Posted by Wayne Parham [ 70.128.96.22 ] on July 05, 2006 at 09:42:57:

In Reply to: Northcreek to Discontinue DIY Sales posted by FredT on July 05, 2006 at 07:36:01:

I don't agree that the DIY market is shrinking. I think it's at an all time high, mostly because of the internet. But one thing about DIY is the amount of support is unusually high, so there's a high labor cost in comparison to sales. That's probably the biggest thing that made them decide to leave the DIY market. They mentioned competition as being one of the reasons for their decision too, and that sort of implies that the DIY market is actually growing.

As to the comments about "rubber chickens and the mis-information superhighway", I couldn't agree more. But what the writer suggests is the cause is only half right, in my opinion. The whole loudspeaker industry has long suffered from "rubber chickens", most because it is fairly low-tech. I'm not talking about the physics of the matter but rather the construction of the machine itself. It's a simple machine, really, and a working model can be built by almost anyone. It won't throw a rod or catch fire if done improperly. Worst thing it will do is burn a speaker coil or sound bad. So this tends to invite all sorts of types as manufacturers, with varying levels and abilities. This isn't limited to DIY - Look around at the commercial products that have been sold over the years and you'll see what I mean.

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