[owenmd]

Hello Alan,

As you know, I've owned a new Quantum AC limited for the past couple of weeks and am EXTREMELY pleased with it.... the performance is fabulous for the money, and anything but subtle.

However, your announcement today has completely thrown me.  Seems my new "new" product is now defunct as you have changed it already...?  For use at the system wall outlet, my belief was the Quantum AC ltd (apart from the pricier studio) was the best shot?  Your home page now states the PEV1 is "the best bang for the buck under $10,000".... funny, I thought that's what the Quantum was last week...?

Seems you have swapped and modded some of the pics from the Quantum page with the PE page on your website    I obviously don't have an issue with the performance of your Quantum product as its very good.... but what is going on here.... seems the baselines have changed...?   

The issue with sensible modification of the tall Quantum Ltd case I understand.... I encountered concerns myself.  I also understand sensible Evolution.... even with such "supposed virginal" products as my Quantum.... but I feel another fog coming in as to how your numerous products interrelate...?

I decided to write this on the forum as I'm aware I'm not the only one who is confused.... just as I thought I was starting to get a handle on your products.... ?

Yours appreciative, 

Mark

[jtwrace]

well said.  I've mentioned the new products that seem to come out weekly is a little much...I just bought some Ref II's and Quantum AC about three weeks ago. 

[jmichael]

Valid question(s) and at one time, I thought about this too but one should look at all the constant time Alan spends on making his products better when most manufacturers only update their products (if at all) every 1-5 years.

And unlike most manufacturers products, his is never outdated and can only be improved upon when using his other products in tandem.

[alanmaher]

Never defunct...the original design is not going anywhere.  Part increases over the past few months is killing me and it is simply impossible for me to continue selling the original design at $300.  As of this month the original Quantum AC is costing me $295 out of pocket just for the parts, forget about the added expense for labor, the v2 circuit is needed so I can make a small profit or this is all for nothing.  The original design is going to be eventually called the Studio with a couple added extras, but as of now our market hasn't shown the willing to spend more than a few hundred per item, forget the idea of spending $400, $500, $600 per items, and I'm caught between a rock and a hard place trying to figure out how to offer a product and still make a buck off of it. 

I can?t speak for the rest of the audio manufactures / mom and pop outfits, but the economy is kicking my ass, sales are off 70% since last October, my vendors are hurting so they jack up the pricing on everything, and I?m jumping through hoops to promote sales, but I?m marked down so low that I can?t turn a profit.  Sales are so fragile right now that I?m afraid to raise prices, but if I don?t do it I won?t be here 12 months from now. Last month I went through the same thing, folks got pissed at me because I had to raise the price on the Reference II, but the filter parts went up $20 on my end, I only make $30 off the design, you can?t ask me to dip into my profits?what do you want me to do?I got to eat too.   To be all honest if I didn?t get screwed on the Bybee?s, which I?m now paying full price, I probably would have kept the original design and offered the v2 as a OEM filter, which was the original plan,  but the Bybee jacked my end up another $80 making it impossible to keep current pricing or current product design.  Now that doesn?t mean the v2 circuit is a lower quality product or doesn?t sound as good as the original, instead I altered a couple of parts and I changed the sound quality just a smidgen, we are talking about a hair shading of a difference between design A and design B, nothing to get bent out of shape about.  The v2 circuit is more at home with the Reference II and Infinity products, whereas the original was more at home with the PE and PE V designs.  Quantum still offers the best bang for the buck compared to anything under 5 grand.  So what does that mean for the new PE VI you may ask, well the VI is a different animal.  The VI picks up where the V Pro left off, it digs deep into the musical presentation and extract a tremendous amount of information.  Does this mean the VI is better than Quantum?.the simple answer is no.  In some systems the VI will sound better and in other systems the Quantum will sound better?.I personally like using both in the same system?but that?s me.  Installed together in the same system they outperform almost every PLC on the market?.let me say that one more time ?almost every PLC on the market ??at this point who cares about the PLC price, we have consistently proven over the years that we have a take no prisoners attitude toward design and consistently outperform the competition by leaps and bounds all on a shoestring budget.   

FACT: The PE and V will be phased out later this year, making the new VI the next generation in PE technology.   As a matter of fact, the entire filter line will be scaled back?.the VI, Reference II, QRPC, QR cable, Quantum, and Q Studio will consist of the entire line.  Pending sales Infinity will either be in or out, I will make a decision in the fall?.the hope is the speaker cable filter takes off allowing me to offer other designs?.we?ll see.

Hopefully I answered all your concerns; I would appreciate the zingers to be left out of future conversations, I?m just a hobbyist folks, I build your filters in my spare time for next to nothing, I would appreciate that you remember that fact.  Now I know the zingers were not intended how I took them at 4am my time, and I know I?m a little punchy at the moment, it?s been a long day and I?m just getting in from work, but I don?t respond well to zingers?just a tip.  As I said, I know they were not intended the way I took them so please take my comments with a grain of salt, it?s late, I?m exhausted, and I?m definitely not running on all cylinders at the moment.

Part of my everyday ritual when I get up is to pour a cup of coffee, pop multiple allergy pills, and weed through 2 to 3 hours worth of emails between the 3 accounts.  Almost everyone writes a book requiring line by line response, and I can almost guarantee being asked the same god damn question day in and day out?.why is my product better than someone else?s???    Out of all the things that could be asked, that one is the one I hate the most.  For those who have asked the question you already know my response, but for the others my response is I have no idea.  I am a what you see is what you get kind of guy, I am definitely in your face, I don?t like to BS or to be BS, I don?t offer trade in gimmicks so I can rip apart someone else?s design to see what makes it tick, I just don?t care.  I know how to build a quality circuit and I know how to do it better than anyone else (inflated ego)?and that is my story and I?m sticking to it.  The honest reply is I just don?t give a s@%t and I?m not spending one dime to find out.  Why should I care what someone else is doing, what should matter to me is what I?m doing and the vision I have for it?.I am a professional musician and live sound engineer by trade, that is my day job, I attempt to design circuits to get me as close to the live event as possible, but I don?t do it for you I do it for me.  Those designs are like my children in a very strange, sick, and twisted kind of way, some are good like my daughter who is enrolled in the National Honor Society?.very proud father?and others ?its jail or the ARMY Johnny boy?discarded and thrown in the garbage.  I never offer anything I don?t use myself, and really do try to tweak the ever loving s@%t out of the design, but things change and children grow, develop, and mature over a period of time.  Quantum was first roughed out about 18 months ago, high-end performance 6 months later, 2 months later other trickled down designed became working prototypes, separated the good from the bad, and sent the beta?s out for testing.  Quantum AC, IEC, and LE was first introduced Nov 08?; the v2 began testing in March and beta testing in April.  The v2 is going to become an in-between design between the VI and Q Studio.  Folks that purchased the older LE already own the Studio.  Folks that purchase the older AC design have 90% of the full quality of the Studio.  The v2 is the perfect match to the Reference II and active Infinity SC filter, which in all honesty is the new product line and makes perfect sense why we made the change.  The Q IEC will remain the older design and is still highly recommended to be used with the PE V and VI designs.  A Signature IEC will be released with the v2 circuit.

[toes]

Alan you, in your little workshop cubical are literally at the cutting edge of Hi-Fi audio.  We audiophiles spend thousands on components that don't come close to offering the same audio renovations as your PE line.
I would much rather see you boost prices than have your business blunder.  What would become of you than other then to be shackled and made a ward of the State.
We are all hurting in this economy, myself included.  But audio is my passion and the check is in the mail for your Infinity DIY and speaker cable filter II.

[alanmaher]

Me too....but if all I'm doing is boosting prices and I'm not selling anything what good came out of it...ya know what I mean?  The OEM design came about because a couple cable guys wanted to off load mega-buck $$$$ power cords, but really needed a filter to take the design over the edge....what they got from me was nothing short of a Quantum Studio rolled into a smaller package...and believe me that wasn't easy, but it came real close and we were all very pleased with the end product.  Comparing the two products is fairly easy, the new v2 design is a little riper compared to the older which is a smidgen more exacting in the mids...nothing major to write home about.  It still outperforms other Quantum units on the market and holds well against $$$$+ Quantum designs selling for 10x and 15x the price.  It's funny...if you rip apart one of the older Quantum Symphony filters you see a circuit board with $5 worth of parts and a noisy wall wart transformer....rip one of our units open and find $300 worth of parts and now you understand why we are holding well against the competition, and all that from a 8' x 6' cubical work area...not bad.

[owenmd]

Alan.... sorry if I spoiled your early morning coffee.... that always sets my day off poorly as well. 

The performance of your products is not in dispute.... I don't believe you have any legitimate competition.... certainly at the level of the Quantum filter pricing.

The value of your products is not in dispute and I know you're not making any money on the Quantums as I know how much Bybees cost.... I'm sure your other products likewise probably follow suite.

Hope this load is perceived as trying to assist rather than lecture, but someone once told me.... if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.... so rather than just bitch, I'll try to offer constructive criticism.... whether you have an interest is another issue of course.... in that case I'm simply tickling myself? 


Not that this subject has any relationship to my original points raised, but as far as profit goes.... there isn't much point in stressing over creating these products and the hassle involved in running a business if you can't at least make a small profit to make it worthwhile.  If there's a material cost increase, the product needs to suitably increase in price to keep the profit margin.... presuming the margin is sensible.  There's no need to apologize for a fact of life.... no one will shoot you for this!

Under any market conditions, a continually saleable product needs to fulfill two conditions.... one to be of requisite performance with excellent value and secondly, for folks to easily understand  "why" they should purchase said item.... give them a reason.... the sizzle.  Under poor market conditions, such as the current economy, if folks don't "effortlessly know" why they should buy something.... it doesn't matter a hoot what the performance or value of the product is.... they won't buy it.  This may sound basic, but many businesses just don't get it!

The "effortlessly know" ingredient comes down to one principle.... KISS.... the less is more concept.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but you yourself have stated you constantly get a daily barrage of emails asking for advice and these threads are chocked full of folks asking questions.... this is a pretty blatant indicator of a lack of the KISS principle.... people just aren't getting it.... they're confused and this leads to a lack of effortless sales.... it doesn't matter how good you're stuff is.  I've spoken to several audiophiles who haven't bought your products simply because they "don't get it".... sorry, but true.

May I suggest.... one page of your website just titled "products".... click on this and the products are sorted into maybe three categories:
Whole system conditioning
Component conditioning
Accessories

Reduce each category to just 2 to 3 products, with choice made only by an easily explicable and very obvious pricing and performance structure.... not many different flavors of the same cost ice cream.... only leads to confusion which puts the brakes on.  Make each simplified component the best it can be at its easily definable level.... combine multiple products into one.

Upgrades and evolution.... keep the simplified format and ground rules the same to avoid confusion and only modify existing concepts.... don't add more flavors.... like a kid in an ice cream store.... he can't make his mind up what to buy.

Simplify the verbiage on the website and take away any flowery stuff.... leave that to other folks on the separate reviews page.... keep it clean and simple.  ANY complete newcomer should be able to peruse your site and within a just a few minutes, know exactly what a product does and its application.... without any confusion or questions.  This cuts down on your explanative workload and takes the anchors off potential purchasers.... they know exactly what they want and more importantly.... why.

Last thing.... our constant thoughts absolutely create our reality.  If you "believe" you have to reduce profits to nothing to stand a chance of selling anything.... and raising costs to sensible levels will only result in no sales.... you will prove yourself absolutely correct...!

Simplify and take away the reasons people don't buy, and have complete faith in both yourself and your truly excellent products.... no matter the market conditions, you may be surprised how well you do with a confident perspective and a cheery smile. 

Sorry for the laborious length.... seems I needed to get that off my chest...? 

Mark

[golfugh]

I have to agree with the above post.  I'm confused by what is available and what to do, ergo I haven't jumped in with a purchase.  No offense intended, just agreeing with the observation made by owenmd.
Mark

[David@NY]

Hi Alan,

I agree with owenmd as well.  I have had conversations with my friend regarding how well your products works in my system and got him interested.  However your website isn't easy to navigate and not much information can be found.

It'd be great if the website can be re-organized in a easy to follow fashion.  No sizzles needed, just a simple what product fits what scenario type of thing and a little explanation on why and how it works.  That can really help us determine what to get and how to apply your product in our setup.

Good luck and thanks for offering great products that work!
David

[Bill@LakeGeorge]

Hi Alan,

I have to agree with the above.  I have purchased many items from you over the years, but I am now totally confused as to what to do next and what product does what.

As always your insight is second to none.

[alanmaher]

I have been meaning to re-do the site for some time now, Mark recommended some good ideas and I'm trying to implement everything, but I'm not web savvy and I look forward to suggestions.

Bill, your next move is the Quantum series.  The upcoming Studio is probably the best work I have ever done, it conditioners everything from the wall outlet to the speaker driver and every circuit and cable in between.   It is a fantastic product. 

[alanmaher]

BTW, check out our artist of the month this month.  I did house sound for this show last night, I have listened to Monte for at least 15/16 years and his live sets always impress.  Check out the page, enjoy the video clips, and if you like and he's playing in your area go check him out.

http://alanmaherdesigns.com/DIY.aspx

[jmichael]

...your next move is the Quantum series.  The upcoming Studio is probably the best work I have ever done, it conditioners everything from the wall outlet to the speaker driver and every circuit and cable in between.   It is a fantastic product.

Now, that's what I want...so I can throw everything else out! 

[alanmaher]

New Products and Reference II page....is this format more helpful?

http://alanmaherdesigns.com/Products.aspx
http://alanmaherdesigns.com/ReferenceII.aspx

[Big Red Machine]

I have been meaning to re-do the site for some time now, Mark recommended some good ideas and I'm trying to implement everything, but I'm not web savvy and I look forward to suggestions.

Bill, your next move is the Quantum series.  The upcoming Studio is probably the best work I have ever done, it conditioners everything from the wall outlet to the speaker driver and every circuit and cable in between.   It is a fantastic product.

Will the Studio be a parallel unit as well or a power strip style unit?

[toes]

Alan,
Reorganizing your website is all well and good.  But I'm going to be straight with you.  Raise your prices across the board 50%, TOMORROW!!  And from now on you're going to take weekends off as down time.  If your small business get even smaller, so be it.  There will always be those audiophiles who will spend whatever it takes to improve their system.  Who gives a rat's ass to those wanting a bargain price.
I'm talking from personal experience here, my brother's own flower shop business.  Twenty years ago, with a ten thousand dollar small business bank loan, and a real knack for arranging flowers, he started his small flower shop.  But he was dumb-ass stupid because he insisted on two things, undercutting every other flower shop in town and keeping his shop open seven days a week.  You all know how this is going to end, right.   He was totally, completely emotionally and financially drained after ten years.  Sure, he had tons of work and was in much demand for wedding ceremonies, funerals, office parties and High School proms.  But even though he had a few rich clients, he would charge his usual modest net profit.  Being the religious person that he was, he would also donate his time and cost whenever the pastor of his church wanted the church service fancied up with flowers.  The point I'm trying to make is this, if you let people freely walk all over you, you'll only become their doormat.  The sad ending to this story occurred when the church began inviting those end-of-the-world/prosperity preachers.  Yes this was near the year 2000, the end of the world was nigh, give away your worldly possessions (to the church of course).  My mother, bless her soul, was very worried that my brother pledged to sell his flower shop and surrender all the money to the church.  What could I do? Nothing.  He was tired and exhausted from all the work. The year 2000 came and went, now he's a miserable grumpy man who works as a florist for someone else's shop.

[alanmaher]

Big Red Machine

All our filters are designed to work in parallel and the Q Studio is no different.  If you need a PLC style hub I suggest looking at our Quantum Reference Power Center.


toes

I took your advice and added 50% to almost everything. I appreciated the story...thanks.


I have good news and I have bad news.  The good news is I will be updating the site most of next week, the bad news is I receive the SC part order in the mail and the vendor sent the worng spade size.  I ordered 5/16" and received 1/4"....A replacement order should be shipped early next week, I already mailed back the 1/4" this morning, for those that are waiting for the SC filter I deeply apologize for the screw up...this one is out of my hands.

[Big Red Machine]

Can we order the Quantum Studio on the 13th? 

[alanmaher]

Yes.

[owenmd]

Knowing what I know now.... and if I hadn't just bought a Quantum AC Ltd.... I would definitely be buying a studio tomorrow...!