[estreeter]

http://www.hifiman.com/Products/
 
Granted, it took Fang Feng long enough, but that is a huge improvement. 
 
Over to you, audio-gd ...
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/En%20audio-gd.htm
 
Even that is better than it was, but if you are going to have a web presence, you might as well spend a few Yuan on it. Both are Chinese companies, btw, and both ship a lot of gear to overseas customers. No excuses - this belongs in 1990 - 
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/dac/NFB2.1/NFB2.1EN.htm

 

[estreeter]

OK - in typical Head-Direct/HiFiMan fashion, there appear to be a few issues in R1.0 of the site, but overall I like the design. YMMV. 

 

[telecaster]

Check audionote website, they sell 100000+GBP tube amps!
If you want a sleek web interface it won't improve the sound but may improve the marketing. An image is what it is, a momentary cliche in time. It doesn't last, it's an image, good or bad. We can debate all night, but an image is always an illusion.
 

 

[estreeter]

Forget the illusion part - both companies are in business to sell their products - why bother having a site at all if its going to be so pathetically laid out ? I have no objection to audio-gd's desire to tell me every little thing about their product, but do they need 15 different colored fonts and a mess of Chinglish to accomplish that ? There are hordes of first-year CS students in Universities all over southern China who could do a better job. 
 
Thanks for using uber high-end audio as an example of how to market sub-5K gear - totally relevant, of course. Audio-gd cant survive on one sale a month, but if you want to be an apologist for a company that seems to have no interest in attracting potential customers, go right ahead. Check out the Meridian site sometime if you want to keep banging on about a totally different market - its not that the entire high-end industry has no interest in the web, its simply that many of the owners are firmly locked in the 70s and 80s - thats fine if you are McIntosh (compare their marketing with Denon/Marantz ..), not so fantastic if you are a new Chinese company trying to move from budget gear to 'entry-level high end'. 
 
Would I prefer that their amps sounded good and their website looked like a dogs breakfast than the converse ? Of course I would, but its not as if I'm asking them to build a database backend and hire 15 professionals to maintain the site. If you think the Asian consumer values technology over image, you really need to get on a plane pronto - too long in the country of fine women may have affected your perspective. 

 

[runswithaliens]

The Audio-GD website is composed of pure awesomeness. Have a nice day.

 

[project86]

I welcome the updated HiFiMAN website (though I think it has been this way for a while now, maybe a month or more?), and I too am baffled by the Audio GD site. Do I really need to get another explanation of their ACSS system on every page of every product? And in terms of descriptions, everything is either listed as extremely brutally neutral, or else slightly warm but still revealing. It's hard to know which product is placed where, until you look at the price. Even the numbers in the names don't necessarily mean anything.

None of this means their gear is bad of course. But as a consumer I would have a hard time figuring out what to buy unless I had obtained the info elsewhere like on HeadFi.

 

[estreeter]

Even if you had been on Head-Fi for a month or two, do you feel you would be ready for those pages ? I would have done what Steve Decket has done (again, not the best layout, but bear with me) - marketing on the product pages and  a lot of the tech buried in his design notes and other musings. Yes, he does repeat some of the key technical features, and  the site could definitely be improved, but I dont find it a chore to get the gist of his product offerings, despite being a tube ignoramus. 
 
Again, this has absolutely nothing to do with the products themselves - Bose probably have extremely attractive product pages - but its all part of the package. Would you buy electronics from someone who looked as if he built the gear in his pyjamas while spooning cereal into the side of his mouth ? That might appeal to those of you who actually received your Singlepower amps pre-meltdown. My experience in Asia has led me to believe that your presentation defines you - they might have barefoot billionaires, but I dont recall any barefoot millionaires. Would you hand someone a business card with your name in multi-coloured crayon and expect to be taken seriously ? I will leave the ball with Audio-gd. 

 

[HaVoC-28]

retro / hand made disign ?  

peraphs some can like it as it is . It didn't bother me  for my first purchase (NFB-2 ) at that time , and it's very different from other brands 

 
"Damn they don't care too much about " their web site disign" only on the quality of their products . (you can think that way) . 
 
their marketing argumentation seams more "technical " than other , who only just say that their product is best of world musicaly 

 

[Enverex]

I work for a web server company (maintaining servers, etc) and I build websites in my spare time (Web 2.0 crap; HTML5, CSS3, etc).
 
You know what I thought when I saw their (Audio GD's) site? "These guys aren't bothered too much about marketing or their image, their stuff must be pretty good".
 
If I see a website selling products that contains a lot of prettiness and little technical detail, I assume it's all fluff and no substance and avoid the product. Call me sceptical but I don't trust marketing or companies in general.
 
I'm not saying AGD's site couldn't do with a little spruce up, but not at the expense of losing all the details that it currently houses.

 

[estreeter]

OK, so that makes Meridian crap kit, right ? By your logic, most of the big speaker manufacturers are building crap and should close their doors immediately. 
 
I've never been to this site before, but decided I should check it out as they build relatively few products each year. High quality, highly desired products that have to perform in the real world, To my surprise, their website looks nothing like audio-gd site ....
 
http://www.ferrari.com.au/cars.php
 
Spend five minutes on that site and tell me you don't feel something resembling lust, even if you would never spend that kind of money on a penis extension.
 
My advice to the apologists is to quit while you're behind. 

 

[Enverex]

I didn't say that so stop putting words into my mouth.
 
Secondly, to counter your own argument - http://www.ferrari.com/English/GT_Sport%20Cars/CurrentRange/458-Italia/Performance_Figures/Pages/Technical_Sheet_458-Italia.aspx - they do have lots of details about their cars on their site, not just pictures and vague marketing comments, thus this site is the opposite to the sort I was referring to.
 
I'm not going to get into an argument over this, I stated my feelings clearly in my initial post.

 

[nigeljames]

Audio-gd having a better web site could actually cost then customers.
When customers already have to wait 2-3 months for their order to be delivered (as has been the case for me on a couple of occasions) with the exception of there budget gear then if a better web site designed to bring in more orders does exactly that then the wait time could increase to maybe 4-6 months.
 
Many people will not order or cancel there orders if told that's how long they would have to wait especially if they have paid in advance. I would hate to want to order some new gear in the future only to be told its a 6 month wait!!
 
Their web site is a bit confusing and repetitive but its also informative and an interesting read IMO.

 

[estreeter]

By that logic, Justin needs to take his own basic-but-legible site down ASAP:
 
 
[size=x-small]Blue Hawaii SE Electrostatic Amp (BHSE)
Current production run sold out.  Parts for next production run are on order, estimated completion end of summer. Make a refundable deposit now to secure the earliest place in line.[/size]
[size=x-small]Aristaeus Electrostatic Amp
I have parts for one more small production run of the Aristaeus, and they'll be ready by end of summer/early fall. Make a refundable deposit now to secure the earliest place in line.[/size]
[size=x-small]GS-1 Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp
Extremely limited stock.  Please email before placing an order.[/size]
[size=x-small]GS-X Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp
Wait time is currently 12 weeks.[/size]

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

By that logic, Justin needs to take his own basic-but-legible site down ASAP:
 
 
[size=x-small]Blue Hawaii SE Electrostatic Amp (BHSE)
Current production run sold out.  Parts for next production run are on order, estimated completion end of summer. Make a refundable deposit now to secure the earliest place in line.[/size]
[size=x-small]Aristaeus Electrostatic Amp
I have parts for one more small production run of the Aristaeus, and they'll be ready by end of summer/early fall. Make a refundable deposit now to secure the earliest place in line.[/size]
[size=x-small]GS-1 Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp
Extremely limited stock.  Please email before placing an order.[/size]
[size=x-small]GS-X Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp
Wait time is currently 12 weeks.[/size]

Thats why I would not buy from any of them.

 

[project86]

The warning about lead time is a separate issue in my book. And an absolutely essential one. I don't care if you build custom IEMs, amps, speakers, wine racks, hammocks.... Whatever it is, the customer has a right to know how long the potential wait could be. If I order today and there is no specific info about delays, my logical conclusion is that the product should be in stock and shipping ASAP. Or in the case of cIEMs, a default expectation of 2-3 weeks build time is standard unless otherwise mentioned.

Please don't expect to subsidize your order on the backs of the uninformed customer who might be scared away if made aware of a 3 month wait. Does keeping them in the dark in order to avoid paying a little more on your end really seem right?