 'person-day'. Imagine how much a trained person with ALL the right stuff and perfect working conditions could get done in that amount of time. I know working in sub-optimal conditions, it takes me about 2x the amount of time anyone else would take to do the same task with proper tools and setup. or even 3x! OUCH.
Too much is never enough
Follow Ups:
Yes, I do agree about the "flat rate"...
I have estimated large scale precast concrete projects my whole life...from production to installation...so I have always looked productivity per man hour...now add that to an entire crew of people...
then add a 100 ton crane...we are operating at about $2200 per hour...if we set more than 3 panels an hour, we are in the black, if we set one, we are not...
My point on the hourly rate and man hours, if it involves different stations, it does not take much, to get to 10 hours of labor with multiple people working on them....they are not paying their employees $50 per hour, but as a "shop rate", it is not out of line at all IMHO...
The two ladies in refurbishing, that is 16 hours per day of highly skilled workers, as you stated; with the right tools and ideal working environment...they can really crank things out...
But since we do not know $hit, of what actually is being "upgraded" and what it involves, it is all conjecture as I also stated...someone did look at the internal cost of doing this upgrade....said we won't lose money doing it $500...it will cover our costs and "should" please our customers that we can improve a current model without them having to buy new speakers....well there is a slippery slope...as this post has proven...
People for years have complained about how Magnepan does NOT do any upgrades...instead, they let the models run for years, until they feel it is a significant enough change/design to warrant a new model...
When I bought my 3.7's, I felt very confident that I would not have to wonder or worry about a 3.8 for years and years...historically speaking, why wouldn't I think that...so yes, like the majority of 3.7 owners I was pissed...who wouldn't be...
The biggest rub of this whole thing....!@#$%* shipping, what do are overseas friends do???? My friend Hasse in Sweden...3.7 owner...
Is this something that a qualified dealer could do??? Because of the Maggie Code of Silence, beyond ridiculous IMHO...With JA ASKING Wendell to review a pair...then getting told no, because of the testing and not wanting their dispersion characteristic published??!!?? Really???
Not looking at what a rave review would do for sales. I am guessing the people at KEF with their LS50 are getting maximum mileage out their review and product of the year...what did that do for their bottom line???
DIY tweekers, were pissed with the series x-over in the .7 models because...no bi-amping, no bi-wiring, not as tweeker friendly as previous models...as of yet...
I personally would have thought by now, that someone here would have ripped open a pair to take a look and possibly do some upgrades on their own...swapping out x-over parts...
Quick upgrade story...I had a CJ 17LS, as soon as I got it, they came out with 17LS II, similar to Waz's story...I called CJ and just happened to get Lew Johnson on the phone, (MN boy), so I started shooting the breeze with him...by the time I was done talking, he agreed to take my old preamp in on a trade and sell me a knew one for minimal $$$...no local dealers anywhere in the Midwest at that time...so he was ok selling it to me direct....which he did not like, but said he would make an exception with me...its a MN thing...
thanks
Mark
If the mod has multiple tasks which can be done in-parallel, than put several people on it and proceed. If it can only be done 'in series'…..one person probably will prevail.
With a pair of panels? You can have 2 people doing 1 panel each…and do 2 pair per day if the specualtion on labor rates and such are correct.
As long as the speaker has those friction slip on tabs, crossover mods are as simple as disconnecting the crossover and doing as you will….even to the extent of retrofitting a x-over from the 3.6 and will be limited only by the modder's imagination and initiative.
Too much is never enough
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