[uncola]

REL subs. Nice - from what I heard they blend in the best.

http://www.willitblend.com/

 

[US Blues]

 

 

Not all modern well-reviewed subwoofers are amped with class D, have a pair of REL T7Is on order for my living room that use class A/B amps. I have two perfect corners for them behind my KEF Reference 1 stand-mounted speakers. I love the Ref 1s, but a little more bass on jazz bass-heavy passages would get a bit closer to the great front-row experience listening to my favorite bass players at SFJAZZ (Dave Holland, Larry Grenadier, Reuben Rogers, ...). BTW, Larry Grenadier puts an awesome appearance in Brad Mehldau's recent "Blues and Ballads" on Nonesuch, with Jeff Ballard on drums (my favorite slow, bluesy trio these days). 

 
Thank you, I should have said most subs use Class D (or similar) amps. You are fortunate to have such an amazing reference to live music from a great venue, I hope your new subs bring you that much closer. And thanks too for the musical input, my knowledge of Jazz is a bit stuck in the early 60's!

 

[KoshNaranek]

A Possible way for Schiit to dip their toe in the water of the DIY space would be to offer a Raspberry Pi Case that is actually a Magni or Bifrost case. Either with a linear 5V PSU or a simple 2.1mm Barrel Connector to connect a better External PSU. Internally a MicroB connector would be necessary. The Bifrost case could be large enough to house a HiFiBerry Digi with an external coax connector that is actually mounted on Metal! I am personally tired of spending $50 on CNC machined cases that still look lousy. The Schiit cases would, obviously be stackable with their products. It may not be a big money maker, but may promote sales of other products.

 

[Ableza]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: after having "dipped my toe" into the DIY space in the past, I highly recommend Schiit (and every other small company who wishes to stay in business) stay away.  It can be like trying to maintain order at the Star Wars bar... "a hive of scum and villainy." 

 

[KoshNaranek]

I agree that going any further than a case would be a support disaster for Schiit, but how bad can a case with a few wires be? Make sure the warranty period is SHORT.(How does 14 days sound?)

 

[Ableza]

I agree that going any further than a case would be a support disaster for Schiit, but how bad can a case with a few wires be? Make sure the warranty period is SHORT.(How does 14 days sound?)

Not to derail things much further, but here are a few of the issues you are ignoring.  What about the additional warehouse space and logistics required?  How many do they keep in stock?  5? 50? 5000? Who pays for unused inventory?  This case would have to be different from every other case, if only in the marking, so how many versions should they keep?  Will the supplier support small volume special orders?  What's the cost of that?  What about colors?  What about the manpower needed for technical support ("I can't figure out how to put it together, help me?", "I lost my screws, can you send me two free ones?") What about the potential damage to the company's reputation on Internet forums? ("My DIY case from Schiit has a pin-head size blemish.  They have their heads up their arses and are a terrible company!") What about price?  Selling something like this would end up costing consumers more than the case value when it's used in an assembly.  Gotta make a profit somehow, and when volume is small price must go up.  And you mention warranty.  Servicing warranties also costs a lot of money and time, even if it's just the time it takes to tell someone their warranty is expired - and then the nightmare of arguing with them about it when they inevitably ask for an "exception, just in my case" which is what everyone asks for.  And then there's liability.  How about the idiot user who connects a 240V main rather than the ground to the case and kills himself, and the estate comes after Schiit because their instructions did not specifically state, "Do not connect the mains to the case."?
 
I'm sure there are other considerations, these are just a few of the ones that helped sink Adire and Exodus Audio.

 

[rdaneel]

A Possible way for Schiit to dip their toe in the water of the DIY space would be to offer a Raspberry Pi Case that is actually a Magni or Bifrost case. Either with a linear 5V PSU or a simple 2.1mm Barrel Connector to connect a better External PSU. Internally a MicroB connector would be necessary. The Bifrost case could be large enough to house a HiFiBerry Digi with an external coax connector that is actually mounted on Metal! I am personally tired of spending $50 on CNC machined cases that still look lousy. The Schiit cases would, obviously be stackable with their products. It may not be a big money maker, but may promote sales of other products.

Kosh - I totally agree with this, and traded emails with Jason about it last week.  I was very impressed with the price he thought he could do for a Wyrd-type case.  Doing one of the aluminum chassis like Magni 2 or Bifrost would probably be significantly more expensive and possibly more than the market would bear (but this is just my assumption).  For $25, I would happily have a metal case.  Once you start looking at $50+, my enthusiasm wanes.  I agree that having a PSU integrated into the case would be awesome.  I wonder how we would handle the fact that Pi has ports on multiple sides.  The board would probably have to sit in the corner of the case.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

  Not to derail things much further, but here are a few of the issues you are ignoring.  What about the additional warehouse space and logistics required?  How many do they keep in stock?  5? 50? 5000? Who pays for unused inventory?  This case would have to be different from every other case, if only in the marking, so how many versions should they keep?  Will the supplier support small volume special orders?  What's the cost of that?  What about colors?  What about the manpower needed for technical support ("I can't figure out how to put it together, help me?", "I lost my screws, can you send me two free ones?") What about the potential damage to the company's reputation on Internet forums? ("My DIY case from Schiit has a pin-head size blemish.  They have their heads up their arses and are a terrible company!") What about price?  Selling something like this would end up costing consumers more than the case value when it's used in an assembly.  Gotta make a profit somehow, and when volume is small price must go up.  And you mention warranty.  Servicing warranties also costs a lot of money and time, even if it's just the time it takes to tell someone their warranty is expired - and then the nightmare of arguing with them about it when they inevitably ask for an "exception, just in my case" which is what everyone asks for.  And then there's liability.  How about the idiot user who connects a 240V main rather than the ground to the case and kills himself, and the estate comes after Schiit because their instructions did not specifically state, "Do not connect the mains to the case."?
 
I'm sure there are other considerations, these are just a few of the ones that helped sink Adire and Exodus Audio.

Yep, we discussed it, but basically, it's too big of a distraction from what we're doing. Especially now that prototype #1 of the speaker amp is scrapped. (Don't panic, kinda expected it, and scrapping it brings some very nice benefits...like losing the (long-planned-for) fan.)

 

[Ableza]

Ah, I always like to hear about prototypes being scrapped.  That inevitably leads to a better design.  And I don't want any stinking fans. 

 

[AudioBear]

I am amazed Jason would even talk about making a case.  Sure he's a businessman and a a marketer, but he and Mike are also very experienced and creative engineers.  I would have thought their juices flowed for design of what's in the case, not the case itself.  I like the Schiit cases but they are sort of minimalist.  Which is great we pay for the electronics not the case jewelry--I get it. After thinking about it for 30 sec I think I might buy a Schiit case too.  There is unfortunately not a one size fits all solution to cases.  That's a challenge.
 
I've been looking for a Raspberry Pi case lately and I totally agree that Schiit could teach them a thing or two about making a decent case.  It won't be long, however, before we are making our own cases with our 3-D printers.  A little later on we'll have replicators, but that's another chapter for Jason to write.  The print a case idea might be an interesting business to get into. There might be a market for custom printed cases and there might also be a market for Schiit to make electronic modules that could be embedded by the user in cases or walls or wherever.  Why be restricted by a traditional case? Why do audio electronics have to look like boxes?  If the modules hooked up with the IoT you could bury them into places however you choose and use any connected device as a remote to control them.  This would be a boon for Schiit since no longer would they have to stuff cases 24/7 to meet production deadlines.

 

[Ableza]

 
 
re: case for your DIY projects.  I make my own, or use old cigar boxes.

 

[FrivolsListener]

 
 
 
re: case for your DIY projects.  I make my own, or use old cigar boxes.

 
Do you keep having to sacrifice dollar bills to it to keep it working?  Is it ever satisfied?

 
ObOnTopic: I'm very curious what Jason and Mike have up their collective virtual sleeves.   Trying, with difficulty, to resist the siren song of more Schiit and Salk speakers.

 

[AudioBear]

I'm so curious that I have stopped even thinking about buying anything electronic until Schiit announces its new products.  It's saved me a lot of money in the short run but I suspect it's going to cost me in the long run.

 

[AudioBear]

   
Do you keep having to sacrifice dollar bills to it to keep it working?  Is it ever satisfied?

 
ObOnTopic: I'm very curious what Jason and Mike have up their collective virtual sleeves.   Trying, with difficulty, to resist the siren song of more Schiit and Salk speakers.

You don't understand.  It prints dollars.  Great case.

 

[Ableza]

   
Do you keep having to sacrifice dollar bills to it to keep it working?  Is it ever satisfied?

.

Haha!  Good one!  It was just there for size comparison... but several dollar bills were sacrificed in the name of "do I remember how to do this?"