Soliloqueen's k87(k67) and k47 capsules
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Um ... er ... I would not use a coaster with holes in it. That voids the whole point of preventing condensation from dripping on the table. James
re: the k87s. I'm getting really sick of this big backplate factory. They cut tolerances for a recent production batch hoping I wouldn't notice. A client caught this issue. They test normal at typical testing differences (0dB line delta from newer k87, my model supposed to be up ~1B at 4k):
but the upper mids start to drop in proximity <8 inches up to about -1.5dB in the very near:
Starts to sound more like a c800 capsule and less like a u87 capsule up super close. I have a nagging feeling that they are familiar with how to cut corners without clients noticing under normal testing. The way they chose to cut corners specifically wasn't present in the samples or first few units and wouldn't show up under typical QA testing. I'm starting to see why 3U stopped doing business with this factory. I'm probably going to have to go the same route. In the meantime, I'm going to have them re-do the plates before we resume production. I don't think any of these plates made it thru to retail customers (different box of plates we just cracked open) but let me know. There are currently 35 k87s unshipped. I'm going to put the capsules with this defect up on my site as b-stock. They still sound OK, just not perfect. Probably would be good for a C800g clone build. K47 orders are unaffected.
but the upper mids start to drop in proximity <8 inches up to about -1.5dB in the very near:
Starts to sound more like a c800 capsule and less like a u87 capsule up super close. I have a nagging feeling that they are familiar with how to cut corners without clients noticing under normal testing. The way they chose to cut corners specifically wasn't present in the samples or first few units and wouldn't show up under typical QA testing. I'm starting to see why 3U stopped doing business with this factory. I'm probably going to have to go the same route. In the meantime, I'm going to have them re-do the plates before we resume production. I don't think any of these plates made it thru to retail customers (different box of plates we just cracked open) but let me know. There are currently 35 k87s unshipped. I'm going to put the capsules with this defect up on my site as b-stock. They still sound OK, just not perfect. Probably would be good for a C800g clone build. K47 orders are unaffected.
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soapfoot
Well-known member
That’s rough! Sorry to hear that
Well, I got my K87 a few days ago and put it into my U67 clone. It sounds amazing! Spot-on to the 1962 U67 I had in for repair a little while back.
Thank you. I think the back plates in this batch are just wide. Like there are some that are recessed, some that are normal and some that have too much at 4k. It's a bitch and a half to test this problem. I might need to put the whole batch up on eBay. There's like a 30% chance you'll get a completely normal k87 and otherwise you'll get a k87 that's still much better than anything else at that price. I think I might use the money from Black Friday to transition to in-house metal early because this is so aggravating.
New pricing with in-house metal when that transition happens will be:
K87: 249 (sorry)
K47V dual-sided: 199 still. Tolerances will be too tight to have rejects so there will only single and dual-sided rather than pattern grades.
Single-sided probably still 149.
Flat k47, I'm not sure we'll see any change. In order to keep it accessible I might keep using this factory for it unless people object to that and want to pay at least $25 more for in-house metal.
The k47 is much less expensive because there's only one plate to do. I'll try and bring the costs back down as we ramp up volume. Our machinist is not used to large volume production. He's used to orders of you know 5, 10 high precision instruments at a time. He's got some interesting ideas for speeding things up though. In the meantime I'm going to try to bully the existing factory into redoing this batch of plates correctly.
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Nothing to apologize for, still a more than fair price for such a high quality and good sounding capsule.
I mean, the difference is significant. Here's some K47Vs from the plate factory (before rejection):
And some with in-house plates:
The consistency is profoundly higher lol
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soapfoot
Well-known member
Just to clarify—K47V from the first batch should be good, yes?
They're all good. This is all internal stuff
Pretty sure almost everyone on this forum will happily pay your price, knowing they can expect this level of quality and consistency from you. Or choose to buy a cheaper capsule elsewhere, knowing it will have less tight tolerances.
I would have no problem with that price bump, knowing it means you have more control over the quality and consistency of the end product.
soapfoot
Well-known member
To me “best overall value” means a lot more than “absolute lowest price”
An extra few bucks to have improved precision, tolerance, matching… seems like a good value to me.
There are a number of products out there whose price is high presumably because the manufacturer doesn’t want to deal in volume, or because demand will remain even at a high price
If we’re talking about actually making a better product and passing on the nominal cost to the end user, super transparently? That’s an easy “yes” from me
If I just want the cheapest K87 there are a number of places I can go
An extra few bucks to have improved precision, tolerance, matching… seems like a good value to me.
There are a number of products out there whose price is high presumably because the manufacturer doesn’t want to deal in volume, or because demand will remain even at a high price
If we’re talking about actually making a better product and passing on the nominal cost to the end user, super transparently? That’s an easy “yes” from me
If I just want the cheapest K87 there are a number of places I can go
well the metal factory is complaining that our "requirements are too high" and won't take this batch back so i guess we're transitioning to in-house metal... now??? **** these guys man, this is exhausting.
AdamFrisen
Well-known member
@soliloqueen - Will the shipment dates of the backorders during Black Friday for K87s be affected?
capacitorless
Well-known member
@soliloqueen it totally sucks, but I have to say it's really awesome how open you have been about the various challenges throughout this whole effort. Whatever capsules I end up with in my mics will come from you because of this (not just because of the value equation).
Keep your head up!
Keep your head up!
Too bad it did not say that before it contracted to produce them! Surely you specified your requirements in writing before ordering, so perhaps you can "cover" by purchasing conforming goods from another source, and have the first factory pay the difference in cost thereof.
Of course, I do not expect you to reply to this message! Just commenting we go along.
Anonymous
_______________________________________
See UCC § 2-712. "Cover"; Buyer's Procurement of Substitute Goods.
(1) After a breach within the preceding section the buyer may "cover" by making in good faith and without unreasonable delay any reasonable purchase of or contract to purchase goods in substitution for those due from the seller.
(2) The buyer may recover from the seller as damages the difference between the cost of cover and the contract price together with any incidental or consequential damages as hereinafter defined (Section 2-715), but less expenses saved in consequence of the seller's breach.
(3) Failure of the buyer to effect cover within this section does not bar him from any other remedy.
Doubt it. There are 1,000 plates here and only about 30 remaining retail orders. There's enough good plates in that volume. I could probably handle another 40 retail orders before they really got delayed. I'll just test all of them. I don't expect an impact on retail orders.
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Does that include those of us who ordered cardioid-only K47s?
the cardioid only flat k47s were never going to ship before christmas in the first place. i made this explicit in several places. there is no expected delay from their early january ship date if that's what you mean. the k47vs, i don't think so either.
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