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Author Topic: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...  (Read 2532 times)

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Thad E Ginathom

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #20 on: September 06, 2015, 09:00:44 AM »
Well, people do often mock what they don't understand, and with the reservation that, unless it is in response to specific content, the limits of a person's understanding are not known, I didn't take offence at that. A certain amount of irreverence, if not obnoxiousness, and occasional arse-holery does seems accepted as part of the Pyrate ethos. But hey, I'm fairly new here too.

jer's latest post seems well reasoned. How, jer, would you rate Schiit on the "establishment" scale? I'd call them established. I'd say they became established quite quickly. They don't need to crowdfund their new models; they don't need pre-orders to make them.

As far as Schiit is concerned, I read the book. As far as LH is concerned, I admit to knowing very little. Of course, $1,000-dollar USB cables is a big turn off as far as I'm concerned, so that bias has to be admitted too. $1,000-dollar USB cables turn me off almost as much as $1,000 ethernet cables. When I see expensive "audiophile" ethernet cables, I just remove that company from my trust list. USB is a little more uncertain for me. For those who disagree on this, fine, we disagree ...and this isn't a cable thread.

It's a fine line, and hard to say where marketing turns me on and when it turns me off.  Crowd design is partly marketing. I have never minded the questions from Schiit as to what people want, nor the hints that leads to a guessing game that makes sure that people stay on board and stay interested.  The tamasha from ifi, on the other hand (and I noticed they are starting another one), put me off the company entirely. I'm sorry I ever bought their iCAN. (Whether or not it is a good hp amp is another question. Hey, it was/is my first hp amp). It's ironic (and a bit sad for me) that I love the way Schiit have built their business, but I can't get on with the specific product I've been trying out (that, too, is another story).

I'm British, and a little bit old. I do think this means that I have a much lower tolerance for brash marketing. It's part of my opinion-forming make-up. It's part of where I'm coming from.
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jer

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #21 on: September 06, 2015, 04:24:27 PM »
Thank you, Thad. (And thank you again for not taking offense to my poor choice of words.)

I think in Schiit's case, they're one of those rare exceptions I alluded to earlier. They've managed to achieve in a short time the much-desired, "recognized and generally accepted" status that oft comes with age while still being a fairly young company. That's not only laudable, it's phenomenal. I hope they keep up the good work and continue to make products that people rave about for a long time to come. The audio marketplace needs more competitors to drive technology forward, and it needs game-changers like Schiit if it's going to stay relevant.
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Marvey

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #22 on: September 06, 2015, 04:54:48 PM »
I am curious what is it that turns people off from LH?

With the recent round of crowdfunding, it is the perception that LH is working on too many products at once without better establishing themselves? I noted that some people pointed out that LH had on delivered yet on prior projects (Wave and maybe one other?) from crowdfunding.

I don't really keep up and I have no skin in the game. Just trying to make sense of it all. I like succinct, otherwise I get confused.
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Deep Funk

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #23 on: September 06, 2015, 05:02:25 PM »
If simple is your thing this is what you can do with a spoon.



P.S. The Tick made me do it.
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Marvey

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #24 on: September 06, 2015, 05:03:25 PM »
I was thinking maybe a power point slide or two.
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Thad E Ginathom

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #25 on: September 06, 2015, 06:34:56 PM »
Quote from: Marvey on September 06, 2015, 04:54:48 PM
.
I am curious what is it that turns people off from LH?
.

Thousand-dollar USB cables really tempts me to file them with those Synergy (whatever their name is) people, and crowdfunding? I did the rant already.

I am, though, as I type, listening to one of their products, and I am certainly not turned off.
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Xen

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #26 on: September 06, 2015, 07:06:00 PM »
I too, do not have a dog in this race. However, I was interested in the GeekOut v2 and was researching it.
Yellow Flags:
  • Over promising, under delivering. Delays are to be expected for batch order business, to an extent.
  • Not keeping paid customers in the loop with timely product updates. This is a lack of transparency and seriously degrades customer experience and trust. I am experiencing this right now with another retailer and will probably never order anything from that retailer again. This is an easy fix or should be.
Red Flags:
  • Saying they were caught up in delivering paid for units, but not. With more trust, this would seem like just a typo.
  • Falling very far behind in delivering paid for units, then starting new campaigns. This wouldn't be so bad if their delays were not so extended. As it stands the appearance is they are over-extended, making it seem like they are not providing adequate service to customers who have already paid and getting prepaid moneys for new orders.
All of the above can be mitigated with better transparency and clearing their backlogs. If they can show they can deliver in a more timely manner and keeping me in the loop on reasons for delays, I would trust them enough to order from them.
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Claritas

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #27 on: September 06, 2015, 08:15:52 PM »
Quote from: Marvey on September 06, 2015, 04:54:48 PM
I am curious what is it that turns people off from LH?

Besides what the other guys said . . .

  • False advertising: GO 450 was supposed to work with IEMs. It used to say so on their website. Nope, hiss. Then GO 100 was their answer. Is it? They say yes. Guys I trust say no. I'm keeping my money.
  • The online assholery of their sales reps. Don't act like a dick in public if you want to sell to me.
  • Unhelpful fans who evaluate based on the crowdfunding price instead of MSRP. If you challenge their assessment, they reply "of course I meant it's good for the crowdfunding price; I would never buy it at MSRP!" Yes, I blame them for their fans because confusion is their business model.
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kevin

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #28 on: September 06, 2015, 08:18:12 PM »
Quote from: jer on September 06, 2015, 02:45:26 AM
I think they do. They've staked their business model (at least where R&D is concerned) on not only crowdfunding, but crowd-designing.

FWIW: This analog campaign is supposed to be a pre-sale, not crowdfunding or crowd designing. According to their blog the products are already completely designed and the "first batch" is already "on the way or completed". The pre-sale is "primarily to make a marketing splash in order to get people’s attention as well as leverage that momentum to create more future sales."

So maybe this campaign won't be plagued by the delays that previous campaigns saw.

Maybe.
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madaboutaudio

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Re: LHLabs new pre-order page is up...
« Reply #29 on: September 06, 2015, 09:26:08 PM »
If it is truely a presale, they don't have to go through the Indiegogo platform and use their website instead, my guess is that Indiegogo gives them the protection of not having to issue refunds/returns etc.
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