ACI to Market & Sell Rocket ELT System (1 Viewer)

[Brian Bunge]

Mike,

Thanks you for directly responding to my post. I'm still using a pair of the 8" coaxial in-walls in my system for rear surrounds. Hard to beat for the money.

I was somewhat playing devil's advocate but at the same time also a bit confused by the "partnership" with ACI and AV123. I've always had the utmost respect for you and don't want you to feel that I was bashing you guys in any way.

I need to find some local folks with your newer speakers, Essence V's, etc, so that I can give them a listen!

Hope school is going well for you.

 

[Chris Quinn]

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Lew,

Do you think ACI is better known than AV123?
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"Yes I do. And I think that Mark would acknowledge that to be true (I have not personally asked Mark this question—I only guess)"




I've been a regular on several boards for over a year now and ACI has only come to my attention in this past month.

 

[PaulKoss]

Would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison between a "full-value" ACI system and an ACI ELT system. I am wondering how much of the price difference is due to cheap labour and how much to components. If the components are also made in the PRC, then maybe they would be close in quality but just lower in cost, again due to cheaper labour. Is price is no longer a sign of quality?

 

[Tim Ranger]

Chris;

I would also agree that overall, ACI is better know than AV123. They've been around for over 25 years compared to a couple of years for AV123. AV123 has made a big spash in a short time, but ACI is like a Tsunami

I didn't hear about them until a couple of years ago, but in doing my searches and talking to people, I found all sorts of posts/reviews etc. going way back. ACI speakers have been reviewed in Stereophile, Positive Feedback, BFS, The old Stereo Review and a whole bunch of other places. A lot of highend salespeople know about them.

I have read this phrase so many times "ACI is the best kept secret in audio". So I guess that kind of goes against what I just wrote. I suspect that without advertising, they are constantly re-discovered.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison between a "full-value" ACI system and an ACI ELT system. I am wondering how much of the price difference is due to cheap labour and how much to components. If the components are also made in the PRC, then maybe they would be close in quality but just lower in cost, again due to cheaper labour. Is price is no longer a sign of quality?

For me that would be no more of a meaningful comparison than the ELT system compared to the more expensive Rockets. But for sure comparisons have been made and no doubt will continue to be made.

The reason I have this view is that Mark designed the ELT system so compete with other manufacturers’ lines (such as the Bose Lifestyle systems) and not with any of his existing lines (Rockets & Onix Reference speakers). Each of these lines is targeted toward a specific market and he would not see them as comparable—in the sense that they are not designed to compete.

I do not know Mike, but I expect that he decided to market and sell the ELTs to that same market—again one that his lines (as I understand them—I have not heard all of his models) do not address.

I mostly don’t consider comparisons among products that are intended for different uses (different markets) to be particularly meaningful.

As to the cost of component issue compared to the cost of larbor, I have no particular knowledge, though in reading the specifications, it appears as though the cost of ELT components is lower than the cost of the Rockets and Reference speakers—for sure the Vifa tweeter, used in the more expensive models is bound to cost more than the dome tweeter in the ELTs. The same could be said about the material used in the mid-range/woofers compared to that in the Rockets.

That rosewood, ebony and maple are more expensive than the birch used in the ELTs is obvious.

Even the labor costs would be different for the ELTs compared with the more expensive Onix products, as the straightforward box-type ELT cabinets require much less labor than the curved sides of the Rockets (or so I am told—I’m not a cabinetmaker myself).

But none of this means that the ELTs are cheap—just they are trying to hit a value-for-money line of HT 5.1 speakers in the under $1,000 range. For me (compared to what else is available at this price-point) they have succeeded and succeeded well.