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The “Off The Shelf” Lie

A lot of manufacturers are marketing their products as better, saying they don’t use “off the shelf” drivers, chips or whatever else they manufacture in house. But are in-house drivers or FPGA digital converters really “better” than the best drivers from Scanspeak or Vifa?  Is an in-house ladder dac automatically superior to the best chips from Analog Devices, Texas Instruments or others?  IMO, the end result may be superb either way, but I think manufacturers are just attempting to get audiophiles to knee jerk into believing off the shelf parts are inferior. In my experience, I haven’t found this to be true. I think it has more to do with the application than the parts. But reasonable minds may disagree. 

chayro
buellrider97's avatar
buellrider97
945 posts
 

   I’d like to try the new Schiit Singular , based on user comments. I think it would be an improvement over the # A 000058, A1 I have. Back in the late 70’s I grew HIGH GRADE Marijuana. 😆 It was a new proprietary design called Afgani ( Indica) . Happy Listening, Mike B. 

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,487 posts
 

 

Richard Vandersteen's drivers (made in house) are certainly"better" than most drivers available off the shelf.

Quite a few speaker designers/manufactures specify the performance characteristics of the drivers they buy from the major manufactures, those drivers being made in accordance with the designer's demands. Amongst them are the likes of John DeVore, Danny Richie (GR Research), and Wilson Audio.

 

jl35
4,452 posts
 

Of course they are not always better...but there do seem to be possible advantages to design all parts of a product...

elliottbnewcombjr
7,729 posts
 

@easystreamer 

Your 'terms' made your point, except 'Gluten Free', it is a statement of difference, omission, not better. I have two friends who have Celiac Disease, the most severe allergy to gluten, it's serious, and several others, including myself and many family members that have digestive issues (not serious, but not pleasant) resulting from Gluten. It seems Wheat has changed over millenniums, that is why it is a 'new' problem. I was tested many years ago, but I seem to remember there are two DNA markers for sensitivity to Gluten, I have both.

I'll get off my cardboard cereal box now.

mapman's avatar
mapman
23,598 posts
 

Some parts are better than others but parts and even components  are useless until a smart person puts them together.

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