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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: The "Mod" industry. posted by Merle on November 5, 2008 at 09:12:13:
Hello Merle!
BEFORE asking why people mod their equipment one has to answer the question of whether or not they believe the quality of the caps, inductors, resistors have an audible affect on the sound of the audio component or not. If the answer is no, then any explanation given would be viewed as being not plausible. If the answer is yes, then this is one reason why people mod their audio components, i.e. to obtain better quality and better sounding internal components to increase the fidelity of their already good sounding audio components!
For a much more through answer I copied this from Mike Elliot the manufacturer of Counterpoint Audio Components Mike even mods or as he calls it upgrades his own audio components here's Mike's statement on why should mod or upgrade their components. Which I altered slightly. The original can be read in it's entirety at the link below.
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Does it make sense to upgrade?
How does an upgraded product compare to something bought retail?
Quality parts result in very high prices. Here's something to consider: when one manufactures high-end stereo gear, every dollar spent on parts adds $5.50 to $6.00 to the retail price. This is the industry standard "multiplier." Charge less and you go out of business, charge more and you are not competitive. There are a lot of reasons why the retail price is so high.
First , there are a lot of overhead costs associated with being a manufacturer. Industrial space, utilities, advertising, cost of doing high-end audio and consumer electronics shows, travel both domestic and overseas travel to promote products, health insurance and other employee benefits all add to the amount that you must charge the retailer for the product. Read what Kevin Hayes of VAC had to say on the subject of the high costs associated with being a high-end manufacturer {below}.
Second , the retailer is obviously another big reason why the retail price is so high. I have no complaints about the good high-end audio retailers. They do a good job and help folks pick out the best gear for their systems. But they can't work for free, they have their own overhead, so they mark up the cost by about 45% to 55% over what they pay for the gear. Additionally, they aren't willing to pay for the stuff when they buy it, expecting the manufacturer to carry them for 30 to 90 days. This costs the manufacturer, adding to his overhead.
Now there's certainly nothing wrong with buying retail, and if you're the sort that wants that new-product fresh out of the box smell, then buying retail is the best way to go. However, if you're trying to get the maximum sound for the minimum amount of money, you need to consider that less than 10% of your retail dollar actually goes toward the electronic parts inside the pretty new chassis , and the rest goes toward the pretty new chassis and other places that don't have anything to do with how the component sounds.
Do the math. Let's say you pop over to your local high-end audio dealer's salon and after careful consideration, drop $4,000 on a new preamp. As someone who is familiar with the pricing structure of high-end audio equipment ( as you will be after you finish reading this exercise ) you start to do the math while you're driving home. First, half of your $4,000 went to the dealer. The manufacturer gets the other half, or $2,000.
In reality, very little of the money given to the retailer is spent on the the parts that actually handle the signal . The most costly items are the retailer and manufacturer's overhead including advertising and high-end audio shows. By contrast, over 50% of the money spent on upgrades with Alta Vista Audio goes to high-quality parts .
Of that, roughly 2/3rds goes to costs not associated with the actual product's materials ( the rule of thumb is to wholesale the product for three times the parts cost ). That means that your $4,000 preamp has $660 worth of parts in it. Of those parts, more than half the money is spent on non-electronic parts, like the pretty new chassis, the product's shipping carton, the owner's manual, the knobs, the feet, the front panel, transformers, good-quality connectors, an AC cord and the circuit board. What's left is less than $340 for the parts that actually handle the signal -- the parts that make the music. Now, open the top cover and count all the parts. How many $100 capacitors and $7.00 resistors do you think are in there? Now, if you're the sort of person that just loves having shiny new gear, and is concerned about resale value over good value for money, then this sort of math isn't important -- you're valuing things differently and that's perfectly fine. But if you're trying to get as much music for as little money as possible, getting an existing product upgraded makes a lot of sense .
{A modder or upgrader} has entirely different economics than a manufacturer. {They're} not paying for a whole lot of overhead, so {they} don't need to charge as much for work as a manufacturer does. You're not buying the upgrade through a retailer, so you're not paying retail. In fact, you {may} pay less than wholesale. Further, when {a modder or upgrader} upgrades a unit, you do not have to pay for the product's shipping carton, the owner's manual, the chassis, knobs, four rubber feet, front panel, transformer, good-quality connectors, an AC cord and circuit board -- you already own them. More of your money goes to where you want it spent, so you get a whole lot more for a whole lot less.
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{Kevin Hayes states} "For what it's worth, many years ago, before I started VAC, I remember looking into an MFA preamp and mentally tallying about $40 in caps and resistors, and thinking, `Wow, these guys must be making a fortune.' Well, I've seen it from the inside now (for 1998 we were probably the second largest tube stereo maker in the U.S.). Ultra high end audio takes incredible amounts of R&D time (2,000 hours in voicing our Renaissance 30/30 Mk III amplifier alone), the cost of high quality chassis & transformers made in relatively low volumes, the training and wages of assemblers that can properly do labor-intensive point-to-point wiring, etc. Did you know that, for example, it is common for a manufacturer to have only a 25% yield on cosmetic elements? Add dealer margins, taxes, health insurance, Stereophile shows, advertising, factory mortgage, and then divide by the quantity of high-end audio sold. I do not know of anyone getting rich in this field. Indeed, when I contemplate the other career paths open to me, I sometimes wonder why I do it. The reason? I love music, and enjoy bringing more enjoyment to the lives of those folks who `get it.' For those who don't, if a Bose Wave Radio is all you need, fine, just enjoy the music!"
Kevin Hayes VAC/Valve Amplification Company 807 Bacon Street, Durham, NC 27703 http://www.vac-amps.com info@vac-amps.com
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Hope this helps.
Thetubeguy1954
Rational Subjectivism. It's An Acquired Taste!
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- RE: The "Mod" industry. - thetubeguy1954 11/5/0812:46:58 11/5/08 (0)
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