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.
