DOCSLIB.ORG

Schiit Happened: the Story of the Worlds Most Improbable Start-Up

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

  1007
Copy Link
The Story of the World’s Most Improbable Start-Up by Jason Stoddard Schiit Happened: The Story of the World’s Most Improbable Start-Up by Jason Stoddard Typesetting by Lucas van den Bosch [email protected] lblb on Head-Fi.org Created with LaTEX and KOMA-Script Text in Bitstream Charter Headings in Lato To Mike, for going along with this crazy idea. To Rina, for support, naming the company, and tolerating the whole mess. To Eddie, for helping us really get started when we needed it most. To Tony, for testing dang near everything we’ve made. To Alex, for taking over, making things right, and running the show. To Dave, for doing the hardest stuff. Hey all, I’m Jason Stoddard, the co-founder (with Mike Moffat) of Schiit Audio. You may have seen some of my posts on Head-fi. But you haven’t heard the full story of Schiit ... why we started the company, how we’ve grown from June 2010 to today, the good stuff ... and the bad stuff. So, in a burst of insanity, I thought, “Why not turn this into a book?” Why? Well, in addition to Schiit, I’ve written plenty of stuff, including about 30 published stories and 3 books. Jude and the team at Head-fi were kind enough to provide this space for me to serialize this story. The plan is to post a chapter a week until it’s done, which should take us through the summer. Now, you may be wondering, “Why the heck should I read some crazy book about Schiit?” Well, there’s nobody forcing you to. But if you’re interested in the inner workings of a true by-the-bootstraps startup (did you know we started in a garage, with no external investment?) or if you’ve been thinking about starting your own business (beyond the usual platitudes of “hey, you should incorporate, and there’s this stuff called ‘cash flow’ and stuff”), or if you’re just curious about how a modern audio company works (from who’s actually engineering the gear, to how it gets made, to the ups and downs of the day to day working of the company), you may enjoy it, or find it helpful and informative if you want to start a company yourself. I have no illusions that this will be the next business best-seller—if it ever makes it into print—but I’m having fun writing it, and I’m hoping you’ll like reading it. Disclaimer: There’ll be plenty of technical stuff in here, because, after all, I am an engineer. You won’t have to understand it all, but you may be more entertained if you have a techy side. Later on, there’ll be some early photos from Schiit, as well as a video or two, that have never been seen before. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it! All the best, Jason Stoddard vii Contents 2014 Christmas Presents Until the End of Time? · 1 The Line is Down. Here’s an Undocumented Test Rig. Fix It. · 7 15 Years On the Marketing Front Lines · 17 From Death, Rebirth: Armageddon 2009 · 29 “You Always Say You Have Schiit to Do, Why Don’t You Just Call It That?” · 37 $ 800 In Screws? · 47 The First Order Is ... For Something We’re Not Selling · 57 Metal Debacle, Valhalla Style · 65 We Screw Up Sennheiser and Insult Some Big Guys · 71 Powering Up: Lyr · 81 Our First Employee, Our First Boardhouse · 87 USB Sucks! Or, Mike Joins the 21st Century · 97 Schiit Goes Evil? · 111 “Isn’t the Symbol for USB the Long Flat Rectangle?” · 119 Technical Help Via Time Warner, and The World’s Most Irritating Failure Mode · 131 DAC in a Toilet Paper Roll · 141 Growth, Garage Style · 149 Resurrecting the Circlotron and Other Mid-Centuryisms · 155 The Pinch-Off Problem · 169 Every Road is a Dead End: Early Adventures with Magni · 181 The HOA Problem · 189 You Catch a Cold, We Die: Bigger Products, Bigger Problems · 199 Introducing the Schiithole · 209 “I Didn’t Know People In the Private Sector Were As Lazy and Incompetent As the People In Schools” · 217 Schiit Happens (and Keeps Happening) · 227 ix Perspective · 231 Getting Our Schiit Together · 239 Dead Media Ain’t Dead: NYT Strikes · 249 Finally, the $ 99 Solution · 261 Twilight of the Gods—Ragnarok from 2009 Until Today · 269 “You’ll Never Do Any Upgrades Anyway.” · 287 Worst. Customer. Ever. · 299 Death of a Product · 313 R&D Sometimes Means, “Try It, See If It Works” · 321 Name Me One Non-Standard Format That’s Succeeded, Ever · 329 No Sample Left Unchanged: Digital Today · 339 Black Friday · 349 You Want to Pay How Much? Or, How We Moved Again · 357 A Real Company? · 367 The Value of Diversions · 375 Wyrd Schiit · 385 Unto the Second Generation · 395 Schiit Goes Vinyl · 407 Completely Fulla Schiit · 417 One Year, Twelve Products · 431 Mike Motivations, Musings and Opinions · 445 The back back-saga · 455 Yggdrasil: The back back-saga, Part 1 · 459 Yggdrasil: The back back-saga, Part 2 · 463 Yggdrasil: The back back-saga, Part 3—The Theta Digital Years · 469 Yggdrasil: The back-saga, Part 4—The Home Theater Detour · 475 Rina Anecdotes · 481 Alex The Deluge · 487 Answers and Anecdotes · 489 x Schiit Happens: The Ongoing Story of The World’s Most Improbable Start-Up 2015 The Trials and Tribulations of Amazon · 501 When To Listen, and When To Act · 515 Our Favorite Scammers · 523 Bridging the Gap · 533 A Life in the Day Of ... · 547 So Ya Wanna Get Into the Biz? · 561 The Yggy Circus, Tidal Uprisings, and the Unknown Future · 571 Reacting to Now vs. Planning for the Future · 579 Hints, Teases, and Solicitations · 591 Knowing Our Place? · 597 Food Scientists vs. Michelin Stars · 605 On Measurements (With a Side Order of Sanity) · 611 Detours in Balanced-Land, or “Improving on ‘Perfection’” · 633 We Launched a DAC and Got a Movement · 645 Tales of Odeon, or How Not To Start An Audio Company · 653 When to Say “When” · 669 The Multibit Revolution Gets Cheap · 677 Death (and DNR) of a Product · 687 The Most Difficult Design Brief · 695 Looking Forward to 2016 · 705 2016 A Longer Discourse On Marketing · 715 What To Do While Waiting for Ragnarok · 727 The Importance of Service · 741 How We (Didn’t) Move Again · 753 The Subjectivist/Objectivist Synthesis · 763 Being Comfortable With What You Are · 775 On Modding, Hubris and Reality · 783 A Perspective On This Moment in Digital · 793 The Elephant in the Room · 807 Because We Can · 821 The Road to Jotunheim · 831 xi Word of Mouth at the Speed of Light · 847 Into the 2-Channel World: The Saga of Saga (and, um, Freya too) · 859 Why You Can’t Always Get What You Want · 879 The Vidar Chronicles, Part I · 889 Even More Fulla It · 903 A Directional Assessment · 915 2017 Why Do We Do What We Do? · 925 “Obsolete.” · 937 Leaving Marketing · 951 Deprogramming · 963 Back to the Past · 973 Conversations With A Stubborn Engineer · 983 xii 2014 Forward Christmas Presents Until the End of Time? So, do you think it’ll go? Do you think they’ll sell?” Mike Moffat asked, looking at the first assembled Asgard on the engineering bench in my garage. He was being Mike-fidgety, rocking from heel to heel in the small, chilly space. “Well, on paper it looks good,” I told him. “But you know how that works. They’ll either sell, or we’ll have Christmas presents until the end of time.” Mike laughed, a little nervously. Because he knew how it goes. You can plan and study, do endless market research and cost studies, run focus groups and get tons of input from key prospects and do all the little things that companies do to procrastinate and dither and second-guess before putting out another “gotta have” product ... and things can still go sideways. But this isn’t a story about stuff like that. This is a story about gut feelings, good guesses, and not following the herd. And succeeding. This is the story of Schiit Audio, the world’s most improbable start-up. Yes. Schiit. Let’s start with that as an improbability factor. What company in its right mind would name itself that? I mean, if you were a marketing agency and proposed that name to a client, how would they react? You’d be picking your butt up off the pavement outside their headquarters, post-haste. But that isn’t all that made us a crap candidate for succeeding. Consider: We started this with no outside funds, no VC, no crowdfunding We’d both been out of audio for about 15+ years—more on that later We went with direct sales, even though that had only really worked for one other company—Emotiva We started with no staff, in my garage 1 Christmas Presents Until the End of Time? We decided to make everything in the usa, even though the pre- vailing wisdom of the time was “China’s the World’s Manufacturing Floor, why even try to compete?” And, in a complete burst of insanity, we decided to start with inexpensive products Ah, and it’s now probably past time I introduce myself. I’m Jason Stoddard, Co-Founder of Schiit Audio. Mike Moffat’s my business partner. Our official titles are “Head” and “Number 2” respectively. Hey, Mike asked for it. No, we don’t take ourselves too seriously here.
Recommended publications
  • Norse Myth Guide

    Norse Myth Guide

    Norse Myth If it has a * next to it don’t worry about it for the quiz. Everything else is fair game within reason as I know this is a lot. Just make sure you know the basics. Heimdall -Characteristics -Can hear grass grow -Needs only as much sleep as a bird -Guards Bifrost -Will kill and be killed by Loki at Ragnarok -He is one of the Aesir -Has foresight like the Vanir -Other Names -Vindhler -Means "wind shelter" -The White God As -Hallinskidi -Means "bent stick" but actually refers to rams -Gullintani -Received this nickname from his golden teeth -Relationships -Grandfather to Kon the Young -Born of the nine mothers -Items -Gjallarhorn -Will blow this to announce Ragnarok -Sword Hofund -Horse Golltop -Places -Lives on "heavenly mountain" Himinbjorg -Stories -Father of mankind -He went around the world as Rig -He slept with many women -Three of these women, Edda, Amma, and Modir, became pregnant -They gave birth to the three races of mankind -Jarl, Karl, and Thrall -Recovering Brisingamen -Loki steals Brisingamen from Freya -He turns himself into a seal and hides -Freya enlists Heimdall to recover the necklace -They find out its Loki, so Heimdall goes to fight him -Heimdall also turns into a seal, and they fight at Singasteinn -Heimdall wins, and returns the necklace to Freya -Meaning of sword -A severed head was thrown at Heimdall -After this incident, a sword is referred to as "Heimdall's head" -Possession of knowledge -Left his ear in the Well of Mimir to gain knowledge Aegir* -Characteristics -God of the ocean/sea -Is sometimes said
  • Reform of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

    Reform of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

    Reform of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman May 2012 Table of contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 5 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 7 Recommendation 1: Improved regulatory framework ........................................................................ 7 Recommendation 2: Compliance incentives ........................................................................................ 7 Part 1: Regulatory Compliance incentives....................................................................................... 7 Part 2: Referral of non-compliance to the ACMA ........................................................................... 7 Part 3: Public reporting of non-compliance and binding decisions and non-binding recommendations ............................................................................................................... 8 Part 4: Improving industry’s Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) mechanisms ................................. 8 Recommendation 3: Systemic issues ................................................................................................... 8 Recommendation 4: Governance structure ......................................................................................... 9 Part 1: Unitary governance structure .............................................................................................
  • C:\Working Papers\10525.Wpd

    C:\Working Papers\10525.Wpd

    NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES THE GERMAN PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM: HOW IT WAS, HOW IT WILL BE Axel Börsch-Supan Christina B. Wilke Working Paper 10525 http://www.nber.org/papers/w10525 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 May 2004 This paper was commissioned by the Michigan Retirement Research Center (MRRC). Additional financial support was provided by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) through the NBER, the German Science Foundation (DFG) through the Sonderforschungsbereich 504, the State of Baden-Württemberg and the German Insurers Association (GDV). We are grateful for many helpful comments by Anette Reil-Held and the participants of the MRRC Conference on Improving Social Security Programs at the University of Maryland, September 13, 2003. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Bureau of Economic Research. ©2004 by Axel Börsch-Supan and Christina B. Wilke. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. The German Public Pension System: How it Was, How it Will Be Axel Börsch-Supan and Christina B. Wilke NBER Working Paper No. 10525 May 2004 JEL No. H0, H8 ABSTRACT Germany still has a very generous public pay-as-you-go pension system. It is characterized by early effective retirement ages and very high effective replacement rates. Most workers receive virtually all of their retirement income from this public retirement insurance. Costs are almost 12 percent of GDP, more than 2.5 times as much as the U.S.
  • COMPARING PLACE ATTACHMENT and ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS of VISITORS and STATE PARK EMPLOYEES in OKLAHOMA by MICHAEL JOSHUA BRADLEY B

    COMPARING PLACE ATTACHMENT and ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS of VISITORS and STATE PARK EMPLOYEES in OKLAHOMA by MICHAEL JOSHUA BRADLEY B

    COMPARING PLACE ATTACHMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS OF VISITORS AND STATE PARK EMPLOYEES IN OKLAHOMA By MICHAEL JOSHUA BRADLEY Bachelor of Science in Leisure Studies Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 2005 Master of Science in Recreation, Parks, & Tourism Administration Western Illinois University Macomb, Illinois 2008 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May, 2012 COMPARING PLACE ATTACHMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS OF VISITORS AND STATE PARK EMPLOYEES IN OKLAHOMA Dissertation Approved: Dr. Lowell Caneday Dissertation Adviser Dr. Donna Lindenmeier Dr. Jesse Mendez Dr. Rebecca Sheehan Outside Committee Member Dr. Sheryl A. Tucker Dean of the Graduate College ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ VII CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ............................................................................................................................ 9 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY ............................................................................................................................. 11 ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS ................................................................................................................................ 13 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................
  • The Daily Egyptian, September 01, 1995

    The Daily Egyptian, September 01, 1995

    Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC September 1995 Daily Egyptian 1995 9-1-1995 The Daily Egyptian, September 01, 1995 Daily Egyptian Staff Follow this and additional works at: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/de_September1995 Volume 81, Issue 10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Daily Egyptian 1995 at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in September 1995 by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Inside: USG establishes task force to examine USSA's importance to SIUC - page 3 9 Daily Egyptian F,r~tt Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Vol. 81, No. 10, 24 pages Clin,ton's visit official! White House confirms: He's coming Sept. 11 By David R. Kasak Belleville. said 'This i.~ obviously a "Obviously this is a great opportunity Loan Program, will accompany Gus Bode and Donita Polly great boost for SIU and a very appro­ that will put SIU in the national and Clinton during his visit. D,,ilv Eg,1it,an Reporters priate location for a speech on student international spotlight.'' Sanders said SrlJC Financial Aid Director Pam aid and higher cducatinn:· "It will show what a great Britton said there is a great deal of A flcr nearly a week of speculation. Jack Dyer. executive director of Univcrsitv SIUC is. a.< well a., what it concern right now about the cuts to a White House official confirmed Universitv Relations, r.aid he i, does for Southern lllinoi;.'" he ,aid. the Direct Student Loan Program. Thursday that President Bill Clinton thrilk-<l about the visit and focls thi~ David Carle.
  • New Dimensions in Corporate Counseling in Environmental Law Nicholas A

    New Dimensions in Corporate Counseling in Environmental Law Nicholas A

    Pace University DigitalCommons@Pace Pace Law Faculty Publications School of Law 1-1-1974 New Dimensions in Corporate Counseling in Environmental Law Nicholas A. Robinson Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty Part of the Business Organizations Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, and the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons Recommended Citation Nicholas A. Robinson, New Dimensions in Corporate Counseling in Environmental Law, 1 Colum. J. Envtl. L. 7 (1974), http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/392/. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace Law Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact [email protected]. New Dimensions Corporate Counseling in Environmental Law By Nicholas A. RobinsonQ Amid today's sometimes frenzied government action to cure en- vironmental degradation, and amid the defensive posturing of cor- porate managers and their public relations staffs, and the vigorous, if occasionally strident, protests by conservationists to protect en- dangered Nature, few have stopped to examine the role of the attorney as anything other than 1itigator.l Legal counseling has largely ignored the many environmental laws which have recently been enacted. Headlines have fixed on dramatic government prosecutions or conservation law suits; legal counsel in some specialized fields, such as electrical utilities or oil and other natural resource exploitation, have begun to cope with new environmental law requirements.' However, most lawyers as counselors are not yet involved in the struggle for environ- mentally sound development.
  • Consumer Organizations and Promotion of Sustainable Energy Consumption: Comparative Product Quality Testing and Its Impact

    Consumer Organizations and Promotion of Sustainable Energy Consumption: Comparative Product Quality Testing and Its Impact

    Panel III, 04 – Wahnschafft/Huh Consumer Organizations and Promotion of Sustainable Energy Consumption: Comparative Product Quality Testing and its Impact Ralph WAHNSCHAFFT Energy Resources Section, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UN-ESCAP), Bangkok, Thailand Kwisun HUH Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Hanguk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Republic of Korea 1 - SYNOPSIS This paper reports selected preliminary results of an ongoing survey on consumer organizations. It analyzes comparative product quality testing and its potential impact on promotion of energy efficiency. 2 - ABSTRACT The paper provides an overview on consumer organizations in OECD and high income developing countries, in particular with regard to their consumer information activities. It focuses on a review of comparative product testing of selected electrical home appliances and on test reports in consumer interest magazines. The paper analyzes the relative weights allocated to the different product quality criteria, including energy efficiency. Based on the above the paper reflects on the role that consumer organizations can play in the promotion of “green consumerism” and sustainable energy consumption, in particular with regard to the residential sector. 3 - INTRODUCTION 3.1. Background and objectives Advancing commercialization of societies has brought with it the formation of a growing number of local and national consumer interest groups. Today, Consumers International, the largest federation of consumer organizations and agencies worldwide, counts 243 member organizations in over 110 countries (1). Individual organizations greatly differ in their membership and organization, their sources of financing and government sponsorship, their work methods, activities and relative political influence. However, enhancement of consumer protection and better consumer information are overall common objectives that unite the “consumer movement”.
  • List of Merchants 4

    List of Merchants 4

    Merchant Name Date Registered Merchant Name Date Registered Merchant Name Date Registered 9001575*ARUBA SPA 05/02/2018 9013807*HBC SRL 05/02/2018 9017439*FRATELLI CARLI SO 05/02/2018 9001605*AGENZIA LAMPO SRL 05/02/2018 9013943*CASA EDITRICE LIB 05/02/2018 9017440*FRATELLI CARLI SO 05/02/2018 9003338*ARUBA SPA 05/02/2018 9014076*MAILUP SPA 05/02/2018 9017441*FRATELLI CARLI SO 05/02/2018 9003369*ARUBA SPA 05/02/2018 9014276*CCS ITALIA ONLUS 05/02/2018 9017442*FRATELLI CARLI SO 05/02/2018 9003946*GIUNTI EDITORE SP 05/02/2018 9014368*EDITORIALE IL FAT 05/02/2018 9017574*PULCRANET SRL 05/02/2018 9004061*FREDDY SPA 05/02/2018 9014569*SAVE THE CHILDREN 05/02/2018 9017575*PULCRANET SRL 05/02/2018 9004904*ARUBA SPA 05/02/2018 9014616*OXFAM ITALIA 05/02/2018 9017576*PULCRANET SRL 05/02/2018 9004949*ELEMEDIA SPA 05/02/2018 9014762*AMNESTY INTERNATI 05/02/2018 9017577*PULCRANET SRL 05/02/2018 9004972*ARUBA SPA 05/02/2018 9014949*LIS FINANZIARIA S 05/02/2018 9017578*PULCRANET SRL 05/02/2018 9005242*INTERSOS ASSOCIAZ 05/02/2018 9015096*FRATELLI CARLI SO 05/02/2018 9017676*PIERONI ROBERTO 05/02/2018 9005281*MESSAGENET SPA 05/02/2018 9015228*MEDIA SHOPPING SP 05/02/2018 9017907*ESITE SOCIETA A R 05/02/2018 9005607*EASY NOLO SPA 05/02/2018 9015229*SILVIO BARELLO 05/02/2018 9017955*LAV LEGA ANTIVIVI 05/02/2018 9006680*PERIODICI SAN PAO 05/02/2018 9015245*ASSURANT SERVICES 05/02/2018 9018029*MEDIA ON SRL 05/02/2018 9007043*INTERNET BOOKSHOP 05/02/2018 9015286*S.O.F.I.A.
  • 2 Financial Advice

    2 Financial Advice

    Sina Borgsen Investment Decisions of Private Households and the Role of Financial Advice Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Universität Mannheim vorgelegt im Frühjahrs-/Sommersemester 2010 ii Dekan: Dr. Jürgen M. Schneider Referent: Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Martin Weber Korreferent: Professor Dr. Bernd Helmig Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 8. November 2010 iii Meiner Familie 1 Acknowlegements It is a pleasure to thank the many people who made this thesis possible. I am very grateful to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Martin Weber, for countless helpful suggestions, numerous stimulating discussions, invaluable motivating support, and for some- times pushing me into the right direction. Many thanks are also due to Prof. Dr. Bernd Hel- mig, my second examiner. I would like to thank current and former colleagues at the University of Mannheim for many inspiring discussions, helpful comments and ideas: Anders Anderson, Ph.D., Dr. Martina Corsten, Christian Ehm, Dr. Silvia Elsland, Daniel Foos, Prof. Dr. Markus Glaser, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jens Grunert, Heiko Jacobs, Christine Kaufmann, Dr. Volker Kleff, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ale- xander Klos, Prof. Dr. Thomas Langer, Christoph Merkle, Sebastian Müller, Prof. Dr. Markus Nöth, Prof. Dr. Lars Norden, Dr. Alen Nosic, Dr. Adelson Pinon, Dr. Zacharias Sautner, Dr. Sava Savov, Ulrich Seubert, Daniel Smith, Dr. Philipp Schmitz, Dr. Sascha Steffen, Dr. Matt- hias Transier, and Dr. Frank Welfens. Furthermore, I appreciate the collaboration with mem- bers of the European Collaborative Research Project “Exploiting bounded rationality”. Special thanks go to Prof. Dr. Markus Glaser and Niels Nauhauser, who coauthored one chap- ter in this dissertation (chapter 5).
  • 6C33C-B OTL Amplifier - Background and OTL Circuits

    6C33C-B OTL Amplifier - Background and OTL Circuits

    6C33C-B OTL Amplifier - Background and OTL Circuits http://www.audiodesignguide.com/otl/aria.html Tube Lovers Anonymous 6C33C-B OTL Amplifier - Background and OTL Circuits INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to explain the selection process and trade-offs involved in choosing the circlotron as the optimal topology for a high-power OTL amplifier. The issues involved in making this selection include circuit simplicity, balanced performance under small- and large-signal operation, and achieving low output impedance (and hence a high damping factor) without the excessive use of feedback. BACKGROUND For many of us, the vacuum tube remains the only acceptable electronic component for amplifying music. Endless debates and discussions on the merits of solid state versus tubes rage on, but we find that the transparency and realism offered by a device consisting of metal and vacuum just cannot be matched by silicon for sheer musical enjoyment and getting as close as possible to the original sound. Prove what you like, tell us we're imagining things, but we know it just sounds better. However, by insisting on all-tube amplification, there is classically a major penalty to be paid in the power amplifier. Tubes are simply not designed to couple directly to today's modern low impedance speakers, and a transformer must be used to match the power output to the load. Even with finest modern materials, the output transformer remains the weakest link. At low frequencies its finite inductance steals current away from the load, and at high frequencies its stray capacitance, leakage inductance, and high-frequency copper losses combine to attenuate amplitude and introduce severe phase shifts.
  • Testimony of Charles Bell, Programs Director Consumers Union Before

    Testimony of Charles Bell, Programs Director Consumers Union Before

    Testimony of Charles Bell, Programs Director Consumers Union before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation U.S. Senate Hearing on The Economy and Fraud: Protecting Consumers During Downward Economic Times July 14, 2009 101 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10703-1057 (914) 378-2000 2 Introduction Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee: Thank you very much for the invitation to testify on ways to protect consumers against deceptive practices, fraud and scams during the current economic downturn. We commend you for holding this hearing to focus attention on ways to protect consumers and encourage a safer marketplace. Consumers Union1 is the independent, non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, with circulation of over 7 million (Consumer Reports plus ConsumerReports.org subscribers). As part of our work, we regularly research and report on misleading and deceptive practices that affect consumers. We report on scams and fraud both to alert consumers, so they can protect themselves; and to alert law enforcement agencies and policymakers, so they can take action to directly curtail and stop these unethical, deceptive and/or fraudulent practices. Over the last several months, we have reported on a variety of anti-consumer practices that are affecting financially-distressed families which we think are worthy of attention by your Committee. 1 Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, is an expert, independent organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To achieve this mission, we test, inform, and protect. To maintain our independence and impartiality, Consumers Union accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers.
  • A Handbook of Norse Mythology

    A Handbook of Norse Mythology

    A HANDBOOK OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY BY KARL MORTENSEN DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN ; ADJUNCT AT THE CATHEDRAL SCHOOL (ROYAL GYMNASIUM) AT ODENSB TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH BY A. CLINTON CROWELL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN BROWN UNIVERSITY 1 ' , . * ' ' - r , * - . l I I . , NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY PUBLISHERS THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY. Published March, 1913. This compilation © Phoenix E-Books UK AUTHOR'S PREFACE THIS popular presentation of the myths and sagas which took shape here in the North but whose foundation is common property of all the people who speak a Gothic-Germanic language, first appeared in 1898 and has been used since then in the study of Xorse Mythology in the high schools and universities of all the Scandina- vian countries. Since Professor Crowell has thought that the little book might also achieve a modest success in the youngest but richest and.mosi powerful branch which has grown iron, cur ccmin-on >;uot, I have without hesitation, accopte^ his friendly pro- posal to transjate.jc into English. I find r great satisfaction m, hav -;ig my work put into the world's most comprehensive lan- guage and placed before students in the United States, where I have so many friends, where so many relatives and fel- low-countrymen have found a home and a iii iv AUTHOR'S PREFACE future, and toward which country we Northerners look with the deepest admira- tion and respect for the mighty forces which are seeking to control material things and to break new ground in the infinite realms of the intellect.