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In Reply to: RE: Sorry to be a wet blanket posted by John Marks on September 07, 2015 at 11:53:26
Audio is a very tough business these days, and loudspeakers are extra tough because the cost of entry is not all that high. Five thousand bucks later I can have prototypes and a trademark and a room at a high-end audio fest. I might get lucky (speaking only hypothetically).
The other problem today is most people can look at your speaker and figure out what the materials cost unless you do something very custom. The only thing that gives your box more value than that is people's trust in your voicing skills.
Follow Ups:
Thanks for the thoughtful post...
I agree that voicing is important, but there is more to to it than that.
I think that people also have to trust you to deliver a Value Proposition that makes sense for them.
And of course, that is a very personal thing.
I am a big fan of the Value Proposition of Harbeth's P3ESR, which is an LS3/5A descendant. I think that its heritage and looks and build quality easily justify its price, which is over $2000 a pair.
Another person might loudly scoff.
That person might say that the only speaker that makes sense for him is the new entry-level Sonus Faber that has replaceable side panels and which retails for $900/pair.
I think that in today's marketplace, a speaker has to do more than sound good or even look good. It has to warm the cockles of the customer's heart in a certain way.
For customers of Merlin Music Systems, I think that the personal connection with the builder and the aura of exclusivity and the sense that buying that speaker means that you make up your own mind and march to the beat of a different drummer all were part of the value proposition over and above how the speakers sounded.
Ciao,
John
Thanks for the reply. I agree there's more to it than what I stated.
Another aspect I forgot is the furniture/bling aspect (which you alluded to with the Sonus Faber). Companies like Salk make beautiful customized cabinets and for some people, the fact that there's a competent speaker design included is quite secondary.
My main point is that unless you're a really big end-to-end speaker maker, it's not hard to figure out where you get your parts and what you probably pay for them. This is actually a good thing since there have been companies who bought $1.50 drivers and hid behind a premium image (I have 2 names in mind.... one of them is very short).
hi-
The Sonus Faber speaker at $900/pr. I mentioned is not a bling item. It is made in China to a price point. The side panels that are replaceable are solid colors and not furniture wood.
Whereas, Harbeth's P3ESR, while I would not call it bling, is built to Fine Furniture standards.
Some people think paying for that quality of construction provides enjoyment for them over and above the sound, and I somewhat agree.
JM
John,
Would that be the Venere line? I believe the lowest price model starts at 1200 a pair.
nt
I think that the concept of a value proposition is a relevant idea in the context of this discussion on Merlin. For a small niche segment, the Merlin's speakers had a high-value proposition, and only if you buy into the full "package" as marketed by Bobby. You need to by the amps he suggests, the Cardas cables etc. All these dependencies make the niche smaller and smaller and in the end the business model is no longer sustainable. Having only 2 models might save on input costs as well, but doesn't work in favour of trying to win new customers that are not in the niche segment, as well making it difficult to justify marketing spend in a very connected global marketplace.
Furthermore, I guess, and only based on my own assumptions, he bought large stock of the 4 drivers he decided to work with many years ago and build competence to bring the best out of these drivers. When he reached a ceiling, limits to growth, he tried to reinvent the models by offering upgrades, as outlined often in threads, (Bam, lead-free etc) and never worked with different basic building blocks-newer technology from Scan-speak, which might and probably surpassed for example the midbass driver he use in the VSM.
It is a classic tale of how one's success can lead to one's failures as it blinds you for new strategic opportunities.
Support from those in the niche segment became stronger to a point of being evangelic and fanatical and which in turn probably did not help Bobby to read the signs of the failure of the strategy and business model accurately or with enough foresight.
Maybe Bobby was a talented designer, I think he was, but his business strategy and supporting business model failed in the end. I am curious as to how many Scan-speak midbass 8545 units, Esotars, and Morel drivers are in stock at Merlin and whether it has been paid for..
I think the human side of all of this is a completly different story altogether.
Stefan,
Bobby never bought a large stock of drivers unless he absolutely had to AFIAK. The most of any one driver I ever saw at the plant at any one time over the years(stretching over 20 years of which I probably made several dozen visits to Merlin) was probably a couple dozen pairs of Dynaudio Esotar tweeter (only because I think Dynaudio required such a minimum purchase quantity after they stopped offering their drivers to the public marketplace and Bobby had to buy them from Dynaudio directly). The last time I visited Bobby/Merlin (this past spring IIRC) I did not see any large stacks or inventory of drivers there.
He stuck with the drivers the TSM and VSM used over the years because he liked them and how they worked in the designs he had. For example, I know he was not a fan of the recent Scanspeak (ring radiator I think its called) tweeters. He did not like the Esotar2 as well. He did not always see something new (driver tech wise) as better.
I do think he hit a funk (in not developing a new speaker to add to the line up) during the past 7 or so years... many of us (friends in the trade and customers) repeatedly asked him about making a 3-way. The why that he did not do that was I think many fold (and not all business/market related).
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
Rich
Your views are probably the most informed views of what lies beneath the problems at Merlin. In my post I tried to stay objective and tentative about the situation that unfolded. The Hifi industry, perhaps like the wine industry, are notably driven by the passion of the chief designer or winemaker. A very focused approach and almost blind faith are required to get unique products out there. This passion to a chosen pathway is is both required but also a serious risk of such endeavours. The challenge is to find enough customers to make one's vision viable from a business perspective.
For me, the Merlin scenario is interesting from many perspectives. I have one foot in the hifi world, and another as a strategist for companies large and small. I have also dabbled with speaker design as well and know very well how treacherous that idea can be and therefore, ringfenced my obsession as a hobby.
Bobby's views informed my own thinking, and I still agree for example with him that working with a driver you know very well is probably a better approach than going for the latest and newest ones on the market. In that sense. I also don't care much for the Scanspeak radiators as tweeters and would prefer the Esotar any day. However, and purely as an example, I also realised that the same ring radiators are not bad units but more importantly that many audiophiles out there were of the opinion that they represent the best that there is. I think lately the Beryllium tweeters are now in vogue.
I only focus on one angle in this analysis and as highlighted by other inmates there are also other aspects such as industrial design of the Merlin range, the limited range, no 3 way etc. that we can bring into this analysis.
In summary, this thread is about Merlin as a business, and not about the sound quality of the VSM or TSM. In strategic literature, the idea of a "slow death" is often discussed as a function of the inability of a business to read changes in the marketplace and customers needs, values and perceptions. accurately. The passion to start a business is not always functional to sustain a business. That is why new competencies are enlisted by companies that focus sustainability and the founder is very often elegantly sidelined and even removed. The nature of the beast we call business. Maybe Sonus Faber with Franco Serblin as founder and how he made space for new ideas can be cited as an example of dealing with the challenges of sustaining growth.
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