JLM,
As I mentioned in the above announcement, we regret having to raise our prices. If we could maintain solid growth through direct sales then we could have kept our prices where they were for a while. The fact is though, that even with the "No Risk" deal orders are sporadic at best. I suppose its the nature of the internet. People are leary of dealing with a small company that does not have the name recognition that imparts a sense of security when contemplating a purchase.
Most folks would rather walk into a store and hear for themselves without having to invest the time and trouble of dealing with parcel couriors and paying up front. There's always the risk that the company will go "belly up" before you get your money back or, worse yet, just plain rip you off.
To be honest, that's how I feel about internet based companies. I probably wouldn't buy our speakers or any others that way if I was an "outsider." Being small though, that was about the only way we had to reach people since we haven't been to a show yet and didn't have any dealers.
It also appears most US dealers feel that way too. They want to go to the shows and be "convinced" before they'll even consider a new company. I guess when there's so many small companies out there, they can afford that luxury. I guess I can't blame them either.
On the other hand, it appears that dealers in foreign countries are used to having to "reach out" and take a chance. Almost all of our dealer inquiries are coming from over seas. These folks are willing to take a chance and even make a substantial purchase - sound unheard - just based on reviews. The only thing is, they can't make much profit on low cost items, especially considering the shipping costs and duties they must pay. They are forced to import higher priced items that offer a larger profit margin. I can't blame them either. If you don't make money, you don't stay in business.
If you think about it, if every company only sold their products via direct sales, we could all save a bunch of money. But then, there would be no dealers and you'd be forced to take the risks I mentioned above. In lieu of this, that's the price everyone pays for the convenience and security of purchasing from a dealer - the dealer takes the risk instead.
Seeing that our largest quantity orders are coming from dealers and they are, by default, committed to future purchases, we are forced to accommodate them. I wanted everybody to have a chance to purchase our products at lower prices but there's only been a handful of you folks that have been willing to take the plunge and we can't survive on that low of a volume. On the other hand, when we have to provide dealers (who are purchasing in quantity) with a substantial discount, we were actually loosing money on the Timepiece.
As far as our products being "that good" all you have to do is read the reviews. The lowly little Timepiece has been claimed to out-perform $20,000.00 Sound Labs for Pete's sake. Then
Horsehead's review of the Continuums pretty much settles the score with regards to the VMPS RM40's - at least as far as he and we are concerned. If one can even begin to compare a speaker with what - 8 drivers I think - to one with only three and weighs 1/3 the weight, yeah I think our pricing is just about right.
Concerning our "just 2-way speakers," if you really do your research and go back to the engineering text books that were written by the founding fathers of audio, you'll find that most of them felt that the only acceptable compromise to the "one driver for all frequencies concept" (which has severe limitations with regards to bass and high frequency extension, dynamics and distortion) was a high accuracy 2-way design. Of course, you may consider them a bunch of "Neanderthals," but I wouldn't suggest saying that to a real engineer. Maybe one of these days, through a friend, a dealer or at a show, you'll get a chance to compare one of our products to your $1,500.00 t-lines. Hearing is believing.
Take care,
-Bob
