Originally Posted by mikeg
Since John owns Grado Corp., I know that no one can force him to match Sennheiser's HE90. But, since John knows that the HE90 is almost unanimously considered by Head-Fi members to be the world's best headphone, I hope that his pride will cause his company to rise above their second rate status; i.e., second to Sennheiser, and Sony, in the production of top-notch headphones.
The problem with this is that Head-fi is PEANUTS in the grand scheme of things. Not that John does not respect Head-fi members, but frankly his profits aren't coming from Head-fi, they are coming from his worldwide clientele through his dealer network. I remember folks getting all uppity on Tyll when his product line was apparently "slipping." He was flamed pretty hard and he remarked how Head-fi consisted of maybe 1% of his sales. 1%! Folks, as much as we are an insane bunch over these headphones, to a major manufacturer, we are a blip on the screen, in most cases anyway. Folks like Ray, Mikhail, Justin...sure they make their living off of folks here, buying and selling amps and continuing the cycle, but the real cash cow are the non-members spread throughout the world.
Why these points? Because as much as many members may consider the HE90's the best, this is not the case worldwide. In fact, there are again plenty of people who think the RS-1's are the best, or the HD650's, or the Qualias etc etc. The best is simply a marketting claim. It can't exist because we all like different things. There have been plenty of direct comparisons of the Omega II system vs. the Big O where the Stax came out on top...to repeatedly declare the HE90 the best and demand an American company to do something better...well, if we were to poll all those in the world who have heard the RS-1's and the HE90's and we found that 30% felt the RS-1's were superior, John can actually sell to those 30% and better yet, sell to the other 70% if they are willing, because the HE90 is out of production.
As for giving control of his company to someone else, that means he is giving up something that he has worked hard to achieve and maintain. Again, he is ridiculously successful for a company that does not advertize. The likes of Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Sony, they are marketting machines always needing that new product line out to keep profits high. And once again, new does not equate to better, just look at the Qualias. How many feel they are the best?