New Grover ICs??

[bobrex]

From the Steve Hoffman site:

"Well, seems to be another upgrade in store. I emailed Grover this morning on the status of my order of "S" IC's, and he emailed me back the following:

Hi Sam, you're very lucky, I spent a while developing a new design that kills the graphite cable. I just made the special size cables in the SC version and sending them today

Sounds interesting, huh?"

So Grover, what's new?  And for those of us still breaking in the graphites, can we upgrade?

[richidoo]

Nobody should be surprised that Grover continually releases new versions of his products, this is common knowledge and I hope it will continue for many years.    Sometime in the future I will audition the new version to see how much better than mine they are. I am confident the price of new ones will still be low and my old ones will still be better than anything available at the time for the same price.

Those who bought their 'grovers' in the AN group buy have already received two free upgrades from the black/white version that was originally offered for the group buy and sent on demo tour. The offer to upgrade whites to graphite was very generous and fair. We also received a 30% discount and a 4 month window to make up our minds, so I don't expect to receive more free upgrades from the GB deal.

Never hurts to ask, of course, but I just wanted to point out what we have already received. Grover has been very generous.
Rich

[LKdog]

Hey Rich-

While it is nice to see a designer continually trying to test and improve their product-it is a bit odd to be honest.

The most recent latest/greatest Grovers with the graphite techflex were shipped out in August.
Many people are still breaking them in.
These supposedly were a big improvement over the previous white versions, although some disagreed.

It is now September.

Not sure how he found time to develop a new cable as he was filling the Group Buy order for a few weeks and then was off hiking for a few weeks. 

He must work fast.

"Hi Sam, you're very lucky, I spent a while developing a new design that kills the graphite cable."

A little disconcerted to hear I now have a month old IC from him that is killed by his new better version yet he claimed it was such a wonderful cable just a few weeks ago. 
Now he is throwing it under the bus.

As you know, I like do the version I have very much and have been quite positive overall about my experience with it.

Have no idea how his new version is better in his opinion and there is no website or information about it anywhere.
Maybe he would wish to provide some information about it here.

Curious business model. I do not know what to make of it.
I do like the August 2007 version I have and will be keeping them. 

[richidoo]

I know where you're coming from Tony. We all want the feeling of having "the latest and greatest" to last more than one month.

I would rather get the latest and greatest idea fresh out of the artist's head than to have him sit on it for a year because of some arbitrary marketing scheme. If it changes again next month, I don't have a problem with that, because I auditioned what I bought and decided it was excellent at that moment. If my nervosa (nirvana ) demands, I can always buy the newest version, it's not that expensive and he deserves to get paid for latest tweak. But I know my capitalist point of view is not always shared. 

[Bigfish8]

Guys:

Lets enjoy the Graphite Versions for 6 months and then try to persuade Grover to support another Group Buy!

Ken

[LKdog]

I think Carlman maybe suggested the idea of Grover having a few different versions with different characteristics. A Grover S I, SII, SII type thing.

One difficult thing, though, is that it is really hard to recommend his IC's as you would not have any idea what he is making at a particular time.

Oh well, Grover is certainly unique and I certainly can say that the product I have was worth the money.

[Nick B]

I understand the frustration. Mine aren't completely broken in either. But by now, I'm used to Grover's constant upgrades. For the money and level of performance, I can't gripe too much. I'm going to enjoy these for a while, just like Ken suggested

[rlmacklin]

Grover e-mailed me yesterday that:

" ... progress in the RCA cable. It's a new design ... It's much better than the graphite cable. The new cable has a whole new carbon nickel shield, and is more expensive but so worth it.
I'm going to let anyone send in their older cable and upgrade to this Grover SC cable for $75.
The retail price of this new cable is $225.
It's alot harder to make with more expensive materials.
But the sound is so amazing... "

[bobrex]

Rich,

Grover has supported updates before - that's why I asked.  And it appears that will be the case again.  Grover has no web site and no retail presence, so I'm gonna guess that between us and the Hoffman site the majority of his supporters/ customers are covered.  I just wanted to get the word out here.

[mboldda1]

is this the upgrade price for any grover version or just upgrade from the graphite?

[grover]

Guys, I'm always researching and developing. This new cable with the carbon nickel shield is wonderful. The graphite cable has not been discontinued it remains as before. The Grover SC cable is more expensive as the cost is greater and more labor intensive. Any of you that wishes to upgrade to the SC cable may send me either of the Group buy cables plus $75 (1 meter a little more on longer lengths) to cover the additional cost. This offer is opened ended. I have great news, after years of fighting I finally received my Patent.

[bpape]

Congrats.    Now maybe we can see some of the magic behind the design.

Bryan

[bobrex]

Grover,

Congrats on the patent, it's about time. 

So how does this new shield affect flexibility?  And for that matter, are the conductors is the graphte the same as in the white?  The graphites seem a little more flexible than the whites.

Thanks for the upgrade offer, I'll probably take you up on it.  How much more for 2 and 3m cables?

[jrebman]

Grover,

Congratulations on getting te patent!  Can you tell me the upgrade cost for a 1.5 meter pair?

Will this effect the speaker cables at all?

Thanks,

Jim

[richidoo]

The upgrade offer is awesome. I'm glad it's not free, that would destroy any profit you made on the group buy. Congrats on the patent. That is great news!!!
Rich