yeah- Those guys had way too much fun in the 60's! Their power cords look like sure recipe for fire and electrocution! And worst of all they act so arrogant about how clever they think they are. Like their Saran wrapped wires and chopping block stands are works of genius.

Actually, Mapleshade uses their own products and ideas in the equipment and recordings they make (which are very clean, btw). Their records are reasonably priced, they record non-mainstream artists who are off the commercial grid (the Kendra Shank is wonderful) and they build their own recording equipment. They also refurb vintage tube gear.
I kind of like that they go against the prevailing audiophile wisdom, if there is such a thing. And just as the link says, they offer cheap tweak counterparts to the expensive ones that they and every other audio product retailer sells. So what's the beef?

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Actually, Mapleshade uses their own products and ideas in the equipment and recordings they make (which are very clean, btw). Their records are reasonably priced, they record non-mainstream artists who are off the commercial grid (the Kendra Shank is wonderful) and they build their own recording equipment. They also refurb vintage tube gear.
I kind of like that they go against the prevailing audiophile wisdom, if there is such a thing. And just as the link says, they offer cheap tweak counterparts to the expensive ones that they and every other audio product retailer sells. So what's the beef?

Shhhhhh, quite...you'll interupt DUP posting to himself.

Mapleshade doesn't carry Matt Oreo, dude.

Actually, a lot of their stuff is pretty expensive. Blocks of maple wood that are supposed to have these magic sonic qualities go for a lot more than the same maple cutting block you could get at a kitchen supply store- even Williams Sonoma! Other stuff looks down right dangerous for the home user (like the power cords, speaker wire, etc). and they are not that cheap either.

Granted they SEEM to believe it and use it in their studios, but still. Isolation platforms you see on Music Direct are at least out of truly expensive materials (large blocks of carbon fiber, graphite, acrylic, etc) and are difficult and expensive to machine. Big chunks of maple? Not so much. The brass points are reasonably priced, but no more so than other audio cones.

I dunno- the recordings might be good, but the whole equipment section of their sight seems pretty wacky.

The wires ARE weird in their baggy pants. I would definitely make my own platforms and spend the $$ on equip't./music I can't make myself. Right now I have a Bello rack that probably vibrates like a motel bed, but a very heavy wood TT stand made of furniture grade birch plywood boxes stacked and filled with cd's. Hope I'm not hurting the sound!

"To really sweeten your sound, try turning off every fluorescent and halogen light in the house, as well as air conditioning, oil burner, electric stove, dimmer and CD boombox; unplug every surge protector, digital TV, computer and U.P.S."

Maybe actually a good idea. Practical, though, only if you have servants. Call them on a walkie-talkie from the listening room: "Unplug everything, Jeeves, ready, NOW!")

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Yeah, this is some piece of work, http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/powerstratum.php about a $3 strip, on a cutting block, and some plumber putty, or sealant for SE cable into the meter pan, what kind of nudnick buys into this stuff? Putting a cheap strip on a piece of wood with putty, how much are they getting for this? Wow. Makes a gallon of gas, seem reasonable.....

But look the bright side, Dupster. It gives you a reason to live! You are thrivng with vigor and purpose, railing quixotically against your enemies. Tell us more about your Whispers- your Dulcinea- and the SLAM! that brings joy to your little shriveled heart.

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Actually, a lot of their stuff is pretty expensive. Blocks of maple wood that are supposed to have these magic sonic qualities go for a lot more than the same maple cutting block you could get at a kitchen supply store- even Williams Sonoma! Other stuff looks down right dangerous for the home user (like the power cords, speaker wire, etc). and they are not that cheap either.

Granted they SEEM to believe it and use it in their studios, but still. Isolation platforms you see on Music Direct are at least out of truly expensive materials (large blocks of carbon fiber, graphite, acrylic, etc) and are difficult and expensive to machine. Big chunks of maple? Not so much. The brass points are reasonably priced, but no more so than other audio cones.

I dunno- the recordings might be good, but the whole equipment section of their sight seems pretty wacky.

Anytime a given company that has a MSRP system..and has proper distribution, anything they even touch..will have a price increase over basic costs...from 1:5 to 1:9, depending on the given market and item.

So if a given item costs $1 in major quanity costs..then the retail price could be from $5 to $9.

Simple economics, 101.

BTW, these are the folks who DON'T gouge $$ out of the public, at all. Those are the realities.

I am a degreed industrial designer with plenty of manufacturing and business experience and I don't think your ratios pan out that well. And besides, what I was referring to was comparative retail pricing. I know I could make a maple block for $50, but I was pointing out that ANY kitchen store could get you the same thing for a lot less in one of their nicely made maple cutting boards than one of these "audio" grade boards. I get economy of scale and all that, but still, a lot of their stuff is pretty out there, and STILL not exactly a bargain for such mundane materials and simple workmanship. And I don't buy their arguement that THEY have the best "sounding" maple on the planet!

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Your rules of 1-5 1-9 doesn't hold up in teh bizzaro world of audio crap tweaks or overpriced components!! $100,000 TT? $27,000 CD players using OBSOLTE TD- philips chipss, or some vacuum tube amplifer made in China putting out 8Watts.....You are a sellers best customer, of this stuff. When $20,000 CD players use the same Philips optics/drive as in my $300 Philips changers, and i can get teh replacement opticas/drive assy for $29 at MCM..some time ago, brand new, factory box, to replace my old, dried up grease mistracking one, then I bought soem spares, for like $19 each VAM-1201 VAM-1202 Or coded CDM2 etc...your formula don't work, neither does your economics 101 blessings.

I've been in business in one form or another since I was 9, I'm 43 now. When it comes to manufacturing the 1-to-5 rule is the basic minimum. That's raw costs vs retail MSRP.

If you are in a hotly contested market area, then the numbers and margins are smaller. The companies are usually bigger, with lowered costs, and streamlined/curtailed distribution.

The rule is solid, standard, and self-evident, if you are in these market areas such as high end or even regular audio 'retail' product. Every dollar that goes out and into the product, no matter even if it is the damn cardboard box, MUST be part of the 5x multiplier. End of story.

If not, you'd simply be out of business.

Go do what Mapleshade is doing, with the materials they are using, from the given sources, with the production work they are doing. As well, you truly have no idea where they source their products or what work is done to them.

Then come back and comment.

I daresay that your numbers would be similar. from what I see, this is some bits of armchair judgement, which you both (well at lest one of you) knows is simply not a correct type of assessment. I understand you guys are simply reacting to the numbers you see, but unless you go out and look deeply into the given specific aspects at this exact time, in totality, with every single aspect looked at and tallied up as costs-you won't be able to make a clear assessment.

Once a given product comes out of China, for example, the distributors and retailers take their usual 'cut' that they always have, sometimes even more than normal. You can see how much labour costs are in North America.

You can't have it both ways.

You can have your sense of freedom and good living in the states or western society in general, you can be working far far harder for considerably less..in Asia. or you can have your world in the US turn to shit, and make a crap wage living in a virtual hell (compared to how you feel about it now). Your choice.

Both you guys know this last part, but you are seemingly willfully ignoring it.

And as a manufacturer in North America, I'm not going to bother to make a product, unless I can put food on the table for my efforts.

What happens when an unequivocal force meets and infallible object?

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If you are in a hotly contested market area, then the numbers and margins are smaller.

The margin for a $10.00 power strip, mounted on a piece of butcher-block, is out of this world. Anyone dumb enough to fall for this nonsense from Mapleshade deserves to pay $690.00. The copmpany should increase their price.

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What happens when an unequivocal force meets and infallible object?

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