[jackman]

Just read this article about Tara Labs being raided by US customs officials:

Police raided the offices and warehouse of Ashland, Oregon-based high-end audio cable company Tara Labs last week, according to news sources. The raid is reportedly due to the company falsely claiming to make their cables in the United States when they were outsourcing the manufacturing overseas.

Mathew Bond, the founder of Tara Labs, denies knowing of the infraction and claims, "These mistakes were rectified and won¹t happen here again."  That might not be good enough for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has been tracking the alleged violations since 2000.

Click below for more...
http://www.avrev.com/news/0904/13.tara.html

Congratulations Tara Labs.  I can understanding outsourcing labor for $100 cables or inexpensive components but some of Tara's cables sell for >$4,500-5,000!  I can't imagine their profit margins.  Plus, if it's made overseas, why not just be honest about it and let the product performance speak for itself?  Oh, I know why!  Tara Labs are a bunch of scumbags (IMO) who would do anything to sell their cables.  That's just one guy's opinion.  

Anyway, if I was insane (or rich!) enough to afford $5,000 cables, I'd be even more pissed right now.  But I'm neither insand (not that I know of, unless you listen to my wife) nor rich (unfortunately!) and can only offer my congratulations to Tara Labs for being selected my:  SCUMBAG OF THE MONTH!

There is no prize, only the pride and distinction that comes with this elite award!

Cheers,

Jack

[bubba966]

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=12938

[DVV]

Just read this article about Tara Labs being raided by US customs officials:

Police raided the offices and warehouse of Ashland, Oregon-based high-end audio cable company Tara Labs last week, according to news sources. The raid is reportedly due to the company falsely claiming to make their cables in the United States when they were outsourcing the manufacturing overseas.

Mathew Bond, the founder of Tara Labs, denies knowing of the infraction and claims, "These mistakes were rectified and won¹t happe ...

Well Jack, you can't say you were not informed. I did speak up against this sort of practice, and let me tell you, Tara Labs is not the only one, nor is it any worse than quite a few others. Just look back over the Neotech story I passed on to you guys.

Their products are rebadged an sold at 4+ times the price by a British company.

Because of this, I am going DIY. It doesn't get any more fair than that; you know EXACTLY what's inside and how much it costs, because you put it there. Sure, you pay retail prices and manufacturers pay wholesale, but then you are spared the astronomical costs of marketing and overheads, and in the end, could end up with a self-made product, perofrming or even outperforming ready made high end stuff costing 6 or more TIMES the price.

I think I'll be able to prove this in 30 days or so. Very specifically.

Ciao,
DVV

[Marbles]

Actually, FOR ME, it is cheaper if I buy from the guys I know, Like Ridge Street Audio, Bolder, Cryotweaks, Chris VH, Signal Cable, etc.. then for me to build my own.

Will I pay for their expertise and time? To be sure, but that is worth it to me.
I know what I'm getting and if I don't like it, they will take it back during the "trial" period.  That is much cheaper than for me to buy lots of different cables, connectors and sheilding and try lots of different configurations.

[jackman]

I agree with you guys.  Washburn guitars got busted for this a couple years ago.  They were putting "easy to peel" stickers on their cheap imported guitars and instructing dealers to peel them off to make the guitars look like the more expensive (and much better) US made guitars.  As I recall, they received a well deserved and huge fine.  

Hopefully the jackasses (no relation!) from Tara learn their lesson.  They are based in Ashland Oregon, a beautiful town with a wonderful theater.  There is no excuse for their deception.  Sorry it was already posted on this site.  I must have missed the post!

CHeers,

J

[jermmd]

EAD is owned by Tara labs and I have good reason to believe this company is in real trouble.  I would be very cautious buying EAD equipment if warranty/long term backup is important to you.

Joe M.

[nathanm]

Other high-end cable manufacturers spoke out about the scandal, suggesting that there may be more cable companies that do worse than repackage cable from China.

No way!?  You mean worse than a phony made in USA sticker?  Jeepers, I can't imagine anything worse than that!

This scandal and any potential conviction could do great harm to the high-end cable business.

Oh no! Hurt the overpriced cable business!?  Say it isn't so!  Mommy!

AV industry icons like Noel Lee, founder of Monster Cable, and Karen Sumner, president of Transparent cable, along with others, have spent millions marketing and teaching the importance of cables for mid-to-high-level AV systems.

Which is it then?  Marketing or teaching?  They are not the same you know.

Critics say cables make no difference in an AV system, but they are wrong.

Well there it is then.  Excellent reporting of this news story! I'm sure that has nothing whatsoever to do with the big banner ads for cable companies right across the whole web page.  Totally unrelated to this comment...  

Hopefully, the Tara Labs scandal will not taint the consumers’ view on the need for high-performance cables in home theater systems.

Oh golly, I hope so too!  I'd hate for the whole jig to be up!  I would hate for my $5000 cable to be made in China and not America :.  Oh my goodness me, what an awful scandal!

[DVV]

Actually, FOR ME, it is cheaper if I buy from the guys I know, Like Ridge Street Audio, Bolder, Cryotweaks, Chris VH, Signal Cable, etc.. then for me to build my own.

Will I pay for their expertise and time? To be sure, but that is worth it to me.
I know what I'm getting and if I don't like it, they will take it back during the "trial" period.  That is much cheaper than for me to buy lots of different cables, connectors and sheilding and try lots of different configurations.

Rob, to each his own. One man's meat is another man's poison.

Personally, I sit somewhere between the two camps. If it's solid, middle-of-the-road stuff I need, I prefer to buy rather than engage in a mammoth job of developing my own; hence all the finished products I own. The other reason is that I believe testing is valid only if people reading the test can repeat my setup. What sense is there in saying something like "with my own amps, which only I have and are not available commercially, this sounded ...."?

But if it's an out-and-out thing, then I will develop my own because the price difference is huge. I hope we'll agree that if you can live without the looks and the famous name tag, paying $1,000 in DIY makes much sense if it buys you something you would have to pay $10,000 for. And it IS that much of a difference, or can be.

Cheers,
DVV

[Dan Banquer]

"Police raided the offices and warehouse of Ashland, Oregon-based high-end audio cable company Tara Labs last week, according to news sources. The raid is reportedly due to the company falsely claiming to make their cables in the United States when they were outsourcing the manufacturing overseas"

There is a God!
               d.b.

[jackman]

Great post Dan!  I hope these snake-oil salesmen do hard time for this one!  I'm serious, it would be so cool if these guys would actually go to jail for fraud.  The only cables they'd have to contend with would have little barbed wires on them and be strung on top of high fences and walls!

Cheers,

J

[Marbles]

Rob, to each his own. One man's meat is another man's poison.

But if it's an out-and-out thing, then I will develop my own because the price difference is huge. I hope we'll agree that if you can live without the looks and the famous name tag, paying $1,000 in DIY makes much sense if it buys you something you would have to pay $10,000 for. And it IS that much of a difference, or can be.  ...

DVV, what cables cost $10K?

I would agree that that would be worth your time.

OTOH, you could try the RSA Poiema speaker cables, the best I've heard.

You could ask the guys I mentioned above for their all out assault IC's and return the ones that don't make the cut.

Since I've run out of hands, OTOF your personality seems to be that making amps, tweaking R to R players and making cables seems to be a hobby and the way you want to spend your time.

Good luck and let me know what works for you.

[ampgalore]

It is news like these that are making me really sick of these snake oil business practices.

$1000 for a cable, $2000 for a powercord, what else can these con artists come up with next?

[Marbles]

It is news like these that are making me really sick of these snake oil business practices.

$1000 for a cable, $2000 for a powercord, what else can these con artists come up with next?

I paid more than $1000 for my speaker cables.  It was worth it to me.  No other speaker cable I have tried is as good as the Ridge Street Poiema's.  As always YMMV

[DVV]

DVV, what cables cost $10K?

I would agree that that would be worth your time.

I wasn't referring to cables, Rob, but to audio electronics, stuff like preamp and power amps.

OTOH, you could try the RSA Poiema speaker cables, the best I've heard.

You could ask the guys I mentioned above for their all out assault IC's and return the ones that don't make the cut.

I wish I could. Instead, I have to buy them from the manufacturers, mostly Analog Devices, in some quantity and test them out myself.

Cheers,
DVV

[JoshK]

Dejan,

I think he meant IC's = interconnects, not integrated circuits.

[Sedona Sky Sound]

While there are many snake-oil salesmen in the audio business, I am not sure that it is any worse than most other industries. Do I believe that cables make an audible difference in a high-end audio system? Yes, absolutely, 110% positive, and am more than willing to demonstate it to anyone that wants to hear. Do I believe that cables can be worth $10k or more? Usually not, but it is no more unreasonable than wristwatches that are over $100k or artistic works for the "in" artists that can go for millions. I have had the following article on my website for almost 2 years:  

http://www.sedonaskysound.com/cable_costs_101.htm

As a full-time audio retailer as well as a small-time maker of cables and interconnects, I have a somewhat inside view that most people don't see. For many parts manufactures that I contacted when I first started making cables, $5k was the minimum order for standard connectors (spades, RCA, etc.) and the start-up fee for a single cable run was on the order of $30k for something relatively simple. Specialized products (i.e., silver wire, special dialetrics, odd-shaped connectors) could be many times that cost.  An ad in a major magazine so that most folks would know that you exist (specifically those people with money that do not spend all their time on the Internet   ) can easily run $5k to $20k per month. Someone wanting to go full-time into the cable business could easily spend $100k - $200k on raw products and advertisements before they even sold a single cable. So when you divide your total cost by the total number of potential customers for your products (which is actually a very, very small number), the amount of markup per cable required just to pay your monthly bills is unfortunately a rather large amount.

That being said, I absolutely do NOT condone lying about the origin of your products. For that, I think Tara Labs should be repremanded to the full extent of the law. However, I do take some offense at the folks bitchin about the mark-up and saying that the customers have bee out-right cheated by the audio industry. If you are not willing to pay the price that these companies charge for their products, find a company who's products you do believe are cost justified. If you can't do that, then make your own. You will more than likely learn a lot (not only about cables but the amount of time, care, equipment, know-how, and cost it takes to build quality cables) and have a great deal of ownership in the end product. Best of luck in what-ever you do. Happy listening.  

Julian

[DVV]

While there are many snake-oil salesmen in the audio business, I am not sure that it is any worse than most other industries. Do I believe that cables make an audible difference in a high-end audio system? Yes, absolutely, 110% positive, and am more than willing to demonstate it to anyone that wants to hear. Do I believe that cables can be worth $10k or more? Usually not, but it is no more unreasonable than wristwatches that are over $100k or artistic works for the "in" artists that can go for millions. I h ...

Julian, I don't think I've ever read anything by anyone here objecting to dealers and distributors making a decent living out of their work. To work hard for peanuts is just not natural, if you ask me.

But I am a strong objector to industry practices. Mark-ups are getting out of hand. For example, it is not at all uncommon to have dealers demand 40%. Aha, you think, my price to them is say $100, they want to add $40 to the price; well, that's steep, but still managable. Then you find out that your math is all wrong - they want 40% of the total price. Which means that if your product is to cost $140, their 40% is $56, not $40. So, if you still want your $100, the price will need to be $156. Thus, they want not 40%, but 56%.

I don't know about you, but to me, a 56% markup is outrageous. And it's contageous, because the distributor also wants to play the same game the same way, but often with 50%.

You work it out. In the end, the end user is asked to pay at least 3 times the factory price, often more. I'd really love to hear an explanation why is this normal. How can it be normal for the dealer to make more money on a product than the manufacturer?

Dealers often justify this by saying they take risks. Really? And the manufacturer doesn't?

I agree with your statement that distributors have expenses, such as advertising, stocking up, etc; that's true enough, and they should be compensated and still make sane money. But don't you think it's all getting out of hand? Especially in the high end sector?

And then you start looking under the carpet, and gosh, the things you find there! Tara Labs is just one of many, many people who did it that way. But they are far from being alone, or even among the few. And it starts to compound - lies, wild mark-ups, all kinds of swindles. And you and I, as the end users, customers, tend to feel VERY bad about it all when we read in the papers about an occasionally caught red handed case. We tend to see ourselves as being taken in, swindled, overcharged, sheesh, ripped off.

Cheers,
DVV

[ampgalore]

3x markup? Those cables seized from Tara labs cost about $14 apiece. End users are paying 50-100x markup.

[bambadoo]

I really liked the article where a guy compared the "network" boxes between MIT and Transparent.
http://cable.tcnerd.com/whymit.asp

[ampgalore]

Great engineering.