The Tower Discussion Thread!

[curtis]

Dave,
Not to throw a monkey wrench into the gears......but, have you
ever given thought to selling your speakers in kit form for the DIYs out there? You could offer just the parts and enclosure plans, or the complete kit including parts and finished enclosure. Just a thought for saving money. Anyone have an opinion?
I apologize for the monkey wrench!

IMO, the biggest problem with offering complete products and kits/parts is that you now have to support two different kinds of customers. This increases support costs and time.

[davef]

Does one have to be on a preorder list to qualify for the introductory price, or will the price apply for a limited time after the towers are offered for sale on your website?

Yes --- every pair of towers is being built-to-order. It is doubtful we will have much, if any, excess inventory for quite some time.

Will the towers come with spiked feet and/or other options do make them secure on carpet?

Spiked feet are included

Will the q-plugs for the Sierra-1 also fit the towers’ ports?

Yes -- the Q-plugs fit.

I have two Emotiva UPA-1 mono-block amplifiers each rated 350 watts RMS x 1 into 4 ohms. From your comments on the towers’ power handling it would seem I am safe to use the mono-blocks with the towers.

Most definitely! This will be a terrific combination...

[TomK]

IMO, the biggest problem with offering complete products and kits/parts is that you now have to support two different kinds of customers. This increases support costs and time.

But Curtis, doesn't this also mean that you have MORE customers?

[curtis]

But Curtis, doesn't this also mean that you have MORE customers?

Sure, but the type of support is the issue, and the cost to provide it.

It takes much more time to support a DIY person....you have to provide support for each piece you sell. Support becomes much more detailed. You will be providing support for each individual piece.

For a finished product, Ascend checks every speaker when it is completed to insure quality and function. Turn that into a kit, and have the customer assemble...what can Ascend now be assured of? What kind of support should they provide? How much time would Ascend be spending just to make sure the customer assembled the speaker correctly before any other trouble shooting can begin?

[pinchharmonic]

few questions from new guy here,

1.) when dave mentioned he can customize certain things about the tower, what does that mean? is that just different colors of the cabinet? By any chance do the cones or their brackets come in different colors if I were to pay?

2.) before I realized this was available I was considering the Salk Songtowers, and the PSB Imagine, or PSB Synchrony (used to fit into this price category), anyone care to take a crack at how this could compare?

thanks everyone,
Dave

[curtis]

few questions from new guy here,

1.) when dave mentioned he can customize certain things about the tower, what does that mean? is that just different colors of the cabinet? By any chance do the cones or their brackets come in different colors if I were to pay?

2.) before I realized this was available I was considering the Salk Songtowers, and the PSB Imagine, or PSB Synchrony (used to fit into this price category), anyone care to take a crack at how this could compare?

Dave has posted that custom finishes are available at an extra charge. I doubt that drivers will be available in different colors.

The tower, in the least, will compare very well to the PSBs and the Salk.

[pinchharmonic]

thanks for the response.

another curiosity, i read that a lot of towers used curved cabinets to reduce standing waves. unless I can't tell that the cabinet is curved slightly from the pics, the speaker looks like a perfect rectangle. Is there some other technology used instead of the curved cabinetry?

[curtis]

another curiosity, i read that a lot of towers used curved cabinets to reduce standing waves. unless I can't tell that the cabinet is curved slightly from the pics, the speaker looks like a perfect rectangle. Is there some other technology used instead of the curved cabinetry?

Yeah...there's dampening material in the cabinet.

[TomK]

Sure, but the type of support is the issue, and the cost to provide it.

It takes much more time to support a DIY person....you have to provide support for each piece you sell. Support becomes much more detailed. You will be providing support for each individual piece.

For a finished product, Ascend checks every speaker when it is completed to insure quality and function. Turn that into a kit, and have the customer assemble...what can Ascend now be assured of? What kind of support should they provide? How much time would Ascend be spending just to make sure the customer assembled the speaker correctly before any other trouble shooting can begin?

I get your point. Having designed and built my own speakers from scratch I did not factor in the problems that could arise with a "noobie". That situation could be dealt with. However, I could see that Ascend's reputation could be hurt by DIYs using inept assembly skills. The internet is full of "reviews" and "opinions" about products many of which are downright lies or misinformation written by people who either can't or won't read the instruction manual.

[GirgleMirt]

I get your point. Having designed and built my own speakers from scratch I did not factor in the problems that could arise with a "noobie". That situation could be dealt with. However, I could see that Ascend's reputation could be hurt by DIYs using inept assembly skills. The internet is full of "reviews" and "opinions" about products many of which are downright lies or misinformation written by people who either can't or won't read the instruction manual.

They'd also be cannibalizing their own speaker sales which I think is a bigger issue than support... although implementing new DIY products line probably isn't that simple...

Plus, if they sell the drivers + assembled crossovers, some profit has to be factored in the sale. Ex: Ascend uses SEAS tweeters, so has to purchase tweeters from SEAS, if they resell the tweeters, they have to factor in some profit... To be profitable, I'm guessing selling the components vs selling complete speakers, the profit margin would have to be at least comparable. So how great would that work for DIY? Take $850 Sierras, how much would you be willing to pay for 2 tweeters, 2 woofers and 2 assembled crossovers? 300? 400? 500$?

The introductory price for the NrT upgrade was around 350ish I think, then went up... Add the price of two woofers, and you'd have your DIY Ascend kit... I guess you could always email Ascend for a quote on 2 'replacement' tweeters, woofers and crossovers They're really great folks and in my experience will more than likely be willing to help you out

Damn.. off topic...