I had first heard about the Ah! Tjoeb CD player in 1999 from owners that were buying them from Holland. Listening carefully to customers when they re-tube helps me to select who REALLY makes great gear. Sometimes you hear the same problems over and over they are trying to correct, and that lets you know that maybe that product does not sound that good to begin with.

With the Tjoeb, it was different. The buyers were raving about how good it sounds, and the fun they had, and what a deal it is. One of our oldest customers, a fellow named Imtiaz, asked me "why don't you carry the Tjoeb? It is really very good" so many times it was like a broken record. The answer was simple. It was sold factory direct. The reason the price is so low is there is no profit margin to include a dealer. I would have to buy them just like he was, and mark them up. Even though they would still be a good deal, and it is certainly easier to buy from us here, I did not want customers then seeing they could get it for less from overseas and feel uncomfortable.

But the buzz was there. And though there were great reviews, most sales were done by word of mouth through forums and people that had "heard a buddy’s player".

What we did next:

I went out to seek the source. I contacted the owner of the Ah! company, Herman Van Den Dungen. Herman is a well known (and loved) character in the European audio industry. He is the importer and distributor of such products as Krell, Conrad Johnson, Sonus Faber, and others into parts of Europe, and has launched companies such as Kiseki and Cogelco. He also owns a chain of retail high end specialty shops in the Netherlands.

We talked over a period of time, trying to come up with a way to maintain factory direct pricing and sell them from Upscale Audio. Most European made products, when imported, get marked up another 30% or more. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas we created a plan to import larger quantities to lower shipping and customs costs, and accept a lower profit for Ah! and for Upscale Audio, with the idea that it is such a low price for the quality you get we would be offset by increased sales.

The result:

All these years later, it has been a bigger success than we could have hoped for. Thousands have been sold worldwide. It has more reviews on www.audioreview.com than any other CD player. And rave reviews from the most respected journalists.

We have a number of people that buy a second Tjoeb after falling in love with their first. In fact a couple people own three! I have been in the audio industry since the late 1970's and have never had anyone buy two of any CD player we have sold.

Resale value. On the rare occasion I have seen them for sale used (with no warranty) they have maintained up to 90% of their value. In fact, a customer who purchased a Njoe Tjoeb 4000 (with zero options) in 2002, sold his unit on Ebay for $605. Current retail is $849.
Click here to see the auction. I can say with confidence that there is no other product that compares.

Service. The Tjoeb has been eminently dependable. It is "modular", so most any service is a matter of a few minutes and plugging in a new part. No shipping machines back and forth.

But most important, I met a wonderful group of friends that I vacation with every summer, travelled all over the world with, and that I am proud to say I love. A special thanks to Herman, who in our first meeting said:

"When you show a customer a product like the Tjoeb that performs so well for so little money, they can see you are not trying to just get into their pocket. They will come back later to buy other things"

This is a fact. It's been great for making new friends and customers. Two well-known cable manufacturers and two speaker manufacturers use them to design their products.

Most important I would like to thank the people that have bought them. Referrals and word of mouth is the key to keeping the price so low, and without YOU, the customer, this would not be possible.