Why has it taken so long for AudioQuest Dragonfly and Meridian Explorer to come out?

[caesar]

Have there been innovations to get audiophile-approved sound in such small, "cheap" (using audiophile mental accounting) packages? Or is something else going on?

 

[Andre Marc]

Have there been innovations to get audiophile-approved sound in such small, "cheap" (using audiophile mental accounting) packages? Or is something else going on?

You must have been sleeping. HRT and Centrance have had similar products out for years.

The Dragonfly and Explorer were really designed for portable, headphone use.

I have no use for them.

 

[caesar]

You must have been sleeping. HRT and Centrance have had similar products out for years.

The Dragonfly and Explorer were really designed for portable, headphone use.

I have no use for them.

but those products had no buzz, product of the year awards, etc.

 

[opus111]

Have there been innovations to get audiophile-approved sound in such small, "cheap" (using audiophile mental accounting) packages? Or is something else going on?

Most interesting to me is that Meridian doesn't appear to be restricting this product to its existing network of dealers. What this will do to the Meridian brand remains to be seen, I'm maintaining a watching brief

 

[caesar]

Most interesting to me is that Meridian doesn't appear to be restricting this product to its existing network of dealers. What this will do to the Meridian brand remains to be seen, I'm maintaining a watching brief

They probably wouldn't sell a lot of Explorers to those buying $20K+ meridian speakers and $20K cd player.

 

[opus111]

Indeed not. Which is why its so interesting - Meridian has never tried to be a 'mass market' brand before.

 

[caesar]

Indeed not. Which is why its so interesting - Meridian has never tried to be a 'mass market' brand before.

Yes, they see a market in hundreds of thousands of people working away with their headphones on. But how many of those people are focusing on the music vs. multi-tasking, to justify the expense?

 

[Andre Marc]

but those products had no buzz, product of the year awards, etc.

Audioquest and Meridian are very strong advertising supporters of the two major magazines. Do the math.

 

[opus111]

But how many of those people are focusing on the music vs. multi-tasking, to justify the expense?

Well I thought the whole point was its not expensive? Nobody's focusing on the music, no its muzak or they'd not be buying S-D would they now?

 

[caesar]

Audioquest and Meridian are very strong advertising supporters of the two major magazines. Do the math.

It's definitely a factor. And TAS's Magico derangement has been well documented, and I have not idea what's going on with them. But at least Stereophile has a reputation to protect.

Someone else could step in and potentially fill those ad dollars...

 

[Andre Marc]

It's definitely a factor. And TAS's Magico derangement has been well documented, and I have not idea what's going on with them. But at least Stereophile has a reputation to protect.

Someone else could step in and potentially fill those ad dollars...

Magico and TAS? Don't go there. LOL.

 

[daytona600]

they all have a long way to get even close to a astell & kern AK100 , smaller than a mobile phone 122grams

24bit 192khz digital transport , optical dac in & out , headphones , blutooth , pre amp with 200mb+ memory
flac , wav & all lossless formats & fits in your pocket or connect directly into your main system or small active speakers for your desktop

I Love mine

 

[Orb]

Most interesting to me is that Meridian doesn't appear to be restricting this product to its existing network of dealers. What this will do to the Meridian brand remains to be seen, I'm maintaining a watching brief

Yeah just to add my own feelings as I agree.
I think finally the good audio manufacturers are waking up to the fact they need to raise visibility of good quality audio outside of the traditional circles, the challenge though is not breaking their sales channels (dealers) that are critical for the service and costlier models.

It has been on my mind for awhile that to pull in new listeners to high end marque-manufacturers they must move beyond their traditional business model; meaning they need products that appeal to the mass market but have aspects that associate to brand and high end (so customers look into the manufacturer and realise there is much more to look at in terms of audio hardware).

To do this they must sell the Explorer in the "middle-class" high street reputable brand name type stores; such as here in UK it would be John Lewis/House of Fraiser/etc.
Furthermore the manufacturers also need other entry "mass market visability" products to regenerate interest in high end, it may seem inconsequential but it is surprising just how many mainstream consumers wander around these stores electronic department looking at audio visual.
And yet if you take a look at what these stores sell in terms of Hifi, it is not surprising the interest in high end is waning.
Although tbh I think general AV market trends are changing again from multi-channel to wanting something like high quality soundbar to a complex single unit speaker with possibly integrated functionality (consider B&W Zeppelin but more high end).
Interestingly one of the leaders in AV market trends IMO is Bang Olufsen and their latest BeoPlay A9 is an evolution of what B&W did with the Zeppelin.
http://www.bang-olufsen.com/da/sound/sound-systems/beoplay-a9
I have read from several different sources that this product looks to have a pretty high acceptance in context of WAF.

So maybe along with the Dragonfly and Explorer the BeoPlay concept (but done cheaper) is such a product the high end should be selling in the "middle-class" brand associated stores, along with exceptional DAC-integrated amp electronic product.

The challenge though is not killing the dealer market, so manufacturers need to realise how to differentiate between possibility two sales and product models IMO, where one is the incredibly cost effective and quality looking products such as Explorer and the other more traditional high end 2-channel and headphone focus.

Cheers
Orb