advertisement


Sideways Uni-Pivot Arm, SUPATRAC Blackbird, formerly "Ekos Killer (Price?)"

Richard, i'm assuming this is a beta-testing situation and not necessarily for sale/return? I'm just curious. Thanks.

Also wondering if you'll have an ARO mount. Thanks.
 
No, this is sale or return, half price introductory offer to the bold. Either send it back or pay. These first ten will not have a lever lift, but I intend to provide compatible lever lifts later for free.

Let me know if you want to be on the list. Five remain.
 
yuckyamson said:
Also wondering if you'll have an ARO mount. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm hoping to do Linn collar compatible first, then ARO and Rega. It is a very simple column with all mechanism attached, so should be easy to drop into different geometries and bases.
 
sonddek said:
No, this is sale or return, half price introductory offer to the bold. Either send it back or pay. These first ten will not have a lever lift, but I intend to provide compatible lever lifts later for free.

Let me know if you want to be on the list. Five remain.
Click to expand...

what is the price?
 
General release price will be £1500, whereas these first ten will be £750 each, in order to get the project kick started, fund materials for the next batch, and get some feedback from hopefully very happy customers.
 
sonddek said:
General release price will be £1500, whereas these first ten will be £750 each, in order to get the project kick started, fund materials for the next batch, and get some feedback from hopefully very happy customers.
Click to expand...


That's exactly where I thought you'd pitch it! Unfortunately for me even the introductory offer is unaffordable in these troubled times.
 
yuckyamson said:
Hmmm. not so cheap. I thought you were going to try and go smart with your pricing?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry you feel that way.

It took a certain amount of skill, effort and expense to devise, patent, and develop through many prototypes, with background research over many years, and it takes a good deal of hard work to manufacture arms and establish a new business.

I think it considerably outperforms competing arms which cost two or three times as much, and it should last a lifetime, delivering a great deal of pleasure to its owner. As such I think it's excellent value for money.

I may manage to be more competitive in the future, but owing to the time it takes to make an arm of this kind, and the efforts described above, it will be quite a while before I surpass minimum wage!

If I heard this arm, at this price, I would buy two! ;-)
 
Hey, good luck with it, it might be worth it. The trick of course is that other people need to feel the same way you do....1500 squid ain't cheap. But I do wish you the best with it.
 
yuckyamson said:
Hey, good luck with it, it might be worth it. The trick of course is that other people need to feel the same way you do....1500 squid ain't cheap. But I do wish you the best with it.
Click to expand...

Thank you!

In the long run if it proves popular and business grows it should be possible to exploit economies of scale, automating, accelerating and saving money in production. If so, those savings can be passed on to the customer.

But it is inevitable that a start-up arm maker without big backing is going to have to survive, at least at first, on producing in boutique quantities.

I invented this product because I could not afford a 4point, a Reed, a Phantom or an Ekos SE. A starting price much cheaper than those arms seems like progress to me.

I believe that this bearing, without ballraces and without any play in the time axis, is a significant improvement in arm bearing design, which might just become the dominant bearing type, in which case low serial number Supatracs could prove popular with collectors, especially since they are designed to outlast their owners by several thousand years ;-)
 
yuckyamson said:
Hmmm. not so cheap. I thought you were going to try and go smart with your pricing?
Click to expand...


I would have thought the word “Ekos” in the title would have put you in the ballpark ;)

I’m looking forward to hearing this arm at some point and I really do hope it lives up to expectations.
 
Chops54 said:
I would have thought the word “Ekos” in the title would have put you in the ballpark ;)

I’m looking forward to hearing this arm at some point and I really do hope it lives up to expectations.
Click to expand...

I've had an Ekos II for ~30 years - it was a great investment and still performs superbly.

But I couldn't afford to buy more Ekosses and several unarmed decks have been sitting here for a decade reproaching me.

I happen to think tonearms are very crucial in eking out top performance from turntables and I couldn't afford the other arms which interested me e.g. 4point, Reed, Phantom, SAT and so on.

That is why I set out to produce an arm capable of top tier performance. My intention with Supatrac was not just to match an Ekos, but roundly beat it. I'm very pleased to say that I suspect I have succeeded. It has taken a lot of hard work. If you look at the prices on Ekos, Reed, Kuzma, Graham, SAT and so on, Supatrac is very competitive, and I'm optimistic that when I get to do proper comparisons with these more expensive arms, the Supatrac will more than hold its own.

I think when you hear the arm, the price becomes less relevant. Like all advances in audio reproduction, it unlocks access to a lot of pleasure in every record.
 
Chops54 said:
I would have thought the word “Ekos” in the title would have put you in the ballpark ;)

I’m looking forward to hearing this arm at some point and I really do hope it lives up to expectations.
Click to expand...

This is a startup. There is no brand recognition yet one of the premise questions was, "price high or low?". It was followed with a few statements that the cost to manufacture were so low that perhaps the price point could hit as low as 500 quid and still meet industry standard markup.

My point was that, if it were possible to do that, start low, build the brand, go from there. There are opposing marketing views on this type of scenario, feel free to choose your own. Some people would argue that higher price = greater marketplace respect, but there are counter arguments to that.

Repeating that the performance of the arm is so so good, comparable to an Ekos, ACCORDING TO THE DESIGNER, is truly irrelevant. He's supposed to say that even if it competes with an RB250.

Again, I wish Richard well with it. Might be a zooming success. But I'd have preferred the lower priced "giant killer", price point. But I understand I'm likely the first and only audiophile who wants a deal....right?

The other thing was that I really encouraged Richard to get an industrial designer on board to rework the aesthetics but....hey--Some people like the looks of a Reliant Robin, so.
 
I understand where you're coming from yuckyamson and I too would have preferred a lower priced "giant killer" price point. I guessed right though that as this arm was pitched against the Ekos it would be priced accordingly. The hifi world is very fickle. If you're playing with the big boys you need a big boys price tag or you're unlikely to get a foot in the door. As it stands the Supatrac is half the price of an Ekos and if it performs as well as its designer says it does then the introductory offer is an absolute bargain to those that can afford it.
 
Chops54 said:
I understand where you're coming from yuckyamson and I too would have preferred a lower priced "giant killer" price point. I guessed right though that as this arm was pitched against the Ekos it would be priced accordingly. The hifi world is very fickle. If you're playing with the big boys you need a big boys price tag or you're unlikely to get a foot in the door. As it stands the Supatrac is half the price of an Ekos and if it performs as well as its designer says it does then the introductory offer is an absolute bargain to those that can afford it.
Click to expand...

To be fair it’s much closer to one third the price of an Ekos than half!
 
Chops54 said:
You obviously have a problem if you feel the need to belittle someone. The first line would have been enough.
Click to expand...
Not at all, you started with the insults. Your post questioning the cost of an Ekos suggested to me that it wasn't at all clear why I'd said the Supatrac was closer to 1/3 the price of an Ekos hence the maths to illustrate. You could have just said 'fair point'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top