I’m interested to note that EU countries are applying new GPRS regulations to imported tech and have had to prompt my supplier to get the products re-tested to the most recent directives pertaining to Low Voltage, EMC and RoHS. That tighter regulation is impacting a lot of smaller UK businesses still struggling on with trying to supply into the EU and even apparently into NI.
I had a couple of amps held up getting into Portugal last week & only a very polite letter accompanied by the most recent compliance docs I could muster was enough to get those through. Nearly didn’t even then.
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What an arse-ache 
One of SO many facets of Breakxshit that weren’t remotely thought-through…
Mastergroove repair by Mend it Mark & an honest message to Tom Evans audio
Here it goes… Louis Rossmann has finally uploaded it
I’ll copy paste one thing i did put on Louis’ video… because I think its important to note:
While I wont defend tom’s actions here, and I wont entirely defend the cost of the product, i do ask people like Louis to remember the following. This machine has literally hundreds (if not thousands) of hand soldered components. Those components were likely all hand picked (and yes, annoyingly, hand sanded to hide the values). These were then all hand assembled onto individual circuit boards, which are then placed in a completely bespoke casework.
Yes, we can all have our opinions about the validity of the design, its effectiveness, and how well judged it is. But As a small company making these things in low volume, with everything hand assembled by a person being paid at least a living wage in the UK. This isn’t a cheap thing to build. The sheer man hours in selecting components, soldering, building, testing, and casing, are likely to be into the thousands alone. Then take into account the cost of the components, and the cost of building casework like this in low volume, and it further adds to the value.
Also these devices (i assume) do require a degree of research, development, and ongoing testing to make. This also has an associated cost.
i don’t expect someone who just repairs someone elses designs to entirely bear that in mind, that building something from scratch is not the same as reverse engineering.
So, I do imagine, that in the UK, this box of nonsense (as mad as it may be), could well cost around £3000-4000 just to get built in the UK. Generally if you look at all makers of anything from coathangers to watches, generally a 1:4 ratio is applied, where the retail cost is generally about four times the cost of the build cost. Given dealer margings, shipping costs, advertising costs and ongoing support costs. So if we apply this 1:4 ratio to the assumed build costs, this is how we get to circa £20,000.
Tom has said himself, that almost no one has ever paid retail for one of these, it is a suggested RRP, not necesserilly the price that is paid. I’d assume most people should be able to convince a dealer to sell them one for less than £18k.
I repeat, I’m not defending Tom’s actions, his behaviour, or the design of this unit. But I won’t stand for someone saying the price is a rip off and it should cost £200! YOu literally cannot build something this complicated in the UK for that money. You’re all too used to machine made surface mount stuff from china which costs pennies to make.
I just ask everyone to understand realistically what it actually costs to build something like this in a country with minimum wage regulations!
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Rossmann is one angry man!
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I think he’s just used to fighting much more evil, vindictive, huge corporations, who really are trying to fuck everyone over
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Well first off anyone suggesting a parts cost of £250 is to be just ignored, let alone fanciful ideas of how much it costs in labour to put together. Having ran low and high volume electronic manufacturing facilities myself and produced prototypes etc I’ve got a pretty good idea.
The problem is that what Tom Evans is offering to the market looks worse than most proof of concept DIY efforts using whatever the workshop had to hand, that I’ve seen. Its asking somewhere near £25k for that kind of build quality inappropriate to a production standard unit that is a good deal of the problem that he has found himself in.
If we’re honest. it wasn’t copyright that Tom was objected to, it was the fact that everyone can see inside the box now and make their own minds up once it was taken apart, and form a judgement on -
- Where the fuck has £25k gone into because I can’t see it
- Why are there bits of cardboard shimming this badly put together tupperware box?
- Who is going to buy one of these now the cat is well and truly out the bag
Right or wrongly, people’s impressions aren’t going to be very favourable or indeed accurate, and that’s really why Tom has been so upset and lashed out. People have seen how the sausage is made and they’re less than impressed/ appalled.
High end audio requires a certain suspension of belief, and/ or enough credibility within the brand to be able to support this kind of pricing that bears little relation to the actual cost of goods sold. The problem for TE is that this little incident has severely damaged both, and that will also reflect on the rest of his range too, and the units in the second hand market.
This is precisely why a lot of owners of his kit on PFM are squealing and trying to jump absurdly to TE’s defence - because part of the reason they bought their TE kit is presumably they thought that they could safely sell it on if they wanted and ‘get what they paid for it’ etc. Well maybe not at the moment, and maybe not anymore.
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yeah, i mean now they’re all doomed… because aint no one buying any TE
Maybe now is exactly the time to buy some 
I’ll offer him £2k for one of these shitboxes
Hi End Audio is on it’s ass. Unfortunately this kind of debacle further lays the boot in. Many may say deservedly so. Certainly buyers want value for money in terms of sound and quality. It’s the quality aspect that is most challenged in the films - It doesn’t look or feel the money (It isn’t). Pair that with poor communications / customer service etc and you get a death rattle.
As noted above TE has overheads, margins, export costs, marketing, component costs, time, tax, VAT, rents and all other considerations that make up his cost. It’s no coincidence vintage hifi is booming simply because it is better value for money. Cottage industries cant absorb the R&D / overheads etc that mass production once could. I’m listening to a Luxman integrated amp currently that would cost from any UK cottage industry maker today 10K+ to put out. Yet you can pick these up for £600 or less. Economy of scale is real.
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yeah, and even in current terms, I think the big amps from Luxman represent “good value”, because they are itterative, and the R&D is absorbed by a huge company making thousands of them. something like my old 509X, was far better than it had any right to be, and at its used prices represents an insane bargain!
I’ll have another for sure someday!
The Fink Pish take (Tony aside) is split between what people-who-buy-hifi think, and what people who make hifi think.
The first group are dismayed by how horribly bodged-together the unit looks, and secondarily by the apparent lack of customer support.
The second group are on the defensive, not so much because of any hidden agenda, but chiefly because so many of the comments are so fucking ill-informed and pigshit thick.
I say ‘apparent’ lack of customer support, because it sounds like the customer in this case was a cretin who packed the unit badly, and was then surprised to be asked to pay for a complete new chassis after the usual parcels-smashers did their thing.
As for the windowlickers - I gave up years ago trying to school the thick stupid cunts on what it actually costs to bring even a fairly simple piece of electronic equipment to market: hifi more than any other walk of life is stuffed to the gizzard with tight-fisted pico-IQs who think it should all basically be free and any attempt to make a living from their hobby is a crime worse than child-molesting…
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Please stop insulting my dog.
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Of the two groups you defined, one wants a lot for very little, and err the other wants a lot for very little.
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