What ever happened to all the Diva Lovers? (1 Viewer)

[Mark LS]

Good Morning from Far East Russia...

The DIVA's were hardly our "Party Speaker"... we thought highly of DIVA then... AS WE DO NOW... and I've written about this more times than I care to remember...

The Trade Dress issues were very real to me personally... and I felt fighting any fight (legally) for a product that was not our own was a mistake... especially with the stakes set so high...

Several companies changed their designs after being "contacted" by B&W (Tannoy and Warfedale to name two, and there is a 3rd... but for the life of me I cannot remember right now who it was) about the Trade Dress issues... Others chose to fight it (see KEF)...

The Swan's brand is in VERY capable hands of Jon Lane and Gregg Scott over at The Audio Insider as noted in the opening post of this thread (and confirmed later by the same person)...

I hear the new line is simply sensational... and I have to say they look really good...

Mr. Yao builds one fine speaker... and with Jon Lane they have a superior engineering voice... Long Live DIVA... and good success for all things Swan's...

Wishing you all the very best...

mls

 

[Mike Sloan]

When are the "signature" versions of the Rocket 750's coming out? Will they employ the "extended range" tweeter? That was the only gripe I had about the Rocket's. I probably didn't work with them long enough to get the top end dialed in. The ERT has me interested to try again!!!

Mike Sloan

 

[Mark LS]

Hello Mike... and thank you for your reply...

I think it would be highly inappropriate for me to talk about our products in this thread...

I would however be more than pleased to chat with you about anything and everything Rocket should you care to e-mail me at...

[email protected]

Thanks again...

Wishing you all the very best...

mls

 

[Skyler]

Trade dress? This is BEGGING for a lawsuit.
http://products.sony.co.uk/thumbnails.asp?id=7_7_

They even have the balls to call them "British Design".

 

[Burke Strickland]

They even have the balls to call them "British Design".

Ironically, that description is on the plain box design, not the ones with the top-mounted tweeter. And a corporation the size of SONY presumably has deep pockets, so if a lawsuit does come their way, they can order up about 1200 pounds of prime lawyer to handle the details. :>)

 

[Skyler]

Still pretty lame on Sonys part. They can "out-lawyer" most companies, no doubdt! They are TOTALLY ripping off B&W. Look at the yellow Kevlar mids. Hell, even the cabinets are reminicent of several different B&W designs. I have CDM 9NT's, and the slope of the cabinet looks eerily familiar.

 

[Mark LS]

Indeed... we all had to laugh a bit when we saw these...

There is an interesting "inside story" about all of this that I wish I could surface... but I'd get in serious trouble...

I'm DEFINITELY not SONY... and the legal fees alone to answer and defend a potential lawsuit could be huge...

As to the similarities... well... If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... then the guys at B&W should consider themselves highly flattered...



Wishing you all the very best...

mls

 

[Skyler]

I saw the black, high gloss version of these at a dealer several months back. They were quite nice LOOKING. They didn't have them connected to anything though. Doh. On a side note, the ELT setup sounded GREAT in Dallas! That system is a home run.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

OMG that's hillarious... Ya know why? Because B&W tried to
muscle little companies.. But B&W is NOTHING in comparisson
to Sony... HAHA

I would love to see B&W go agains Sony.. Sony's lawyers
would crush poor little Bowers...


I don't like to see companies with inflated ego's muscle
other companies (like B&W did with Swans per the Top Mount
Tweeter) So it's nice to see them put in thier little place
by a massive monster corperation.

 

[BobAlbano]

Rocket is one of the handful of brands I'm considering. Has anybody heard the new sub (UFW-10)Rocket is now taking orders for. Also has anybody heard the 550's?

I am lucky enough to have 2 UFW-10's in my possession right now. Please see my review of the UFW-10 here.

http://forum.av123.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=UFW10

I also have a pair of Rocket 550's here. These are the most under-rated speakers in the Rocket lineup IMO. I haven't heard a speaker at $899.00 a pair that can hang with these in terms of performance or finish. They compare quite nicely to some of the tower speakers that I have heard costing 2-3 times the price. Have you checked www.audioenvy.com to see about a demo in your area? Let me know if I can be of any further help.

 

[Mark LS]

Thanks Skyler...

Appreciate your comments on ELT etc.

... and to you as well Bob... Thanks for your comments also...

All the best...

mls

 

[Lew Crippen]

Rocket is one of the handful of brands I'm considering. Has anybody heard the new sub (UFW-10)Rocket is now taking orders for. Also has anybody heard the 550's?

One of the packages (#3) that includes the 550's as mains is offering the sub for an extra $199 for a special.

Unlike Bob, I don’t have an UFW-10 in my possession. However, like Bob I have heard them in combination with some other Rocket products at the Dallas roadshow. I was very impressed, to the point that I’m on the pre-order list for this sub.

I have the package #3 you are interested in and can say the 550s are excellent speakers, though I’m not that sure that they are underrated (at least by me ). The center speaker in this package (RSC200) is just so good—you can pick up whispers of dialogue in the midst of chaos—you won’t be disappointed with that center paired with the 550s.

As for the $200 price, I would comment that Mark has lost his mind giving away this sub at this price, but (1) I don’t want him to withdraw his offer and (2) he has another sub (UFW-12) on the way, that I might wind up hoping that he offers at a reduced price, so I want the precedence.

 

[Mark LS]

Thanks Lew...

My mind is still in tact (I think... )... but it is one heck of a good deal...

Appreciate your comments...

All the best...

mls

 

[PomingF]

Still own & love those Diva's. In fact after finally giving away the Def Tech's, my home now features the entire AV123 line up with Diva's doing HT and Rockets in charge of HiRez/MC music.

PF

 

[Scott Hine]

Still have my Diva's. Thought about "upgrading" to the Rockets but, I use mine for Hometheater, and do not see any need to switch Yet.

- Scott

 

[Steve_D]

I worked for a Fortune 100 company, in the import/export area for this retailer's own private labels. I can tell you 2 things:

1) Direct copying of competitor's designs happens all the time. Period. By changing just a couple of inconspicous details, this is usually legal.

2) Large companies have sufficient legal resources to fight the "usually legal" battles. Small-Medium companies do not.

Of course, I could relay the story about 1 "knockoff" item sent to an overseas factory to duplicate...so the factory took a direct mold from the product and shipped the result. Probably would have been ok had they not also inadvertantly molded in the identifying stamp of the original!

 

[kevitra]

I auditioned the Sony B&W ripoffs for fun. They were quite bad. The Bose 501(?) towers next to them were better if that tells you anything.

They may look like B&W, but they definetly don't sound like B&W.

 

[Mark LS]

Great post Steve_D...

I agree with everything you said... and I have even experienced a story like yours... sort of funny at the time... and then sad later... :frowning: The IP was part mine, and at first I felt sort of proud about it... and then the reality of it all set it when I saw the product out in the market in Southern China...

I was bummed...

All the best...

mls

 

[Mark C.]

Thanks for your contribution, Brett.

(Sarcasm On) Yeah, it's always great when a product's design is blatantly ripped off by others who can't come up with an original idea.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Mark,


Yeah a tweeter on top of a cabinet is so friggen revolutionary...


I think it's a shame when companies like B&W Feel the need
to puff thier corporate chest by threatening the little guy
with all of thier mighty lawyers power...

I like it even better when they get showed up by a company
who can outmuscle them ten thousand fold..


Do you own B&W? *nevermind.. I see you do..*

Figures...