Hi there everyone. I am currently doing some consulting for a professional audio manufacturer that makes, among other things, active, self powered monitor speakers that are used in many recording studios.
This company is interested in offering it's self powered monitors for the custom installation market, to be used in home theaters. Later down the road they are also interested in offering in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, as well as multi-channel amplifiers and larger passive speakers for high-end dedicated theaters.
In an effort to truly listen to custom installers and try to offer the features and technology that you guys want, I have attached a short survey about home theater speakers that I would love for you guys to fill out, if you have a spare few minutes.
I know surveys can be boring and you guys are very busy, but we are always saying that we wish the manufacturers would listen to the target customer more and not design products in a vacuum. Here's a chance then to really have a say in the direction of our company's future products.
Since this forum does not allow file attachments, I have pasted the survey to the bottom of this post. Any interested parties would simply copy the text, paste it into a text document and type their answers, and then email the text document back to me at "
[email protected]"
I really appreciate any help that you guys can give me, I would be very interested in seeing what everyone has to say.
Thanks!
Dan Steinberg
[email protected]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Custom Installer Questionnaire: Home Theater Products
Our company has a history in professional audio, and has an existing line of active (self-amplified) speakers that are used in recording studios ranging from entry level small studios to large facilities.
We are looking to start offering our active monitors to the Custom Installation and home theater market, and firmly believe that these speakers offer sound quality and accuracy previously unavailable anywhere near this price point.
In an effort to serve custom installers like yourself better, and understand your needs, we are trying to get answers for a questionnaire that will help determine the direction of the products we offer.
It’s always frustrating when a company doesn’t seem like it listens to its target audience with its product offerings, let’s change that together by working together to achieve your “dream speaker”.
Our company is going to be rolling out products in three phases. The first phase will include two different 5.1 speaker + sub packages:
(5) active speakers (8” woofer model is $480 MSRP each) + 12” subwoofer (900 MSRP) = $3300 per 5.1 package
(5) active speakers (6” woofer model is $390 MSRP each) + 12” subwoofer (900 MSRP) = $2850 per 5.1 package
The speakers are all internally bi-amplified, with a 150-watt amp for the woofer and a 100-watt amp for the tweeter. Active biamplified designs like these can achieve much better results than passive designs that rely on an unknown external amp, and this design has been used by companies like Meridian and Bryston/PMC.
Part 1-General Information
Date:
Company Name:
Address:
Company Contact:
Phone:
E-mail:
Individual Store or Franchise (circle one):
If franchise, how many stores does the company have?
Target Install Customer (circle all that apply): Low Mid High-End
What are your product interests or specialties:
Specifically who are your target customers?
Number of custom installs do you do per year?
What is the average cost of each install?
Questions on Active Speakers (Phase 1 products)
What price ranges have you used for a client’s 5.1 speaker setup?
Is a 12” subwoofer sufficient for a mid to high end home theater, or is larger recommended?
What factors influence which speaker brands you use for an install?
Have you ever installed active speaker systems (Speakers with built-in amplifiers), and if so, from what manufacturer?
What were your reasons for going with the companies’ active speakers over the more numerous passive choices?
What are the most popular brands and styles of speakers used in a dedicated home theater room tat you would do. What made you go with those brands? Sound, appearance, price, customer service?
Do you prefer some speaker manufacturers over others? What things do they do that your company appreciates?
Would it be problematic for an installation you would do if our speakers have the following traits:
-Being self-amplified, AC power is needed at speaker’s physical location
-Initial models of speakers are black and have no front grille, so drivers are visible
-Radiation pattern of speaker model requires some “breathing room” behind the speaker to sound best
-Speakers would need to be fed balanced line level audio when located more than a few feet away from preamp/processor
-Would you consider adding wood veneers and a front grille important for increased aesthetic acceptance of a speaker in this price range?
What dealer price margins do you expect for a speaker product?
How do you learn about and start using new speaker lines?
Trade shows?
Demo events?
Loaners left with your company?
Visiting Product Representatives?
After reviewing the feature set of our product would you be interested in selling it?
How many 5.1 packages of this speaker do you think you would sell per year?
Are there features you would want in an active speaker system that you are not seeing in our current product?
Phase II Products
In our second phase of production, we will add the following products:
“Center Speaker” model of active 8” woofer speaker model. It will have (2) 8” woofers with a tweeter in the middle.
“Center Speaker” model of active 6” woofer speaker model. It will have (2) 6” woofers with a tweeter in the middle.
15” woofer-based active subwoofer
In-wall model of 8” active speaker
In-wall model of 6” active speaker
Questions:
When installing home theaters, is a dedicated center channel usually necessary, or are 5 identical speakers often sufficient? Do you do a lot of theaters where the speakers are not actually visible? (grill cloth walls, etc).
Do you use in-wall/ceiling speakers mostly for whole house audio, or do you ever use in-wall speakers for 5.1 setups for improved aesthetics?
When using in-wall speakers for 5.1 setups, do you look for a better level of sound quality than speakers used for whole house audio?
Would an actively amplified model of in-wall speaker be logistically problematic? Would there be no convenient place to mount a remote amplifier?
Do you ever install surround setups with discreet speakers in the front and in-wall speakers for the rear?
Phase III
In our third phase, we will be greatly expanding our offerings, with products that address higher end dedicated home theaters, as well as lower end whole house audio. The products will include:
2 more models of active speakers, with larger drivers and more powerful internal amplifiers
3-4 different passive models of speakers, with larger drivers and extremely high SPL capabilities for very large theaters. These will be adapted from an existing line of professional cinema speakers that we currently distribute.
Low end, entry level priced in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, designed for casual whole house audio requirements
A multi-zone, dsp powered audio router/controller, with drivers for Creston, AMX, etc.
6 channel external amplifiers of various power levels
Questions:
What percentage of your home theaters are “large scale”, needing very large systems, something like a JBL Synthesis 1?
What brands of in-wall and in-ceiling speakers do you tend to use in budget situations? What draws you to these brands?
What are current shortcomings of in-wall and in-ceiling speakers available for whole house audio?
What brands of audio router./controllers do you currently use? Niles, AudioAccess, Xantech?
What do you like about the brands of controllers you use?
What features do you wish the current audio routers had? Are they missing important features? Are their Crestron and AMX interfaces sufficient or are they lacking any any ways?
What brands of multi-channel amplifiers do you currently use? What do you like about these brands?
What are reasons that you use a multi-channel amp over three pairs of stereo amplifiers?
