[Parall3l]

Quote:


 
does that mean that stax is going to manufacture beats styled headphones? after all, that's what the "mass market" is after.
 
I'm very afraid for the future of high end headphones..
 
 
 

 
 
 

A Jude endorsed STAX SR-009 would certainly sell out for sure. 

 

 

[tranhieu]

Holy ****! Edifier?! They are famous for selling cheap mass product pc speakers in my home country!
 
The talk about cheap labor and poor quality aside, I reckon these guys really want to get their hands on Stax's R&D technology. They should have realised the reason why Stax is not doing as well as it did even before considering buying it since 15 mil is pretty cheap for such a prestigious company. What I want to know now is why they want to acquire Stax and what they are gonna do with all the tech stuff they get from its vault given that they never stepped into hiend world before.

 

[The Monkey]

Just adding a source, fwiw.
 
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2011/12/09/5983421.htm

 

[Sundance]

My biggest concern is whether the new owners will hire the old management or allocate a new team. This usually will decide if the company will undergo a gradual or a spontaneous change after an acquisition.

 

[complin]

Quote:

Will we see cheaper Stax?

Yes probably - BUT much poorer quality, reliability and service to customers - If true then its like whats happened to Quad a disaster.
 
I seem to remember the owner of the company was getting near to retirement so sold out?
 
They might still be assembled in Japan but would guess manufacturing will move to some sweat shop in China.  One of the main problems for Stax I would guess has been the high price of the yen which is why many japanese companies now manufacture nearer to their markets making their goods cheaper.
 
I think this spells the end of Stax as we have known them in the past and i'm really sorry for that as i've used their products for about 40 years.  I'm sure their new owners will have very different priorities and business model.
 
 

 

[BoogieWoogie]

 
Quote:

Holy ****! Edifier?! They are famous for selling cheap mass product pc speakers in my home country!
 
The talk about cheap labor and poor quality aside, I reckon these guys really want to get their hands on Stax's R&D technology. They should have realised the reason why Stax is not doing as well as it did even before considering buying it since 15 mil is pretty cheap for such a prestigious company. What I want to know now is why they want to acquire Stax and what they are gonna do with all the tech stuff they get from its vault given that they never stepped into hiend world before.

Yeah same here, they are known for this kind of speakers

 

[akwok]

Time to pick up an SR-009 ASAP before it gets discontinued?  Hmmm

 

[Parall3l]

Looks like Edifier did consider the risks of this purchase and according to the document here :

http://bbs.headphoneclub.com/viewthread.php?tid=173763&page=1&fromuid=39054#pid2358501

Edifier plans to make the current electrostats cheaper and develop new electrostats.

 

[Currawong]

That page in English suggests that the company is interested in making high-end headphones.  I may indeed have to get a second pair of 009s, as much as I don't want to spend that kind of money again right now.

 

[Xymordos]

So the entire company is worth around 1000 sets of 009s + 007amps?

 

[Xymordos]

By the way...the purchase price of "976.93 万元"
...is actually 9.76 million RMB, not 97.6 million. Thats 100 sets of 009+007amp...

 

[Parall3l]

Here is my attempt at translating it, it may not be 100% accurate, my Chinese is only at a 4th grader (Chinese) level and my English is not so good either.


公司立即拥有了全球著名的静电耳机及其功放的所有设计、制造技术和相应市场，公司得以迅速占领高端耳机的制高点，使公司能够向耳机行业的高端品牌发起挑战。公司还将利用自身现有的制造能力，大力降低静电耳机的制造成本，同时利用自身渠道大力推进相关产品的销售，使得所有消费者都有机会感受到这种高性能产品，努力使得产品售价为更多的消费者所接受。  公司还计划推出基于静电技术的新品牌，以便携式的静电耳机产品为主打，进一步拉低售价门槛，起到承上启下的重要作用。
 
This is the part most people would want know about, it means:
 
The company instantaneously acquired the world famous electrostatic headphone maker and all of its design, production technology and related consumer base, The company shall quickly occupy the summit of the top end headphone industry, allowing the company to challenge the top brands of the headphone industry. The company will also take advantage of its own production abilities to dramatically lower the production cost, at the same time use its own methods to market the product and increase sells, and give all the consumers a chance to experience this kind of high performance products. The company will try hard to price the products that is accepted by more customers. The company also plans to release new products based on the electrostatic technology, with portable electrostatics as the main product, and continue to lower the price, achieving the effect of (an idiom involving something about top and bottom 

)

 

 

[NamelessPFG]

I just hope this doesn't wind up with the SR-009 having Orpheus prices a few years from now, even higher than the already-staggering initial cost.
 
However, as much as we're talking about the flagships...what will become of the Lambda line?
 
Also, if Edifier really wants to make some Stax products affordable, then I'm sure they've realized that the main thing that makes Stax equipment so expensive to get into isn't the cost of the headphones themselves...but the required driver units that cost just as much, if not more.

 

[firev1]

Quote:

 

Yeah same here, they are known for this kind of speakers

I would not count on it, despite having targeted the mass market, I feel some of the Edifier Studio bookshelf speaker line was a winner, though it doesn't seem as popular as other more popular brand names since they don't have much of a online presence. In singapore, they are known for ^ but in Malaysia, I believe their Studio line is very well received. I do expect/hope that this 'grant' will help Stax with research on electrostats. Frankly with their current product research and selling cycles, I find it extremely hard to see them make any real profit(or cost recovery) for their headphones which IMO(have not tried) worth every cent just for the amount of research that goes into each and every one of them.

 

[ardgedee]

Edifier may have decided that it's cheaper to buy an existing electrostatic manufacturer rather than set up its own. Unfortunately Stax is effectively the only one.
 
What I worry about after reading Parall3l's translation is that Stax will be treated purely as a brand name to slap onto other products, if Edifier decides that electrostatic technology is not so interesting after all.
 
Remember that this is not the first time Stax has survived corporate turbulence. Wikiphonia's profile of Stax is a useful read:
 
 
Quote:

By the end of 1995 Stax Industries, Ltd. along with its American subsidiary, Stax Kogyo, ceased business operations due to a disagreement between owners of the firm and its employees. However, around 1996 some engineers from the old company formed a new company, Stax Limited, in Saitama, Japan.

 
I wouldn't be surprised if there's a new company almost exactly like Stax established in Japan in a couple years if the engineers are not happy with the results of this buyout.