OK, time to show face.

[grankin]

I just discovered this joint, read & posted about the Spectral DMC-6, was encouraged to advertise it here, and recently did so.

I'm a largely-retired lawyer who discovered the high end when I was between wives (and before law school). Later had high-end shops as clients, thereby acquiring some nice gear when they hadn't the cash to pay their bills. The arrival of a child (and some other enthusiasms) meant I pretty much ignored the 'hobby' for decades.

In the early 80s I (and a couple of friends) dabbled in interconnects. They worked for another friend's medical electronics business, so we had some nice exotic materials to play with. We hand-built interconnects with Litz wire, teflon tubing, configured as balanced with an independent shield, then worked out how to have them built by a factory. Sent 'em off to Harry Pearson, J. Peter Moncrieff, and John Curl. Pearson & Cooledge loved 'em, Moncrieff basically swiped a set, Curl was very positive. Then the business broke down as the partners disagreed on going into production v. more testing. I ended up with the rights, but was more interested in practicing law than making cables. Now, when I see what folks charge for relatively simple stuff, I think I may have taken the wrong path.

So nowadays I play my own music (blues, bluegrass, and old-time), caved in and bought CDs (most recorded blues nowadays is on CD), sail other people's boats on the Big Water, and dither about whether to replace gear that I've had for decades.

 

[Mosin]

Welcome aboard!

You're a lawyer, so think of something to argue about.

 

[amirm]

Welcome indeed. I don't think you took the wrong path. Making it in audio hardware business is tough, tough, tough.

Look forward to your posts in the future.

 

[RBFC]

Welcome! Please feel free to look around & contribute as you like.

Lee

 

[F.Cook]

Welcome aboard!

Boarding is FREE... Looking forward to learning more about those cables.

It's never to late to bring a product to market, if the product has unique attributes, which are of universal appeal, and therefore application.

 

[grankin]

Welcome aboard!

Boarding is FREE... Looking forward to learning more about those cables.

It's never to late to bring a product to market, if the product has unique attributes, which are of universal appeal, and therefore application.

I have watched (mostly by reading TAS) how cable design & pricing has "evolved" over the past 20 years, and my ghast is well-flabbered. There is an astonishing amount of straight-up snake-oil being talked (which may actually conceal a product of significant virtue), and the pricing is just plain shocking.

We built the stuff by hand, attaching Litz to a needle, then pulling it through Teflon tubing with a magnet. Then soldered it up, plugged it in ... and just listened. The foundation was pure intuition, no 'science' involved (though we were all 3 pretty well-trained in our respective labs). As making the stuff by hand was a true loser of a proposition, we talked to a cable manufacturer.

One problem that arose immediately was the fact that the melt temperature of the Litz's coating was lower than the temperature of Teflon as it was extruded onto the Litz. I worked out a work-around in manufacturing that actually improved the dielectric, and that's what went out to Pearson, Cordesman, Curl, & Moncrieff for their review & comments.

I gather that many products out there now use Litz, Teflon, even filter networks, and they are priced with truly immense profit margins. I know what the manufacturing cost was for our prototypes, so I know what present manufacturers actually pay for the 'raw' cable before they attach connectors. That's why I believe that prices charged nowadays are truly eye-wateringly/heart-stoppingly exorbitant.

I'm really not interested in joining the parade of greedheads, and am having more fun listening to & playing music, sailing other people's boats, messing with old Italian motorcycles, and spending several weeks each year trying to find the Perfect Pint in the Perfect Pub in England - so that's why nobody's likely to see Mendota Research cables in the market.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I have watched (mostly by reading TAS) how cable design & pricing has "evolved" over the past 20 years, and my ghast is well-flabbered. There is an astonishing amount of straight-up snake-oil being talked (which may actually conceal a product of significant virtue), and the pricing is just plain shocking.

We built the stuff by hand, attaching Litz to a needle, then pulling it through Teflon tubing with a magnet. Then soldered it up, plugged it in ... and just listened. The foundation was pure intuition, no 'science' involved (though we were all 3 pretty well-trained in our respective labs). As making the stuff by hand was a true loser of a proposition, we talked to a cable manufacturer.

One problem that arose immediately was the fact that the melt temperature of the Litz's coating was lower than the temperature of Teflon as it was extruded onto the Litz. I worked out a work-around in manufacturing that actually improved the dielectric, and that's what went out to Pearson, Cordesman, Curl, & Moncrieff for their review & comments.

I gather that many products out there now use Litz, Teflon, even filter networks, and they are priced with truly immense profit margins. I know what the manufacturing cost was for our prototypes, so I know what present manufacturers actually pay for the 'raw' cable before they attach connectors. That's why I believe that prices charged nowadays are truly eye-wateringly/heart-stoppingly exorbitant.

I'm really not interested in joining the parade of greedheads, and am having more fun listening to & playing music, sailing other people's boats, messing with old Italian motorcycles, and spending several weeks each year trying to find the Perfect Pint in the Perfect Pub in England - so that's why nobody's likely to see Mendota Research cables in the market.

Clearly you're not a marketer; your copy would go something like -- "Because the melting temperatures of the essential dielectric materials are radically different, mass production is impossible. Each Medota Research Ultra Excel must be assembled by hand, using a proprietary process involving specially-made tools (your magnets). Expensive? Certainly. But your sound stage will be the size of the Hindenburg, your bass will be like the exploding gas..."

Yeah, manufacturing would be slow, but the margins would be so huge you'd only have to sell a few a year to make plan. And I managed to work exploding gas into a cable thread; I call that a win.

Tim

 

[grankin]

Clearly you're not a marketer; your copy would go something like -- "Because the melting temperatures of the essential dielectric materials are radically different, mass production is impossible. Each Medota Research Ultra Excel must be assembled by hand, using a proprietary process involving specially-made tools (your magnets). Expensive? Certainly. But your sound stage will be the size of the Hindenburg, your bass will be like the exploding gas..."

Yeah, manufacturing would be slow, but the margins would be so huge you'd only have to sell a few a year to make plan. And I managed to work exploding gas into a cable thread; I call that a win.

Tim

You call it a win? I call it effing magnificent. I may well steal the idea. Were I silly enough to go make more of the damned stuff. You know what a PITA it is to thread Litz through a little tiny tube? Especially when the needle and the Litz part company and you have to start all over again?

 

[amirm]

I detest nothing more than soldering Litz wire! What a pain. We would burn off the outside, put flux on it and still would not take solder right. So kudos to you if you figured out how to do it at all!