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benc
08-02-2005, 09:19 PM
I am starting up on my own and am in need of a good speaker line. I would love to get Triad, but that line is not available as we had it where we used to work.

I have not really looked into other speaker lines, as Triad really filled the bill for everything we needed. What are some recommendations that you guys feel is a good value and a great performer? I am looking at Bay Audio but have not heard that much about them.

I appreciate your opinions.

Thanks,

Ben

lowvoltguy
08-02-2005, 10:13 PM
Gotta give Boston Acoustics the nod ... They have been GREAT to us ... Jamo is another line that has served us well ...

Bharp
08-02-2005, 11:09 PM
We have had a lot of good luck with Tru Audio...for cheaper/background audio type speakers. Monitor Audio is also has a full line of speakers worth looking into.

avzone
08-02-2005, 11:19 PM
We have had a lot of good luck with Tru Audio...for cheaper/background audio type speakers. Monitor Audio is also has a full line of speakers worth looking into.

Ditto here. Love our boys (and that little hippy chick Steve) at TRUAudio and our rep is literally the best we've ever dealt with. Monitor Audio is a great "bang for the buck" solution for many applications as well. You could just about use them exclusively depending on your business model. Lots of choices. We also sell Triad and love them as well. Will the rep not provide Triad to you through distribution?

Anyway, there you have it.

Graham

AHEM
08-03-2005, 12:16 AM
I do TruAudio and Mirage.

Between the two, I can cover in-walls/ceilings at just about any price point, box subs, in-wall subs, sub/sats, towers, outdoor boxes, rocks, aim-able in-ceilings and have offerings with a high coolness factor to them (omnisat line).

I third the praise for Tru. They've been a really good bunch of folks to do business with.

What's up with M&K these days? That used to be a great line, but I know that they were having some problems. Is anyone still selling them?

One last thing. Unless you're a startup company, there's no excuse for buying your primary, secondary or tertiary speaker products through distribution.

IMO, there's enough good speaker lines to go around.

ejfiii
08-03-2005, 12:44 AM
NHT has been good to us. High end evolution line and mid end Super Audio line (finish on these is staggering for the price). Plus a bunch of in wall and ceilings. Good margins if direct, good terms (4% net 60 plus free ground ship) plus our rep is a good guy and they do pretty good specials every once in a while.

Just found out that our rep will sell Triad as a distribution line.

ejfiii
08-03-2005, 12:48 AM
IMO, there's enough good speaker lines to go around.

Not 5 years from now according to your crystal ball.

AHEM
08-03-2005, 01:32 AM
Actually, I do see a lot of speaker companies being absorbed in the next few years.

Looking back at the past 10......

Altec Lansing-Used to make some pretty darned nice stuff. Where are the now other making the speakers for my HP laptop?

Acoustic Research- Basically done as a contender. Owned now by whom? Recoton or something?

Advent - See Acoustic Research

Boston Acoustics - Now part of D&M holdings, but I'd wager that they'll still be a pretty good line for years to come.

Def Tech - Now part of the DEI family.

Klipsch - One of the few success stories if you like stories about companies cheapening their now chinese made products.

M&K - Near bankruptcy?

Bose - Laughing all the way to the bank but have remained powerful do to their diversity (ie. OEM auto systems, glorified clock radios and Bill O'Reilly approved headphones)

JBL - Still strong in commercial, but an also ran in residential.

Wharfdale - Where are they now?

Polk Audio - One of the most important brands of the 80's is now what.....a distribution line?

B&W, Paradigm, Mirage, Energy, NHT, PSB - Hanging in there, but I doubt that any of them are seeing double digit growth.

Sonance, Speakercraft, Niles, Russound - Four distribution lines who are all vying for your in-wall business and being increasingly forced out by box speaker companies who are now in-wall experts. (see Klipsch)

Prediction being that you're going to see several of the above mentioned companies become (pardon the phrase) assimilated in the next few years. Meanwhile, it's up to us all to start the promotion of the next wave of products who we'll be selling against sometime in the future.

The real shame in all of this is that 20 years back, the far east had nothing to do with building quality speakers. In today's "global economy", not many companies can afford to NOT have their products built over there.

We're already seeing a sharp increase in the amount of difference between the far east built speakers and the American made stuff. For example, Triad makes a big deal about how their speakers cost more, but "90%" of them are made in Oregon and not offshore.

What the point to all of this is, I have no idea, but you'd think that since the Chinese are building the vast majority of our consumables that they'd be a pretty damn rich nation by now and would raise their manufacturing prices.

Kelly
08-03-2005, 07:24 AM
What the point to all of this is, I have no idea, but you'd think that since the Chinese are building the vast majority of our consumables that they'd be a pretty damn rich nation by now and would raise their manufacturing prices.

If you follow the news rather intently, you'd know that China is currently beginning to experience a demand for higher wages from the workforce.

A prediction? China will be in the same position as the US in a few short years. Some other third world country will displace them as the cheap manufacturing country, and they will be forced to outsource much of their needs in order to stay competitive in the world economy...

avophile
08-03-2005, 12:43 PM
And the IP-y goes to... RBH Sound. Great bang for the buck, excellent service, quick to rectify problems, soon going to an e-mail ship-notification system, models available up to pretty high end. Great Bose-killer mini system type speakers, too. I love their in-wall speakers with back boxes: SI 760 (not retro-fittable without painting and patching, though.
I also like their 8" round ceiling speakers and their AWS-6 ouitdoor speakers.

vette84
08-03-2005, 01:53 PM
Anyone here use Focal/JM Labs. We're thinking about them as they seem to run the gamut on price and performance levels. Lack of in-walls, but nice cabinets. Thoughts?

ssamsal
08-03-2005, 04:20 PM
I use JM Labs. Have for years now. They have been able to adapt fairly quickly to the market with their sib/cub line of speakers and really nice high quality, sealed enclosure in-wall/in-ceiling speakers.

Kelly
08-03-2005, 04:52 PM
Don't shoot me for this....Okay?

For in-wall/in-ceiling on the average low bucks system, I use those off shore, low bucks solutions. Not terribly great speakers, but not receiving a lot of power either. Great, and I do mean GREAT margins on them... :)

For a little better than average systems I use Pinnacle, since I don't need to stock anything, as they're readily avaiiable through distribution.

Better yet systems, I've just gone with BG. The jury is still out, but I did like what I've heard in the past.

Did use Atlantic Technology, but I couldn't get into the changes they had made. Buy the speakers, and then buy the side skins, and then buy the stands. What next? Buy the grills as another item?

Might have been agreat idea for them. They get to reduce stock needs/expenses. But for the dealer the cost went up?....Something wrong with that picture....

Oh, did I mention the really great margins on the inwall/inceiling speakers.... :lol:

benc
08-03-2005, 08:11 PM
Thanks for the recommendations. Time to make a few phone calls.

Has anyone had any experience with Bay Audio? I would like your thoughts, as they seem like a good company to do business with from the conversations we have had. First hand experience goes a lot farther in my book.

Thanks,

Ben

mattwhitehcha
08-03-2005, 10:39 PM
Jamo is my goto line. For higher end, Triads get spec'd. Klipsch now owns Jamo. BTW Jamo is pronounced Yamo and is from Denmark. Every customer asks for Jam Oh

whdigital
08-09-2005, 12:48 PM
Boston, then NHT, and some Energy Veritas. I love all three lines and it shows when I sell and calibrate them for the room!

benc
08-09-2005, 09:44 PM
Thanks for all the input guys. A lot to churn through. We will see how it all pans out.

Ben

ejfiii
08-09-2005, 10:44 PM
Did you call the Triad Rep to see if you can get it from them without being direct?

JLIntegra
08-18-2005, 01:31 AM
My main line is TruAudio - InWalls (Towers coming) and these guy are right. Tru treats their dealers the best. Props to Jason.
Jamo - Towers and back up for in walls.
Also sell JBL and Tannoy.