Unanswered Questions Poll

dallasjustice · May 23, 2014

I saw this video from Drew Rosenhaus dealing with the Philadelphia media regarding his client Terrell Owens who refused to play NFL football because he wanted more money. It reminded me of some manufacturers of high end audio gear. Would you buy gear from a manufacturer who won't answer your questions?

Joe Whip · May 23, 2014

Next question!

amirm · May 23, 2014

No way. I have passed on manufacturers that don't answer on many occasions.

treitz3 · May 23, 2014

If they don't answer your questions, this is how I would view the service after the sale would be like. Pass.

Tom

Bodhi · May 23, 2014

I answered sometimes as I recall at one stage I was interested in buying an Accuphase product, and asked the Manufacturer a couple of questions. I got no response after re-sending my request a couple of times. But I recall at the time that wasn't a deal breaker as, well it's Accuphase. Pleased to see their current customer service department answer emailed enquiries (maybe the Japanese economy?).

BlueFox · May 23, 2014

I recently came across a great deal on used Magico S5s, but they were in Florida, and I am in CA. Since Magico is up the road, I sent them an email asking if I could have them shipped to Magico, and they could check them out. They never replied. I bought them anyway, and they arrived unscathed, and sound freaking great. I haven't even looked at my HT since I bought these. All my spare time is spent listening to them.

Of course, in this case I wasn't buying from the manufacturer, but I was a little irked they didn't reply. Then again, they have replied to other emails I sent asking other questions.

Anyway, if it was an unknown manufacturer who didn't reply I probably wouldn't buy. If it were a well known manufacturer with a great product I wanted then I probably would.

Bodhi · May 23, 2014

BlueFox said:
I recently came across a great deal on used Magico S5s, but they were in Florida, and I am in CA. Since Magico is up the road, I sent them an email asking if I could have them shipped to Magico, and they could check them out. They never replied. I bought them anyway, and they arrived unscathed, and sound freaking great. I haven't even looked at my HT since I bought these. All my spare time is spent listening to them.

Of course, in this case I wasn't buying from the manufacturer, but I was a little irked they didn't reply. Then again, they have replied to other emails I sent asking other questions.

Anyway, if it was an unknown manufacturer who didn't reply I probably wouldn't buy. If it were a well known manufacturer with a great product I wanted then I probably would.

Good moves Bud. You have to way up the deal based on the product's quality and the sum total of your communications with the seller. If they have plenty of recent positive feedback, that is a good sign. If the price is right, sometimes it is worth the associated risk. I bought a pair of Marten Coltranes from the States sight unseen. The seller was much like yours; he answered the easier questions, but was more reticent with harder ones. Still, I got a good buy overall in the end.

Congrats on your S5's; they are very smooth, well balanced (coherent), warm and very detailed/accurate. They are great value high end speakers & great "all rounders". They do it all well. Definitely no sub required! I'd assume they're already run in (ie: over the 1000hr mark), so it should be happy times ahead! Btw, what amps & front end are you driving them with? (sorry to the OP for going off-topic).

BlueFox · May 23, 2014

Bodhi said:
I'd assume they're already run in (ie: over the 1000hr mark), so it should be happy times ahead! Btw, what amps & front end are you driving them with? (sorry to the OP for going off-topic).

Yes. Apologies to the OP, and no more discussion on this after this. The seller had them 3 months, and estimated maybe 300 hours playing, mostly, jazz via a turntable. I have had them now for about 6 weeks, so if 1000 hours is the break-in then I still am working on that. The pre is a Pass Labs XP-20 with Pass X600.5 amps. More important is a total Shunyata Anaconda wiring system.

Mosin · May 23, 2014

I can't imagine not answering questions. If a manufacturer isn't passionate about what he does, he should consider doing something else.

garylkoh · May 23, 2014

Mosin said:
I can't imagine not answering questions. If a manufacturer isn't passionate about what he does, he should consider doing something else.

+1

However, sometimes there are customers who are so rude that I actively avoid them. Especially those who think that since they bought their speakers cheap second/third hand 10 years ago, an upgrade today must cost a fraction of what they spent.

BlueFox · May 24, 2014

????

This answer appears to be contradictory. You agree that manufacturers who do not answer questions should be avoided. Then you say there are some customers who are PITAs, and should be avoided.

I think this shows that, once again, there are no absolutes, and everything needs to be considered on a case by case basis.

dallasjustice · May 24, 2014

Since they never bought anything from you, I wouldn't expect you to communicate with them unless you felt you could sell an updraded version, newer version or the product qualifies for warranty service. Otherwise the secondhand owner is being presumptuous with your time.

garylkoh said:
+1

However, sometimes there are customers who are so rude that I actively avoid them. Especially those who think that since they bought their speakers cheap second/third hand 10 years ago, an upgrade today must cost a fraction of what they spent.

Mosin · May 24, 2014

garylkoh said:
+1

However, sometimes there are customers who are so rude that I actively avoid them. Especially those who think that since they bought their speakers cheap second/third hand 10 years ago, an upgrade today must cost a fraction of what they spent.

Sometimes, I get someone who wants to make changes that affect performance. They don't understand that what they want goes against the physics of what I do. I admit that I carefully steer them into a different direction from me because that little bell ringing in my head tells me that I don't want their business.

rockitman · May 24, 2014

It seems this post was directly targeting Stillpoints by wbf's audio prosecutor. Things are not as cut and dry as the prosecutor wishes. Witnesses have put fourth their claims of improvement using their room treatment devices.

mep · May 24, 2014

Just because you can afford to hire experts to come to your room and take measurements and apply room treatments doesn't suddenly make you an expert in taking measurements and applying room treatments. Disparaging products that other people have bought and love the improvement those products have made for them is more than a bit presumptuous-especially when there seems to be correlation between the purchasers on what those improvements are.

dallasjustice · May 24, 2014

mep said:
Just because you can afford to hire experts to come to your room and take measurements and apply room treatments doesn't suddenly make you an expert in taking measurements and applying room treatments. Disparaging products that other people have bought and love the improvement those products have made for them is more than a bit presumptuous-especially when there seems to be correlation between the purchasers on what those improvements are.

Mark,
Nobody has ever come to my room to measure. I have my own test gear.

I've learned a lot from people like Nyal Mellor, Jeff Hedback, Ethan Weiner and Amir. On occasion, I think some of them have learned a small amount from me. In particular, I've learned about room acoustics, treatments, DSP and bass measurements. I don't mind paying for that information because it's the most valuable commodity in this hobby. There's still much to learn and I enjoy exchanging ideas with honest intellectuals. That's why I only buy gear from manufacturers who are willing to answer tough questions. If you are resistant to asking questions and learning, there's no point in communicating with you.
Michael.

cpp · May 26, 2014

A manufacturer that will not address a customers questions is not looking to stay in business.

mep · May 26, 2014

cpp said:
A manufacturer that will not address a customers questions is not looking to stay in business.

When does a customer become a customer? If someone has no intent to purchase products from a certain manufacturer and is merely challenging the manufacturer to back up their claims/statements, does that make him/her a customer or a nuisance?

microstrip · May 26, 2014

All the high-end manufacturers I have addressed have answered my questions. A few asked me to contact their distributors, as they felt they would be in a better position to deal with my requirements. A few times the polite, but understandable answer was that they did not want to release technical details or specifications.

I have to add an exception for some service issues with companies in poor financial conditions or going in bankruptcy and disappearing.

Speedskater · May 26, 2014

mep said:
When does a customer become a customer? If someone has no intent to purchase products from a certain manufacturer and is merely challenging the manufacturer to back up their claims/statements, does that make him/her a customer or a nuisance?

If on a public forum a manufacture does not respond to any and all reasonable questions about the manufactures "claims/statements" (the other forum members can decide what is reasonable) then how do we expect that manufacture to respond to a real purchaser when he has a problem?

Unanswered Questions Poll

Would you buy gear from a manufacturer who won't answer your questions?

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No

Sometimes

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