Now that's what I'd like to hear - taking this design to another level, knowing that it will cost significantly more, but be a real assault on the big buck contenders. I'd be curious to know what the cost would be for the kit that you think takes the Neo2X to that place.
The least expensive way to take the whole thing up a level across the board to by-pass the caps with Sonicap Platinum's. It is a Teflon composite film and foil cap. By-passing all six caps with a .033uF Platinum will cost $120.
This slightly improves sound stage depth and separation between instruments, vocals, etc. Low level details are better and resolution across the board.
Several here have posted comments after adding the Platinum's to their speakers. You'll just have to do a little searching for it.
Hello Mike Lenehan,
Thanks for dropping by and welcome to AC.
It sounds like you have a really nice product. Maybe the next time you are at RMAF I will come by to give them a listen.
The kit market is a pretty good market. I ship quite a few of them to your big island over there on a regular basis. Shipping cost is a bit of an obstacle though. There is just no getting around it and the bigger the kit and the heavier it is then the harder it is to land the overseas sales.
You never know though, if the speakers are really good the people seem to be willing to cover the shipping cost. I have shipped about 15 pairs of our Super-V and V-1 kits overseas, and all the drivers, parts, and pieces that come with the kit weigh about 170 pounds and that does not include any cabinets.
I have also been sticking with kits because it keeps me out of the retail market. I do a lot of design work for various companies and if I launched my own retail products (fully completed speakers) then I'd be competing with some of them. So I really wouldn't want to jeopardize any reduction in those monthly royalty checks.
Many of my commercial designs have done real well over the past few years. I posted most of the awards that they have won on my services page:
http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=14 Then the awareness of the awards and publicity from the awards has brought good awareness to our kits.
This one is one that I just designed the crossover only for, but they kind of set a bench mark for mini-monitors here in the states:
http://www.usheraudiousa.com/products/loudspeakers/dancer-series/Be-718 They won an industry award just about everywhere. Stereophile still has them in the class A recommended list too. If you can get ahold of US model then it can be a good benchmark for you. It sounds like you are already at that level and at a good price point too. You just have the hard part ahead of you. Marketing! That's the hardest part.
