caiman vs dac magic vs v dac

[Themis]

i dont see why something that is £1450 and somthing that is £250 are two clearly different products

I mean, they are [positioned (in the market) as] two different products.

They don't target the same buyers.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I mean, they are [positioned (in the market) as] two different products.

They don't target the same buyers.

...yeah! i completely agree with that!

[StanleyB]

I sold a Caiman to a guy from Holland in August, who had jumped on Ryan Air and taken a National Express coach from Stanstead to Golders Green, and then an 83 bus from there to my house. It turned out that the price difference between the DacMagic and Caiman in Holland made the trip worthwhile, even though those two DACs sell for about the same in the UK... Go figure.

[Marco]

I completely agree with all recent comments here. However, what's the big secret about the cost of the Caiman PSU?

I, for one, would like to know for reference...

Stanley, please enlighten me

Marco.

[StanleyB]

However, what's the big secret about the cost of the Caiman PSU?

Maybe I sell it too cheap?

[Marco]

What is "too cheap"? Tell us the price for gawds sake man!

Or is it meant to be shrouded in mystery?

Marco.

[StanleyB]

I am as confused as you are. The Caiman power supply is not for sale. It only ships with the Caiman DAC.

[Marco]

I thought that the Caiman DAC was designed as a separate item before the PSU was introduced?

Therefore they must have two separate costs attached to them. Or do you give the PSU away for free to existing Caiman owners? I suspect not.

Therefore, what I'm asking, Stan, is how much would an existing Caiman user (someone who bought one of the original ones) pay for the separate Caiman PSU (currently being discussed in the D.I.Y room) if they wanted to upgrade their DAC?

I'm not sure why you're being so evasive

Marco.

[Alex_UK]

I sold a Caiman to a guy from Holland in August, who had jumped on Ryan Air and taken a National Express coach from Stanstead to Golders Green, and then an 83 bus from there to my house. It turned out that the price difference between the DacMagic and Caiman in Holland made the trip worthwhile, even though those two DACs sell for about the same in the UK... Go figure.

That's some effort to avoid problems from the postal strike! He must have wanted his Caiman very much!

[StanleyB]

I thought that the Caiman DAC was designed as a separate item before the PSU was introduced?

The Caiman power supply did not meet EU approvals, and I could not obtain them in time in order to launch both DAC and PSU at the same time. So I went ahead and sold the DAC first, later followed by the DAC and PSU.

Therefore they must have two separate costs attached to them. Or do you give the PSU away for free to existing Caiman owners? I suspect not.

In order to submit samples of the PSU for VDU and CE approval, we had to make a quantity and the test house could then pick 5 or more at random for approval testing. After they had finished and certified the PSU I sold some of the remaining stock with a batch of DACs, 50 pieces at a nominal figure of £9.99 plus shipping plus VAT, and kept the rest for the next batch of Caiman DACs. The tooling up, mold making etc., and manufacturing of the first 200 pieces plus approval certification came to more than U$10K. That works out at around U$50 a piece FOB Taiwan. If the PSU had failed the tests, I would be looking at spending another load of $$$. Luckily I can now amortize that cost over a production run.

Therefore, what I'm asking, Stan, is how much would an existing Caiman user (someone who bought one of the original ones) pay for the separate Caiman PSU (currently being discussed in the D.I.Y room) if they wanted to upgrade their DAC?

No idea. I haven't got newly manufactured stock of the PSU on its own and won't know the true cost of manufacturing till the 2nd production run has been completed at the end of the month. Whatever stock I do have is solely for inclusion with a Caiman.

I'm not sure why you're being so evasive.

I have learned from my mistakes. Some people have been expanding what I wrote into what they assume. So now I am more careful and stay away from
that sort of hassle.
Not so long ago you even ended up sending me a PM as a result from a PM sent to you by someone else to question me about a message on the forum that appears to have been by me. Whilst you even phoned me to apologize about the misunderstanding, the instigator of the 'cut & paste' and the person who complained to you never showed such decency towards me. Since then I have used extreme caution where possible with regards to anything I write on AoS that has to do with my products. I never know where it could end up being used with 'my name' being attached to it.