This discussion underlines the very things I like about the PS Audio team. First and most important, they aim at the top. For me, the DS has showed wonders in my system. Ted, Paul and others are never satisfied when seeing a little noise or whatever they can improve. They find a drive in going for something special in technical quality and do that in a seemingly good mood. I surely hope to afford more things in the future having the pre-amp as a first goal.
Second, this comes with optimism, assuming a lot of good in others and… yes, … sometimes being over optimistic. Does not matter to me. When Paul said: “we will build a 40k speaker at a third of the price”, many realists will think that he will end up with a 30k speaker for 30k price. Could be, but it is not important to me. Nadal once said: they will remember you for your wins not for your losses.
Third, being real humans the PS team is not afraid to show emotions. Being disappointed, may be even grumpy or making apologies. OK!
Nice synopsis for those who couldn’t be there. Thanks for posting.
As you know most forum commenters are disgruntled, disappointed, disheartened or otherwise not happy with one thing or another. Most of the rest are home happily listening to their equipment or watching from the sidelines.
That means the verbal negative posts will always outweigh the verbal positive posts and skew the apparent satisfaction with a particular item way too far into negative territory to be considered accurate or fair. It’s just one of those internet things that hiding behind a screen and keyboard allows.
This PSA forum is a lot more friendly and positive than most by far and that shows up by still being used a lot every day. There are a lot of good people here that truly want to help. And a few insistent haters.
Didn’t read hate…I think Beef‘s comment sums it up well. (btw I didn’t hear the speaker at Axpona)
As imo all (also negative comments) came from PSA-positive minded people and there were no fully positive here, I guess they are quite valid. It’s a a very early prototype in a bad room, so nothing we have to dive deeper into (no matter if the decision to show it in this status was good or not so).
I tend to take those opinions and schroeder‘s more serious and Paul’s I see as a Business opinion and those of the people he spoke with as friendly inputs. Jost my perception.
I’m not sure how offering honest feedback that isn’t all positive is hating. As I’ve said before, if you want objective feedback, there are ways to collect that. PSA could have had a survey to fill out at the room. This eliminates the confirmation bias.
It’s simply conjecture to say that forum participants are more negative in general than positive. As I stated above, there are a mix of comments out there on the forums about AN3 demo at AXPONA, and more were negative than positive. Overall, one can learn more from critics than admirers.
I think to be in the top echelon [sound quality wise…not so much cost wise] for any loudspeaker manufacturer worth his or hers own salt… the development of a musically coherent and acceptable speaker system means earning your stripes in the field and proving to the world that what you have is in fact…what people want! I do applaud PSA for putting so many eggs in one basket to appease the masses from a brand name point of view…but from what I have come to see in all my years in this hobby…claiming to be the best must be earned…and that usually means many years of heartache earning your stripes through trial & error…before that very best in any particular category of audio equipment can fully come to fruition.
Just ask any old timer in the speaker industry if right out of the gate they had a world beater… without the sweat and blood needed first to reach their own particular pinnacle of achievement over many years of development.
When purchasing any piece of playback equipment… I tend to go with track records and not so much name brand. If I want a Lexus…I am not going to buy a Ford…even though the Ford will get me to my end destination as a Lexus… it will not in the same manner that I have grown accustomed to.
Myles Astor had some good things to say about PSA and the AN3 over on Audionirvana.org: "PS Audio had some of the best sound it’s had in many years at Axpona this year. That was despite the high noise level surrounding the room.
PS Audio brought along to last year’s Axpona a very raw prototype of an Arnie Nudell designed speaker. So raw, in fact, that the internal crossover parts sat on the floor in back of the speaker.
Six month later, PS Audio is several steps closer to releasing their very first speaker: the $15K AN3 speaker. The sound? Instantly recognizable as an Arnie Nudell product. Only a bit more refined sounding and smoother especially through that ever troublesome upper midrange area. Though I’d like to hear the speaker with a little more complex and dynamic music than was being played. This is definitely a speaker to keep an eye on!"
Wake - curious about this statement: “As I stated above, there are a mix of comments out there on the forums about AN3 demo at AXPONA, and more were negative than positive.” That would seem to be potentially at odds with your prior sentence, but no matter.
This is based on a comprehensive survey of some sort? If so, are those who have a negative impression all “correct”, due to not being biased “lovers”?
I’m not saying anything other than asking the questions. I still have not heard the prototypes either here or in the context of the Axpona demo. The ongoing issues with our online world keep popping up daily - am I in some sort of Bubble? What is True, and how do I know that? Because I read a preponderance of a certain opinion, does that make it more true than another?
I’m wondering how much of the pushback from the show (whatever proportion of the opinion of those who have actually heard the things that may represent) is due to folks buying the hype and expecting the world. I was concerned reading about people over the past few months who were planning a trip to Axpona expressly to hear the “IRS Killers” (never mind that this model is not it).
How would this pushback have been different in style and quantity had there been no promises/claims made in advance? If it had been a surprise demo - “Wow - PS Audio has a working prototype of a 4-way speaker!” Again - just questions/food for thought.
A lot of commenters want to share their product experiences — positive or negative. Many want to learn and add to the learning experiences of others. Unless you have facts to underpin the sweeping assumption that most forum participants are
“disgruntled, disappointed, disheartened, or otherwise not happy…”, I would challenge that as rather misguided.
Sorry about your loss. Lost my dad almost ten years ago. Huge influence in my life and career choice as an engineer. They say time heals all wounds but still miss him of course.
My opinion and what I heard. Same as a cpl of friends. Don’t care what reviewers may say. It’s a great speaker, don’t get me wrong, but it has very low value for performance. I think the cost of Aluminum chassis construction and the way it’s built is the bulk of the cost as the rest is meh. Wasn’t even in the top 10 systems I heard.
Sorry I wasn’t more clear. What I meant to say is that in general I do not feel that there are more negative posts than positive ones in forums about any piece of gear. It’s an interesting proposition but would need to be verified.
On the the AN3 in specific, I have read more negative views than positive. This is a possible contradiction to Paul’s statement about a few “noisy” critics.
You raise a deep philosophical question about the wisdom of crowds. Some product developers and marketers believe that the preponderance of consumer sentiment represents a truth. It could be, and almost always is, a mixture of emotional and rational factors. The question is : do they become focused on steering toward what consumers want and need or rather giving them what the brand thinks is best without external feedback?
The very high expectation setting can have multiple repercussions. Not be a broken record, but it’s a rather novel approach to hype a product that is not fully baked and present it in a very public way. Again, if constructive feedback is not the purpose of the demo, then it is a marketing exercise. And, as strategic marketing I think it illadvised.
A modest expectation setting, framing the response, would yield a very different sort of critique in my estimation. For example, “ we have high hopes for our new speakers, but we are still a very long way off. We know we have work to do. Let us know what you think. What do you like? What still needs work? That starts a very different conversation.