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[peter krieg]

adressed to the live sound engineers

it looks like EAW Speakers completly disappeared in Soundriders 
or won't be accepted any more - over here in europe / germany
by american sound engineers touring with american artists.

ok 1st choice K1 or J - we will not discuss this because this is useless
but even for small Venues (300 - 2000 pax)  EAW seems to be a red towel / flag (?)

what is the problem with EAW?

best regards

[Jim McKeveny]

In the USA, EAW fell out of favor with top-line designers & soundco's because of a period of weak product support and behind-the-curve engineering. This started perhaps 2 decades ago, and they have been trying to overcome this rep ever since.

If one goes waaaay back, Community was once the touring & engineering leader, took a turn towards the broader market, and is no longer acceptable at the highest performance levels.

No malice or derision in either above statement. It just is what it is..

[Rory Buszka]

In the USA, EAW fell out of favor with top-line designers & soundco's because of a period of weak product support and behind-the-curve engineering. This started perhaps 2 decades ago, and they have been trying to overcome this rep ever since.

If one goes waaaay back, Community was once the touring & engineering leader, took a turn towards the broader market, and is no longer acceptable at the highest performance levels.

No malice or derision in either above statement. It just is what it is..

This seems to be the ugly reality of participating in touring audio: If you intend to ever sell into the touring market for an extended period, you can't ever expect to sell into the MI market, or else you will kill your brand's ability to compete in the touring market. I'm amazed that JBL has been able to do it for this long, but by far the most successful touring audio vendors as a rule do not manufacture MI-level products side-by-side with touring equipment.

[John Roberts {JR}]

That's ironic since selling speakers into the touring market is not exactly an easy path to profits. JBL has gotten huge mileage from cross marketing their professional presence (real or imagined) into consumer sales.

Most manufacturers lust over getting on the big stage precisely to impress everybody else.

JR

[Doug Fowler]

That's ironic since selling speakers into the touring market is not exactly an easy path to profits. JBL has gotten huge mileage from cross marketing their professional presence (real or imagined) into consumer sales.

Most manufacturers lust over getting on the big stage precisely to impress everybody else.

JR

At one manufacturer I am familiar with, a factory tour reveals rows and rows of quality two way trap boxes waiting to be loaded, tested and shipped.

Production line for top of the line "touring" box, not so much.

Midrange line array system, more than top of the line and less than two way traps.

These "bread and butter" boxes are surely a constant revenue stream while the
midrange line array offers even more. Top of the line = spotty, but profitable when the orders come.

But the two way traps, that business is always there.  Keeping it simple (no we don't have 164 boxes in our product line and we don't change it up every couple of years) goes a long way to leveraging existing capacity without reinventing the wheel every few years.

[John Roberts {JR}]

Top of the line = spotty, but profitable when the orders come.

Profitable only when the orders come, is a hobby not a sustainable business... Overhead is 24x7. A line leader that helps sell profitable higher volume SKUs every day, that keep the lights turned on, is just good business.

There is logic in a collection of companies subsidizing a high end touring brand, as a line leader for marketing mass market products from the rest of the group. It is far easier to buy a properly positioned existing brand than build one from scratch, but you still need to figure out how to stay on the top of that hill, after attaching the sea anchor.   

The business economics of touring is not simple or self-contained.

JR

[Ivan Beaver]

At one manufacturer I am familiar with, a factory tour reveals rows and rows of quality two way trap boxes waiting to be loaded, tested and shipped.

Production line for top of the line "touring" box, not so much.

Midrange line array system, more than top of the line and less than two way traps.

These "bread and butter" boxes are surely a constant revenue stream while the
midrange line array offers even more. Top of the line = spotty, but profitable when the orders come.

But the two way traps, that business is always there.  Keeping it simple (no we don't have 164 boxes in our product line and we don't change it up every couple of years) goes a long way to leveraging existing capacity without reinventing the wheel every few years.

As the saying goes-"You have a figure out a way of making a living-on your way to becoming rich".

One thing that a lot (I would say most) guys in the "live world" (clubs/concerts etc) don't realize is that that for a large number (if not all) of loudspeaker manufacturers-the majority (like 60-80%- give or take) of their sales are to the INSTALL market.

While not the most "fun" market-there is simply more money to be made-and often with less hassle than the "live" market.

Think of it this way- you sell a system to a guy who does the festival-club market or such.  He does not buy anything else (except a few pieces now and then) for quite a number of years.

Sell a system to an installer-they install it.  Now they need another system for the next install-and then another and another.  Now you have sold many systems to the same guy-in a single year. 

And he will need just as many next year.

The "glamor" jobs are nice-but it is the "steady stream" that keeps a company afloat.

I was talking to a pipe organ manufacturer once.  They "place" an organ on the rate of about 1 per year.

Imagine if you lose EVEN ONE sale!  Where is the money going to come from.  OK they do a lot of "tune ups" and such-but that is A LOT of eggs in one basket-if you ask me.

[Pascal.Pincosy]

At one manufacturer I am familiar with, a factory tour reveals rows and rows of quality two way trap boxes waiting to be loaded, tested and shipped.

Production line for top of the line "touring" box, not so much.

Midrange line array system, more than top of the line and less than two way traps.

These "bread and butter" boxes are surely a constant revenue stream while the
midrange line array offers even more. Top of the line = spotty, but profitable when the orders come.

But the two way traps, that business is always there.  Keeping it simple (no we don't have 164 boxes in our product line and we don't change it up every couple of years) goes a long way to leveraging existing capacity without reinventing the wheel every few years.

I actually just got back from a tour of the EAW factory in Whitinsville. There were stacks of KF740 boxes waiting for paint and they seemed quite happy with the sales of this product to date. There were also quite a few of their QX install boxes there being finished up, as well as a ton of two way traps being assembled and QC-ed.

EAW obviously took quite a hit after their purchase by Mackie, with the attendant manufacturing move to China, and the bean-counter approach to support. But it seems of late that they have gotten back on track and are working hard to recreate their earlier success. Personally, I will say that support from EAW is better than it has been in years and I'm no longer having problems getting parts for the systems I maintain. And given their new Red Certification program, which is aimed towards providing consistent amplification and DSP from provider to provider, I'd be surprised if EAW didn't begin to claw their way back onto riders over the next couple of years.

[Jerry Laskin]

I actually just got back from a tour of the EAW factory in Whitinsville. There were stacks of KF740 boxes waiting for paint and they seemed quite happy with the sales of this product to date. There were also quite a few of their QX install boxes there being finished up, as well as a ton of two way traps being assembled and QC-ed.

EAW obviously took quite a hit after their purchase by Mackie, with the attendant manufacturing move to China, and the bean-counter approach to support. But it seems of late that they have gotten back on track and are working hard to recreate their earlier success. Personally, I will say that support from EAW is better than it has been in years and I'm no longer having problems getting parts for the systems I maintain. And given their new Red Certification program, which is aimed towards providing consistent amplification and DSP from provider to provider, I'd be surprised if EAW didn't begin to claw their way back onto riders over the next couple of years.

Anyone out there using the Jf59NT?  Would love a review of this portable 2 way 15" full range self powered system.  Whose amplifier are they using fuor this line?  EAW has been hesitant to allow demos vs their competitors ie. Turbosound, RCF.  I've had the pleasure of using their indestructible JFX590 still made in the USA and would love to migrate to passive self powered in a similar model.  EAW's distributors have had very poor followup with the mobile industry.  I've always loved the product but feel that this lack of followup and support plus migrating their manufacturing to China have caused a lot of defection in faith for the line.  Even when finally connecting with any of their distributors, they often wind up recommending other vendor's products they carry instead which can be very disconcerting.

[Justice C. Bigler]

I can tell you one thing wrong with EAW. Their inability to process orders for governmental entities using a purchase order system.

We ordered four replacement 15" drivers over six weeks ago. City purchasing cut a PO, and we have been waiting on delivery. Having seen no 15" EAW drivers show up on our loading dock, I called their parts and service center. They informed me that they were waiting on a credit card number to process this order (which btw, was only entered as a single 15" driver, not the four that we need). These four drivers will cost about $1,480. And, since my City purchasing card is limited to a maximum transaction of $999, I have to use a purchase order. Since EAW won't take a purchase order, I have to go to my purchasing department and get them to use one of their special no limit p-cards. A royal PITA, and will likely take another two weeks, thus missing our deadline to get these drivers replaced before the season starts.

Would have been nice if EAW had called us six weeks ago to inform us that they needed a credit card number instead of the PO that Meyer, and Yamaha, and ETC, and everyone else that we deal with uses.

A1 shitty customer service. We won't be buying EAW when it comes time to replace our main concert hall sound system in a couple years (to the tune of probably $1.2 to $1.5 million).

[Chris Davis]

That's too bad.  Every once in a while someone has a good experience to report about their parts dept.  But then for every good story there are more like yours.   A friend of mine had an order which took about 6 months of waiting and, following repeated attempts, they were actually able to charge it over the phone and then EAW sent it shortly after that.   Judging by this and other people's experiences, it would seem that due to the business model they were sold into, their parts dept has dwindled down to a very part-time operation.  I recently read that their former service man is now officially recognized and perhaps employed by EAW again.  Hopefully the parts dept gets the long-due attention it deserves.

[Bob Leonard]

This is what happens when the service model becomes JIT. No stock, no people, no service or support. Too bad for EAW, a once incredible company.

[Per Sovik]

This is what happens when the service model becomes JIT. No stock, no people, no service or support. Too bad for EAW, a once incredible company.

Unfortunately, JIT has now become the mode of operation of every subcontractor and supplier in all areas of business everywhere in the world. This has caused everything to grind to a halt, and the world economy is suffering badly as a result.
Do you want rolls for breakfast? Better notify your grocery store so the store can order from the distributor so the distributor can order from the baker so the baker can order flour from the distributor so the distributor can order from the mill so the mill can order grain from the farmer so the farmer can order seeds to sow. 

[Pascal.Pincosy]

That's too bad.  Every once in a while someone has a good experience to report about their parts dept.  But then for every good story there are more like yours.   A friend of mine had an order which took about 6 months of waiting and, following repeated attempts, they were actually able to charge it over the phone and then EAW sent it shortly after that.   Judging by this and other people's experiences, it would seem that due to the business model they were sold into, their parts dept has dwindled down to a very part-time operation.  I recently read that their former service man is now officially recognized and perhaps employed by EAW again.  Hopefully the parts dept gets the long-due attention it deserves.

It is a fact that EAW has recently rehired their old service manager. They are also currently moving all their parts operations back to Whitensville and are in the process of building out a 30,000 sq foot facility. JIT spare parts is over at EAW. I have gotten assurances from EAW for my venue that service is now a priority again and parts supply issues will very soon be a bad memory. Recent orders have come quickly, which is something I couldn't say for ANY parts orders from EAW last year or earlier.

[ProSoundWeb Community]