Ultimist – the safer smarter sociable high-end audio marketplace

The high-end audio industry is in turmoil.

Almost all of the manufacturers and dealers we deal with and know about, and this is quite a number, are either unable to get a foothold in this market, or are frequently having to violate the tenets of good brand building, good business practices, and the traditional manufacturer – distributor – dealer partner arrangements in order to ‘make it’ in today’s marketplace. Much of this is done surreptitiously behind people’s backs creating an unethical taint to the business side of things.

And then there are all the problems in the secondary market.

The industry has changed; in fact if not yet quite to the point of people actually admitting it openly.

Some of this is because of the economy. Some because of the internet. Some because the barrier to entry has been lowered. And some because of rise of the self-empowered consumer.

We have been very, very happy with the performance of the gear of our product lines – they really kick butt [or is that ‘ear’ :-)] – even midst these earthquakes in their business models.

Yet as we struggle to let people know how great these products are here at Audio Federation there are many, many other quality products out there, at all price points.

In fact, in the final analysis, it has been my experience that every single product has an audiophile [or two!] out there who would just love to get their hands on it, buy it, and enjoy it for months if not years.

So how can we expand the audio marketplace so everyone can make a living and we all can get to play with as much cool gear as our finances, free time and listening room space allow?

How can we specifically expand into the mystical realms of the general public with all that money they are just waiting to spend on audio gear?

How can we expand the business market at all in the face of this kind of wild west shoot-em-up discount business environment where brands routinely get severely damaged by unscrupulous and dishonest and frankly overwhelmed players because they think that there is no alternative if they are to survive?

Introducing Ultimist. Ultimist is a new online high-end audio marketmaker. It was created to do just this.

And I am leaving Audio Federation to work on it full-time.

I personally think of Ultimist as ‘Amazon.com for High-end Audio’, but with all of my audio friends there with me instead of a bunch of strangers. Throw in some Google, Facebook, and Wikipedia as side dishes and you get Ultimist.

The idea is to transition the high-end audio business, and the experience of being a member of the high-end audio community, into something modern, open, friendly, sane, safe, and seriously fun.

We want everyone, manufacturers, dealers, press, and audiophiles to feel comfortable and to be able talk to each other and share their knowledge and love of the hobby. Not just the loud and gregarious people but the shy and adults among us as well.

We want to provide a platform where the 10,000s of products that perhaps your local dealer does not carry can get their fair chance to be in your system.

We want a secondary market that helps BUILD brands, not decimate them.

We want to help people find the gear they want to buy, to buy it in safety and at a reasonable price, to enjoy that gear as much as superhumanly possible while they have it, and to safely be able to sell that gear for a reasonable price when they want to move on to something else. And to have a blast doing it.

Well, that about describes our manifesto for Ultimist. Classifieds and display ads are free during our launch period [we will eventually charge for these in order to keep the quality of the ads high]. Membership at Ultimist is currently by invitation only and you will find that we take safety security quite seriously [to keep the quality of the membership and social interactions high].

Oh, and before too much time goes by, you should get your own home page at Ultimist.com/your-user-name.

I am at http://ultimist.com/mike. And this is where you will find most of my future blog posts. [I am also at the official ultimist blog]

Our audiophile’s guide and exhaustive show reports have always been inclusive of all the brands out there, trying to make sure every brand gets to be seen – I have always loved trying to get ‘The Word Out’ about all the cool stuff this hobby has to offer people who like cool stuff. Working at Ultimist helps me pursue this love to the nth degree.

Thanks! and take care,
-Mike

The latest show report from last month’s show in Vietnam: Hanoi 2012

The upcoming show reports for CES 2013 and THE Show 2013