[jsalk]

Each year at this time we receive a report from our accountants telling us how we did for the year.  During 2018, we produced a record amount of speakers.  Despite that, we didn't show a profit for the year.  This is mainly due to the fact that we set our pricing once a year and then get frequent price increases from our various suppliers.  The value of the dollar also impacts our costs, as does the impact of tariffs on commodity pricing world-wide. All of these reduce the margins built into our pricing from the previous year.

That said, we will obviously have to adjust our pricing accordingly.

Over the years, our goal has been to produce speakers of the highest quality at the lowest possible prices.  We are basically trying to cover our costs.

When adjusting pricing, we always like to provide potential customers a head's up so that they can act in sufficient time to avoid any increase in cost.

We expect to have updated pricing in place by April 1st.

Thanks for your understanding...

- Jim

[DEP14]

deleted, don't want to cause issues.

[adydula]

Please lets not get into political discussions here....life is too complicated and there are many other places to vent your views on politics etc..

Jim.

I sincerley hope you can get the ship righted in the right direction. A negative cash flow is indeed a going out of business sale...

You make a superior product but if the prices your vendors charge are walking up, you need to do the same....
I would hate to see SalkSound disappear from the audio scene.

I wish Salk Sound all the best in the future!!

Alex

[charmerci]

MAGA... hows that working out for small american MFG's?

It came from the American dollar being stronger against other currencies. Most countries are growing a little less better than the US.

[LaRazaUnida]

Understandable Jim. Will increases be occurring across the entire product line?

[jsalk]

Understandable Jim. Will increases be occurring across the entire product line?

We will look at each design.  I'm sure some will remain the same.  But until we look at each individually, it is hard to say which will increase and which will not.

- Jim

[LaRazaUnida]

Whatever the cost, you will have my support. Thank you for all that you do!

[RonN5]

Many companies discover that their more customized products and one offs don't get assigned enough of the cost and as a result, those products end up being under priced...sometimes substantially.

Hopefully, this can all be corrected in a way that the core products are not penalized too much...and most importantly, so that Salk can continue to make such beautiful music makers for a long time to come.

[DFpritchard]

The tactic of raising your prices to cover increases in your cost of goods means you will always be behind the curve.  The distribution model for Salk speakers (ie., DTC) creates plenty of room for pricing your products at a point that provides buyers with excellent value while returning a very fair ROI.  I have been living with my Song3s for about 6 months now.  The Song3s new at $3000 (plus a few hundred for the Carpathian elm burl that is now so fashionable, ha ha) or even at the current list of $3295, are a far better value than the speakers they replaced, all of which I bought used.  Your speakers are underpriced based on their performance and quality.  Lower the performance (e.g., cheaper drivers) or raise the prices to a level that ensures the continuation of the business.  An unenviable but easy choice from this distance.

I appreciate your willingness to communicate with your constituency of customers on this and other issues.   

[HT cOz]

Don’t hesitate and raise prices. You already have a backlog and the single most destructive thing I’ve witnessed in my many years on audiocircle is companies under pricing their products. If you need help tracking these economic factors more than once a year feel free to reach out to me. I help run a organisation which transacts a few billion per day.

[birbygdad]

Jim, I fully support this decision. The work you and your team do produces the best value in real hifi. Your backlog is proof of that. For fellow Salk users, I run a very musical system: Song3 with 12” Salk Sub, all in curly walnut.

[dB Cooper]

For what you get, Salk prices are almost ridiculous... As in, ridiculously low. You've got to do what you got to do.

[NHSkier]

Jim, is this an opportunity to streamline the product lineup? You guys have so many SKUs, most of which are customizable, it seems like a complicated undertaking.

[oem-wheels]

Do a quarterly review instead of the yearly

[jsalk]

Jim, is this an opportunity to streamline the product lineup? You guys have so many SKUs, most of which are customizable, it seems like a complicated undertaking.

I always think about this and we may end up eliminating a few models.  But it is hard since they are all solid designs.

We spend a lot of time with customers reviewing the various options because they find it hard to sort it all out.  But that provides us with an opportunity to review the customer's set-up to help determine which model best suits their situation.  So, in a way, it is an advantage having so many choices as we can make certain that what the customer wants to order will work well for them.  We often get customers calling to order a given speaker and after talking with them, we advise them not to do so.  Having many models to choose from allows us to recommend products we know will work well in a given situation.

- Jim

[grizzog]

As much as we all like paying as little as possible, Salk speakers are priced WAY below others for what you get.

Look at the WOW1, for example. It's pretty close to the same size as the Harbeth P3ESR, and costs $1k less. Sound is subjective, so I won't bother making that comparison, but the WOW1 seems to be built better, with much better finishes.