--3) How crappy does a speaker have to be for a normal, non-audiophile person to recoil and say "this sucks"? Here, my assumption is that there is a vast gulf between what the ASR-reading audiophile considers acceptable and what the person in the street is willing to tolerate (e.g., Horrortones.)
How crappy does a speaker have to be for a normal, non-audiophile person to recoil and say "this sucks"?
No customers want audio that requires another remote. This is more important than sound quality. Audio should either use HDMI ARC or the TV's analog connection when available that will work with the TVs remote. Tell people they need a receiver or a cheap soundbar that only has an optical connection and they need another remote and they will not like it. Also, devices with only an HDMI ARC input are brilliant for the average consumer. If they have to learn how to switch inputs, it is too hard. Enthusiasts often criticize companies like Sonos with only an HDMI ARC input but it is tough for the non-enthusiast to mess up. Probably saves Sonos a ton in phone support by not adding multiple inputs.
Last week I spend an hour on the 'phone to my mother trying to explain the difference between her cell phone and the cordless land-line phone she also has.At the repair shop I work at right now, there's this old lady that keeps calling saying "there's something wrong with her TV". Then one of us drive over and show her that she can't control the set-top box with her TV remote. Next week she calls again saying "there's something wrong with her TV". Rinse and repeat
A speaker, however crappy, for less than a dollar?Given that you can no doubt buy a cheap speaker for less than a dollar, but a Genelec 8381 costs ~100,000 times that, I'd say your question needs some additional parameters to be meaningful.
I have convinced quite a few people to get these new little HomePods as they are cheap and sound miles better than the little Bluetooth speakers they were using.
A speaker, however crappy, for less than a dollar?
Hooda thunk!View attachment 327835
Sure, 0.64c as long as you buy in bulk.
Not that the two for $1.27 each price changes my proposition much.
Hooda thunk!
Amazing what can be cranked out in mass production for so little money. No wonder we have become a throwaway society. Probably sounds better than any old AM transistor radio from the 60's and certainly better than any smartphone. Retail is probably around $10 for these.View attachment 327835
Sure: $0.64 as long as you buy in bulk.
Not that the two for $1.27 each price changes my proposition much.
With unpaid workers in 3rd world countries producing them at gunpoint.And not the only one, just don't ask me how they do that.
At the repair shop I work at right now, there's this old lady that keeps calling saying "there's something wrong with her TV". Then one of us drive over and show her that she can't control the set-top box with her TV remote. Next week she calls again saying "there's something wrong with her TV". Rinse and repeat
Last week I spend an hour on the 'phone to my mother trying to explain the difference between her cell phone and the cordless land-line phone she also has.
In fairness she is 83 and has never really been playing with a full deck.
Quit talking about Apple that way!With unpaid workers in 3rd world countries producing them at gunpoint.
Thankfully mine will not go near the internet although she does have access. Last year though the TV company replaced the satellite dish with a broadband delivery system, which meant a new set top box and new remote control.My wife STILL occasionally asks me how to use the (standard) remote for our cable TV.
I empathize.
A couple weeks ago my mother (85) called and asked me how to use her computer to look up something. She only ever occasionally uses email and even that scares her. Imagine having to try to direct someone over the phone how to surf the web to a given site, and download something..with almost ZERO of the relevant words in common. She had no idea what a browser is (so I had to help her find it on her computer blindly over the phone), what google did, what a mouse or pointer is, what a link is, what downloading is...and it was panic mode for every step.
My sympathy for phone tech workers (e.g. at Apple) was significantly enhanced by such experiences.
Oddly, some like it at high levels too, booming bass and screaming treble.Also a smile EQ may be atrocious to us but it's effectively an equal-loudness curve for the deeply muted levels 'normies' often listen at.
My wife STILL occasionally asks me how to use the (standard) remote for our cable TV.