So I’m finally breaking my system down to box it up for the move to my new house. I have the original boxes for my DS and DMP, but try as I might for the DS I can’t seem to push the top part of that “plastic clamshell” down onto the DAC far enough to close the flaps on the box. Is that possible anymore once the DAC has been unpacked and removed from that clever, but now frustrating, plastic sheet thingie?
Darren and Duncan talked about this in one of their podcasts.
Darren said he’s proud of the gorgeous packaging, Duncan said this packaging leads to the most damaged repacked gear in audio history (the last was exaggerated by me) because no one finds out how to handle it.
Both were right.
But I can assure you, it works…you just have to lay on the whole thing before you close the flaps 
I’ve likely not had enough coffee, but what in the world is Duncan talking about? The damage rate on our products is next to zero. We have some of the best packaging in the industry. Maybe there’s a joke here that’s beyond me.
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I figured it out. 
@jazznut was right. It just takes a bit of careful force on the top to get the upper piece down far enough to close the flaps. Still, I can see where a bit too much pressure could possibly blow the seal on the lower plastic and have the DAC (or worse, transport) fall to the bottom of the box with a good bit of force driving it. Maybe more of a concern if the box is old and had been stored in a non temperature controlled area.
Packed both up and moved 960 miles. That package design is one the most innovative I have seen. I had no worries that my components were not comfortably floating in the moving van.
No Paul, he also said it’s gorgeous packaging, that it really is!
The only problem he mentioned is, that a lot of folks sending equipment to the resales company he works for, can’t manage to repack it properly and therefor put in the top part of the foiled half counterclockwise. This leads to incorrect packaging and causes damage here and there.
So you did everything right with the original design of the packaging, it’s just quite difficult to repack at the first trial, just as the initial poster described here.
Aha! Thanks. That makes perfect sense. Yes, it can be confusing.
I do get quite a few people writing in confused at how it works. It’s not terribly intuitive to squeeze and sandwich the gear between the two pieces of film. Seems like it’d tear, but I’ve learned you can REALLY stretch it, and it’s totally fine. Some of the most clever packaging I’ve come across.
It is an elegant system.
It is an elegant system.
Tony22…
Make sure the component is lined up and centered on the bottom carrier. Next place the top carrier centered on top of the component. Close the inner flaps first…have a strip of shipping tape ready to apply…now close the outer flaps down over the inner flaps with enough pressure to flatten the cardboard flaps flush…while at the same time…applying pressure to square things up.Now, with the tape ready to apply…place one forearm over top of the closed flaps to hold the flaps down with firm pressure and with the free hand place your tape on the center to box edge of the closed flaps… Then tape shut as needed to secure the box,making sure the box has a nice and tight to fit to slip easily into the outer box.
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It’s this part that’s tricky. I had to put a bit of pressure on the top carrier (and thus the DAC) in order to get those inner flaps closed.
Maybe needs a bit of IKEA-style instructional graphics printed on the pieces themselves.
Duncan did mention that every now and then people don’t push down enough to close the box. When it comes to the components being damaged due to people just inverting the top piece…I have never heard of that actually happening. I’m with Paul on that one.
I’m absolutely in love with our packaging and I know it bests almost anyone else in the industry.
However, if anyone has any questions or issues just call us up!
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Hey, glad folks are listening to us! In a discussion about packaging I did mention that until we got proactive about making sure people used the korvu packing materials correctly, most of the tops were inverted when the products came to us.
However I then went on to say that we rarely ever received an actually damaged PS Audio product, because the casework is so incredibly sturdy.
Personally, I think the “clamshell” approach is the best approach. In many areas where things need to be protected, suspension is better than foam encasement. Take for example a bicycle seat.
Anyway, now that TMR reaches out and instructs folks to press down hard on the top layer to close the box, we receive almost none that are incorrectly packaged.
Thanks for listening Jazznut! Darren and I love doing these podcasts.
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I bet I could take a few specific sound bites that make it sound like you really spoke poorly of our packaging… 
Certainly works well for the media to manufacture whatever narrative they want.
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All: I just want to make sure everyone understands that Duncan is NOT in any way suggesting you sit on your PS Audio products! 
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Hah . It happens, especially when you ramble on like I do. But I always only have good things to say about PS Audio!
Idk Beef, the stretchy plastic makes a great camp chair!
I’m using the old Brooks bicycle saddle argument of course, a strip of leather suspending your butt puts scientifically less pressure on you than foam, which pushes back against force. That said, if you’ve ever sat on a 25 year old dried up Brooks saddle you might argue otherwise!
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I just thought they were popular because they look cool… 
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