Southwest Audiofest 2025

Adyc said:
Excellent video. One thing I like about Clarysis is that they are very open to talk and explain their design. And also there are continuous improvements to their whole line of speakers. However, I wish they can update their website more often. For example, they now use autoformers and I can’t find their website mentions about it. I thought their bass panels are double side. Apparently, it is not the case now. These new bits of information are all over the places. They should update their website to consolidate all the new stuff. Clarysis is definitely the speaker I will consider seriously if I change speaker.
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There is a downside to constant innovation and improvement. I would hate to spend half a gazillion dollars on speakers only to have major design changes happen a few months later. Yes, I know upgrades would be available at one-fourth a gazillion dollars.
 
Dizzie said:
There is a downside to constant innovation and improvement. I would hate to spend half a gazillion dollars on speakers only to have major design changes happen a few months later. Yes, I know upgrades would be available at one-fourth a gazillion dollars.
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You're right - we should stop innovation because someone may be upset they don't have the latest version of something.

Someone should have told that to Henry Ford and we should have stuck with horse and buggy.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
You're right - we should stop innovation because someone may be upset they don't have the latest version of something.

Someone should have told that to Henry Ford and we should have stuck with horse and buggy.
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I think that’s a bit snarky.

I share the same observation as Dizzie. Of course innovation is good. But so also is considering the view from the customer who spent $10s to $100s of thousands of dollars on a product only to have it outdated in months.

It appears to me the best companies in this industry have a product plan. They don’t obsolete products seemingly as fast as Clarisys has been doing and they also offer an upgrade path if they do.

MSB comes to mind.
 
crwilli said:
I think that’s a bit snarky.

I share the same observation as Dizzie. Of course innovation is good. But so also is considering the view from the customer who spent $10s to $100s of thousands of dollars on a product only to have it outdated in months.

It appears to me the best companies in this industry have a product plan. They don’t obsolete products seemingly as fast as Clarisys has been doing and they also offer an upgrade path if they do.

MSB comes to mind.
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The new atrium ribbons are available to Auditorium and Studio Plus owners for a fee. The new ribbon does not make the old ribbon “shit”, it is simply an option if someone wants the latest and greatest. You know who else does this? YG Acoustics. Completely not required or needed. If it makes people feel better, call it the Studio Plus 1.1. YG would call it the 2.2 or something. Wouldn’t you rather have a modular product you could upgrade than be forced to sell yours and buy a new pair to get the latest like every other company in the world does? It’s much better to have a product with a modular design that you can swap out the old tweeter ribbon for the new tweeter ribbon if you want rather than calling it a Studio Plus Mk2 and instantly devaluing your mk1. Frankly, I wasn’t planning on doing it on my own pair.

The switch to all aluminum back panel structure helps speed up production dramatically. Again, completely not required or needed by the consumer. There is no difference in sound whatsoever. But with over 20 pairs in the queue right now….it was a change we had to make to keep up with demand.

Companies do running changes all the time for whatever reason. Some are for part shortages or unavailability, some are to speed up production and some are indeed for sonic reasons. Example: I took my VAC preamp in to VAC the other day and when they opened it up, they said, “wow, this is clearly one of the first ones we ever did! We will change the parts and bring it up to current spec if you wish…for a fee.”

By the way….car companies do it all the time. I always hated that the new C8 didn’t have a blind spot indicator. In 2025, they added it and you can’t retrofit that.
 
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crwilli said:
I share the same observation as Dizzie. Of course innovation is good. But so also is considering the view from the customer who spent $10s to $100s of thousands of dollars on a product only to have it outdated in months.
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You are welcome to any opinion you'd like.

I respect that we have differing opinions on it.

My personal opinion is it's silly for anyone to complain that companies continually innovate because then their personal insecurities lead them to have FOMO.

You can't have it both ways which is what people are saying when you say "think of it from the consumer point of view". The only answer to that statement is that you want them to slow down or stop innovation so that you feel better about your previous purchase.

Not being snarky - just stating it can't be both ways. Either you want innovation or you don't. I think of it from the consumer point of view - innovation is great and I'm not insecure enough to feel I am missing out on something as "new" and "better" comes out. Otherwise I would literally never buy an iPhone, an iPad or a computer.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
You are welcome to any opinion you'd like.

I respect that we have differing opinions on it.

My personal opinion is it's silly for anyone to complain that companies continually innovate because then their personal insecurities lead them to have FOMO.

You can't have it both ways which is what people are saying when you say "think of it from the consumer point of view". The only answer to that statement is that you want them to slow down or stop innovation so that you feel better about your previous purchase.

Not being snarky - just stating it can't be both ways. Either you want innovation or you don't. I think of it from the consumer point of view - innovation is great and I'm not insecure enough to feel I am missing out on something as "new" and "better" comes out. Otherwise I would literally never buy an iPhone, an iPad or a computer.
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Not every issue has a ‘support’ or ‘don’t support’ binary position. I see gray and can support their innovation AND suggest they be thoughtful in how they develop their brand and long term financial model.

We can choose to agree to disagree.

I am also confident (my assumption) that Mike is providing similar guidance to Clarysis in the ‘gray’ area.

Peace.
 
The move from wood to aluminum is due to strengthening the speaker, lowers distortion and flex and removing environmental influences. But more critical is that it improves our delivery speed, scale and consistency.

Going from a slanted panel to a curve panel is because its technically better and a more modern look to open up new markets.

Going to pure aluminum ribbons was always a dream but I had to find a reliable transformer maker first, which we now did with Lundahl.

Modular build is because of scaling and service possibilities in the field.

The price has not changed in over 3 years! We are different and will stay this way. Its quality over quantity and agile development practices over stone age business practices.

The classic line (Minuet, Studio and Auditorium) will stay this way and the New-Age Line (Piccolo, Aria and Atrium) will run in parallel sitting in between. Something for everyone and every budget but with the same level of quality.

Cheers

Florian
 
crwilli said:
Not every issue has a ‘support’ or ‘don’t support’ binary position. I see gray and can support their innovation AND suggest they be thoughtful in how they develop their brand and long term financial model.

We can choose to agree to disagree.

I am also confident (my assumption) that Mike is providing similar guidance to Clarysis in the ‘gray’ area.

Peace.
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I agree it's not binary.

But there are only 3 possible positions:

1) no innovation;

2) Full innovation;

3) Slow innovation so as not to trigger the emotionally fragile.

There is no definition for what "thoughtful" innovation means other than it's number 3 - to slow the roll out of innovation for the fear of upsetting people who can't handle not having the latest version of something.

If you like the way something sounds, who cares if there is something "newer" that comes along? And should people saving their money to make the next great purchase have to wait and be delayed for that great new item to come out for fear of triggering people who already own that product?
 
Michaels HiFi said:
I agree it's not binary.

But there are only 3 possible positions:

1) no innovation;

2) Full innovation;

3) Slow innovation so as not to trigger the emotionally fragile.

There is no definition for what "thoughtful" innovation means other than it's number 3 - to slow the roll out of innovation for the fear of upsetting people who can't handle not having the latest version of something.

If you like the way something sounds, who cares if there is something "newer" that comes along? And should people saving their money to make the next great purchase have to wait and be delayed for that great new item to come out for fear of triggering people who already own that product?
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You are a piece of work.
 
crwilli said:
You are a piece of work.
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It is not my intention to upset you. It's a simple question I'm asking you - why should other consumers not enjoy full innovation so that you don't suffer from FOMO ?

What exactly is an "approved by Craig" time frame for upgrades and innovation that you find acceptable? Is that time frame different for products you don't own or only the ones you've bought?

I'm simply asking you to explain so I understand. Thank you..
 
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Michaels HiFi said:
It is not my intention to upset you. It's a simple question I'm asking you - why should other consumers not enjoy full innovation so that you don't suffer from FOMO ?

What exactly is an "approved by Craig" time frame for upgrades and innovation that you find acceptable? Is that time frame different for products you don't own or only the ones you've bought?

I'm simply asking you to explain so I understand. Thank you..
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I appreciate your curiosity, but I think we’ve reached a point where we’ve shared our perspectives. I don’t have anything else to add that you will understand, so I’ll leave it at that. Take care.
 
crwilli said:
I appreciate your curiosity, but I think we’ve reached a point where we’ve shared our perspectives. I don’t have anything else to add that you will understand, so I’ll leave it at that. Take care.
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Fair enough. I just wanted you to know I wasn't being argumentative. I was genuinely trying to understand.
 
Hello, Florian. Glad to see you here.

Would you please be so kind to tell us the technology behind getting 11Hz from your panel speakers? (Or at least explain it in terms that we can understand?)

Tom
 
Hi Tom,

panels can play even lower, its all in the structural shape, magnetic distance and spring suspension setup. Since we are the only manufacturer which has a variable spring rate setup on their panels, we can adjust the tension on the fly. Like a sports car, we can adjust the "move ability " of the panel. Of course there is a direct correlation to the max spl, so the suspension setup varies from show to show and client installation.

Hope this helps and thanks for the question :-)

PS: Using Neo N52 magnet system also helps control.
 


9:08 mark

We brought the Studio Plus because people always whined we didn’t ever show them. We didn’t show them because they are too much speaker for a hotel room! We show them and then people say they are too big for the room. LOL. You can’t win.

But we did get them sounding incredible.
 
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