Make Money with Audio?

[chris1973]

I believe the foam is
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Project-Panels-2-ft-x-2-ft-Project-Panel-PP1/203553730

or something similar.

I'm thinking of getting a 2x4 piece and carving out a banana shape and painting it yellow. Apparently the transducer should be placed asymmetrically which should not be difficult with a banana shape. I presume having the banana vertical will be better than horizontal.

Perhaps this belongs in a separate thread (for the insane).

ray

Probably vertical, but are the banana's going to arc toward each other or away from each other?

All joking aside, I think a better shape might be that of a Grand Piano. You could even put the exciters straight up the flat side, because they are still not going to be symmetrical because of the curve. Maybe a little angle toward the right of the keyboard.

[chris1973]

I believe the foam is
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Project-Panels-2-ft-x-2-ft-Project-Panel-PP1/203553730

or something similar.

I'm thinking of getting a 2x4 piece and carving out a banana shape and painting it yellow. Apparently the transducer should be placed asymmetrically which should not be difficult with a banana shape. I presume having the banana vertical will be better than horizontal.

Perhaps this belongs in a separate thread (for the insane).

ray

Probably vertical, but are the banana's going to arc toward each other or away from each other?

All joking aside, I think a better shape might be that of a Grand Piano. You could even put the exciters straight up the flat side, because they are still not going to be symmetrical because of the curve. Maybe a little angle toward the right of the keyboard.

I think I saw that somewhere else though!

[ratbagp]

I am sure we will all lie awake tonight analyzing and worrying about this. At least the foam is light so it wouldn't be too difficult to swap them and compare.

ray

[chris1973]

I am sure we will all lie awake tonight analyzing and worrying about this. At least the foam is light so it wouldn't be too difficult to swap them and compare.

ray

Yeah, I'm on a roll!

So have you tried, or are you going to try to put the exciters on any non-flat objects, or non vertical objects? Flower pots, bowls, trash cans etc.?

[ratbagp]

No. I just ordered a pair today to mess with eventually.

ray

[Roscoe Primrose]

I am sure we will all lie awake tonight analyzing and worrying about this. At least the foam is light so it wouldn't be too difficult to swap them and compare.

ray

Yeah, I'm on a roll!

So have you tried, or are you going to try to put the exciters on any non-flat objects, or non vertical objects? Flower pots, bowls, trash cans etc.?

if you attach them to your head, you'll have sensesurround

[randy warren]

eBay is not a good place to make money, believe me I have tried and done so for years, and still do sell things on the 'bay since I have yet to find a job. The problem is that most people that populate eBay are looking for bargains, and in the last year the prices have fallen by half making it really tough to sell my restored vintage amps and vintage tubes. The approach I am attempting to use now is to sell my expertise, that is to service electronics like I did at Music Technology years ago, there are not many repair persons around these days. That is the approach I would think may be most cost effective, i.e., offer your wood working skills in the form of repairs, restorations and building of custom cabinets and the like, perhaps producing a set of cabinets that work for certain speaker builds that are desirable. I myself would be looking for a pair of cabinets for the Aeriel speakers that Lynn Olson developed some years ago, for me to build them would be way beyond my skill set...

[chris1973]

yes Randy, My experience with ebay is very similar. It appears the logic that ebay buyers take when I sell my speakers is: If I am going to buy a "homemade" speaker I'm only going to pay for the cost of the drivers themselves. That way, if the speakers stink, I can just pop out the drivers, and turn around and sell them to get my money back. They don't even want to venture any their time to validate any of my claims of value with an actual audition. I have probably sold over 20 pairs of speakers in the past 15 years, but I have only had 2 auditions! They happily show up to pick them up after they score a fantastic deal, but that doesn't do me any good!

The only problem I have offering my expertise, or service is that, for the example I agree to build someone a custom speaker, there is a possibility I will make some mistakes. When you make a deal to deliver a quality product, you have to deliver what you promised. If you make a mistake, you have to fix it, or even do it over at your expense. It's just a lot less complicated if you build it ahead of time, and offer it "as is" at an appropriate price, whether it's perfect or slightly flawed.

What kind of equipment did you work on at MT?

[randy warren]

mostly guitar amps and PAs, but I had been doing tube HiFi amps and vintage radios longer before, and since leaving them. The thing I learned the most there was how to make money fixing electronics, however that requires fixing something someone wants fixed as opposed to buying some old amp and restoring it. I mean, I can make some money doing that, but I would make more driving a school bus! Much of the issue is that those people that want the vintage amps want to fix them their selves or want them really cheap. Compound that with all the pickers out here now trying to locate old amps cheap so as to resell them on ebay and you get squeezed at both ends. There are several people who have an accomplished reputation for restorations that get them a good bit of work, but another problem is there are so many retired people that give their work and IP away for free, so it becomes a bit of a struggle.

[J-ROB]

If any big money is involved, people will only buy what they know is good--or think they know is good.

Premium and/or hyped-up items still fetch premium cash on ebay. Many such items still sell for way too much in my opinion. "Good" vintage speakers and tubes, for example.

An approach that seems to work somewhat in the DIY sphere is to have a presence elsewhere on the web, eg on forums and a website and them use ebay as a point of sale mechanism.

That, plus a couple persuasive shills and you're good to go.

All told, selling finished speakers on the internet seems challenging. Better to sell KITS to the proper niche element, but then they would have to be relatively inexpensive.

I'm with Stuart on recognizing a need for chassis. I was looking for one last week. Ended up buying a Chinese flat pack aluminum job. Decent for $90 but lacks soul. There was a guy making aluminum chassis with hardwood sides and selling quite a few. He has since backed down to a few listings at higher prices. but he sold some.

Phenolic and perforated aluminum is a beautiful combo. Snag an engraving machine and make preamp chassis with 1/4" canvas phenolic faceplates with engraved legends and try to shift a few to somebody looking for a classy box.

Another plan that I think would work is to make repro cabinets for Altec drivers. There are way more drivers than cabinets. And the vintage cabs kinda suck in build quality and are mostly beat. Problem is that these won't be small and shipping will be a hassle, but there is a relatively upscale ready market for such items, audiophile and analog retro pro. In other words, you don't have to "sell" the item. People already want it.

Or make nice wood or high-tech phono headshells. High value to mass/volume item. Serious phono guys love to pay big money for trinkets. Pay somebody to CNC the parts if you don't have the machines. A good headshell can easily go for 100-300 bucks.

Wood tonearms are another genius option.

If you have a saw to rip plywood at an angle, I need a pair of large baffles cut for some badass field coil 18"s. Might have to take it as a flat pack kit so it will fit into my volvo wagon. You will never sell another pair after.

And I'll throw in some free expert philosophy and opinion on making money in audio. I've been doing it for 30 years and I say it is near-impossible, but there are some opportunities.