I and others appreciate the work your company is doing to satisfy the unsatisfiable ("eccentric" audiophiles like me) and drive the industry forward into new territory. After reading through your post, have you considered condensing your product lineup?
I realize the irony of that question, that it might entail niche products like the C9 are first on the chopping block, but from what you wrote it sounds like Cayin may be faced with the dilemma many of us are these days - to cover as many bases as possible to an acceptable standard, or choose to sacrifice in some areas to perform better in others. Perhaps there is no simple answer but an ongoing dialogue in which community feedback and sales play their part.
If you have the opportunity to check out our complete product line, you'll be amazed. On top of the Personal Audio items I listed, we have 15 CD players/Streamer/DAC and 37 integrated/Pre/Power amplifier products, all actively moving in our R&D, production line or inventory.
My feeling is the high-end transportable market is under-represented but this is a purely anecdotal and non data-driven opinon. Sometimes it takes the right product to come along and fire consumer imagination for demand to really take off. I wonder what Apple's Airpods Max will do for the high-end headphone market for instance? Cannibalize sales of genuinely high-end alternatives perhaps, or simply increase the overall size of the market as younger generations discover the joy of better sound for the first time.
Sorry I'm rambling here a little, but as a mere consumer in this industry its fascinating being given an insight into how audiophile manufacturers like yours decide which directions to persue. Much as I would love to see more high-priced transportable offerings, its easy to understand the economic realities that proven, more profitable product lines must be given precedence so the business can afford the luxury of occasionally releasing something with more niche appeal. Much like Mazda with the MX-5 perhaps.
The MX-5 is a very good example, I like that illustration, it explains the situation with a very simple example.
If we are looking at per product base, then you are certain correct that niche products such as N8 and C9 will not see the light of day, but then, it depends on how you utilize your resource. For example, we devoted a lot of resource to N8, but we have migrated the headphone amplifier implementation to A01 and T01 Audio Motherboard, and the Dual Timber system to N3Pro, including the skills involved to install vacuum tubes in a cramp DAP circuit board. Hopefully C9 will also create new product opportunities for Cayin.
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