[Russell Dawkins]

Hi Kevin

I just learned about the new 2 kW UcD OEM module.

This sounds like what the world needs - UcD sonics with 2 kW of drive!
Have you any plans for monster monoblocks? Have you heard these, or do you plan to?

[Kevin Haskins]

Hi Kevin

I just learned about the new 2 kW UcD OEM module.

This sounds like what the world needs - UcD sonics with 2 kW of drive!
Have you any plans for monster monoblocks? Have you heard these, or do you plan to?

Yea.   I've been aware of it for several months.   It is a beast but I'm not sure how much demand I'd have for it.   I get very little interest in the UcD700s.   It is past the threshold of pain for my average customer.    Once you get past about $2K per pair the amount of customers thin considerably.     

[Kevin Haskins]

Out of curiosity I ran some numbers on this.    I'd have to do a production run of 40 monoblocks.   For this kind of product I'd probably just mill an enclosure out of solid 0.5"-1" aluminum.   You need that kind of beef to support a 1.5KVA transformer.    I'd have to design a power supply (easy) and order a pallet of 1.5KVA transformers.

These would have to sell for about $5000/pr and I'd need ten people willing to pony-up the cash to do a production run.         

So Russell, if you have a need for 20 channels of amplification with this kind of power I'll pull the trigger.   

[dyohn]

So Russell, if you have a need for 20 channels of amplification with this kind of power I'll pull the trigger.   

... make sure you get a cash deposit up front ...   

[Kevin Haskins]

So Russell, if you have a need for 20 channels of amplification with this kind of power I'll pull the trigger.   

... make sure you get a cash deposit up front ...   

Ha!  Russell is a good guy.    He wouldn't stiff me!   

It doesn't matter, I don't have an extra $50K sitting in the bank to allocate to doing the production run.   I have my development money spent for the next year so either I would get paid up front or they wouldn't get built.   

[Russell Dawkins]

So Russell, if you have a need for 20 channels of amplification with this kind of power I'll pull the trigger.   

Well.. I guess if this were 1974, I was Owsley "Bear" Stanley, the Grateful Dead were my clients and we were intending to simplify the powering of the "wall of sound"  (here's half of it) http://tinyurl.com/6bzno5    then I would definitely be interested!

I'll reluctantly have to pass. 

Would these be cheaper with a switching power supply and, being lighter not need such an expensive case? I thought Mr. Putzys was intending to try a switching power supply design.

I imagine there would be a market for these at $5000/pr if they sounded as good as the rest of the UcD line, just because there really would not be an alternative if you needed that kind of power, unless you went to a pro amp.

What if you mounted everything on a 2X10 cedar plank, like that European DAC (can't remember the name) and just put a heavy plexiglass cover over the whole thing - couldn't that save a bunch of development and build money?

[Kevin Haskins]

Hypex is working on SMPS designs in this order. 

UcD400
UcD700

UcD2.2KW ?????


All of them are OEM only products which means they have to be bought in quantity.   That translates to big investments in product no matter how you slice it.   

For me, it is a simple dollars and cents game.   I look at how much I'd have to invest, time, and the potential market, upside potential, downside potential, liability risk,  legacy cost and I make a business decision.    I also look at what my competitors can do.   Since Hypex will sell them to anyone with the money, I could invest a significant sum of money and find out I have three competitors selling the same product overnight.   The product is pretty green too.   I've learned the hard way to let other people cut their teeth on the early production headaches.   

The cost of developing the power supply isn't that much.   I could build a steel chassis that wouldn't cost much but people wouldn't buy it.    For this kind of product people want a fancy high-dollar chassis.   The market is people with significant money and they don't want to buy from a guy with a company name of DIYCable.    There is significant risk in terms of legacy cost and liability (say your amplifier goes poof and you smoke some guy's $50,000 pair of Wilsons).    There is a lot of hand-holding, 30-day trail cost, etc... that goes into selling $5k monoblocks.   

In my judgment, I'd be putting a lot of money into something I couldn't sell for a profit or that I can use my money more fruitfully with less risk somewhere else.   


I am doing a production run of speakers with Hypex amps though.   They cost a lot less than $5K/pr