Spectral PR is AWFUL. Service Dept totally unhelpful.

microstrip · Sep 17, 2014

Not long ago we had a thread where several Spectral enthusiasts said wonderful things about the brand and products. Where are they now?

I have no direct experience with the brand, but a good local friend who considers them highly always managed to get parts for service of his units and advice from the factory, as we do not have local representative.

dgw · Sep 17, 2014

joeinid said:
+1 on both posts. ANY problem and it looks like you are on your own. Not a good place to be in, especially considering the high tech nature of their gear.

Well, my original posts have stirred things up a bit. And since then I have learnt a lot about Spectral, mainly from their Dutch Dealer who is excellent and understands them. Amongst the points he makes is that they will never speak to the end user but only the dealer which is not very good but he also points out the following :
Spectral is just a small company, building a few hundred pieces every year. Demand always exceeds production. They have no commercial interest whatsoever, and they don't want to grow. They just make a living building the best amps they know how to build for sensible money. This makes life not always easy for us, but we've learned to respect them for that. They don't respond to pressure, but once you learned to follow their way of thinking, they are very nice people to work with. Still building some of the best machines in the world!

I agree with all that too ! But it is still a pity about Mark in their service department because a helpful attitude and courtesy never cost a dime and is so much better than causing unnecessary aggravation. I am still going to test and buy Spectral gear when the opportunity comes again ( very very rare in the UK ) because it is so much better than anything else and I don't have the money for DartZeel, the obvious possible contender. And I will ask the Dutch dealer to support me in case of trouble. I think he will, he is a very good man. Well, if this thread has opened up discussion on how service from the different manufactures is, that is surely a good thing too.

dgw · Sep 17, 2014

microstrip said:
Not long ago we had a thread where several Spectral enthusiasts said wonderful things about the brand and products. Where are they now?

I have no direct experience with the brand, but a good local friend who considers them highly always managed to get parts for service of his units and advice from the factory, as we do not have local representative.

That is extraordinary and just the opposite to my experience even though I have never owned product from them, I feel certain that Mark in their service Department now, would refuse to help. Maybe your friend's experience was when somebody else was running the service department ? Nice system ! Try ZYX cartridge - it might blow your mind.

ack · Sep 17, 2014

Let's leave Marc out of this; he's following company line. Just follow their instructions and go through a dealer and talk to Fryer - they should get the feedback no matter what. What you quoted above from the dealer has been posted here ages ago, we just wanted you to get it directly from them; otherwise, our claims would simply be excuses; it's very kind of you to have quoted the dealer. Don't forget, to want Spectral is to really want Spectral.

dgw · Sep 17, 2014

ack said:
Let's leave Marc out of this; he's following company line. Just follow their instructions and go through a dealer and talk to Fryer - they should get the feedback no matter what. What you quoted above from the dealer has been posted here ages ago, we just wanted you to get it directly from them; otherwise, our claims would simply be excuses; it's very kind of you to have quoted the dealer. Don't forget, to want Spectral is to really want Spectral.

Sorry, but I find it hard to believe the company line is to be nasty to their customer AND to his dealer who happen to be in a country where they have no distribution - I just don't believe it and that is why I have not left Mark / Marc out of it ! I doubt very much their receptionist would ever put somebody phoning from England through to Mr Fryer - it did not sound to me as if she would ever do it.

BruceD · Sep 17, 2014

LL21 said:
Gryphon fantastic in this regard...looked after me on 2nd hand pieces.

+1 Big thumbs up for Flemming and Gryphon--did same for me on private bought Unit--Top company!

BruceD

ack · Sep 17, 2014

dgw said:
Sorry, but I find it hard to believe the company line is to be nasty to their customer AND to his dealer who happen to be in a country where they have no distribution - I just don't believe it and that is why I have not left Mark / Marc out of it ! I doubt very much their receptionist would ever put somebody phoning from England through to Mr Fryer - it did not sound to me as if she would ever do it.

Fax them a letter, that's the best way. You are not alone in your reaction, you won't be the last, and you will probably find very few not annoyed by their ways. You should really express your sentiments in writing to them.

dgw · Sep 18, 2014

ack said:
Fax them a letter, that's the best way. You are not alone in your reaction, you won't be the last, and you will probably find very few not annoyed by their ways. You should really express your sentiments in writing to them.

It was quite a while ago that we got rid of all fax machines. Hardly anybody uses fax any more. I have written a letter and will post it.

dgw · Sep 18, 2014

ack said:
Let's leave Marc out of this; he's following company line. Just follow their instructions and go through a dealer and talk to Fryer - they should get the feedback no matter what. What you quoted above from the dealer has been posted here ages ago, we just wanted you to get it directly from them; otherwise, our claims would simply be excuses; it's very kind of you to have quoted the dealer. Don't forget, to want Spectral is to really want Spectral.

With the delay whilst trying to find out when the items for sale were manufactured, the Power Amp got sold. And that was the item of most interest - to replace my 17 year old Proceed HPA2. So now I have bought the Pre on a 14 day trial to see if that compares favourably with my present make and if it does I will swop. Then, at least I will have a Spectral Pre. Might have to wait years for another used Power Amp to come on the market here at an affordable price. I don't think anybody can accuse me of not being committed to Spectral - as I write this I still don't know when the Pre I have bought was manufactured. And know that I will probably never be able to phone them myself in case anything goes wrong.

ack · Sep 18, 2014

I don't think anyone accused you of anything

if anything, you are suspected of catching the disease

and it's not curable. Their policies are rarely defensible, and you will only find a sympathetic ear from reasonable people here. Just keep in mind their products are extremely limited in production, as a measure of the company size; to give you an example, the DMC-30 line of preamps in their various iterations, now running for about 15 years I think, share the same serial number sequence; just this week I saw a 30SS S2 in the mid 900s being delivered, and since the production numbering starts at 100 (I think), you can imagine you just bought one of about 850 units ever made, in these last 15 years... Be sure to post your impressions, your letter and their response if any.

asindc · Sep 18, 2014

As long as we are balancing bad karma with good, I'll mention that Martin Logan has set the gold standard for service in my experience (have owned their products for nine years and counting), and that is not just limited to high end audio. They could give other companies lessons on how to provide service cheerfully. Honorable mention to Cary and Parasound (the owner sometimes directly answers the phone!) as well.

slowGEEZR · Sep 18, 2014

asindc said:
As long as we are balancing bad karma with good, I'll mention that Martin Logan has set the gold standard for service in my experience (have owned their products for nine years and counting), and that is not just limited to high end audio. They could give other companies lessons on how to provide service cheerfully. Honorable mention to Cary and Parasound (the owner sometimes directly answers the phone!) as well.

I'll have to agree with that. When a power supply on one of my thirteen year old Martin Logan speakers went out, they shipped me a new power supply at no charge to me!

ack · Sep 18, 2014

(I admire MartinLogan more than anyone can imagine

What I admire the most, though, is that I have had zero problems with my MLs for 12+ years now.) One thing I forgot to mention about Spectral is that for me to get answers to my questions/issues through the dealer, I have to wait until the dealer's designated time to talk to Spectral. Patience is a virtue.

GaryProtein · Sep 18, 2014

dgw said:
Well, my original posts have stirred things up a bit. And since then I have learnt a lot about Spectral, mainly from their Dutch Dealer who is excellent and understands them. Amongst the points he makes is that they will never speak to the end user but only the dealer which is not very good but he also points out the following :
Spectral is just a small company, building a few hundred pieces every year. Demand always exceeds production. They have no commercial interest whatsoever, and they don't want to grow. They just make a living building the best amps they know how to build for sensible money. This makes life not always easy for us, but we've learned to respect them for that. They don't respond to pressure, but once you learned to follow their way of thinking, they are very nice people to work with. Still building some of the best machines in the world! . . . .

That all fine. They don't want to talk to the tire-kickers who just want information from them, but not talking directly to or helping the consumers who have paid good money for their products and/or need service is unconscionable.

dan31 · Sep 18, 2014

I can say that I have had good direct interactions with Spectral Audio. I have spoken with Marc several times and he has been very polite and helpful. I have purchased the most recent spec components through an authorized dealer.

nirodha · Sep 20, 2014

microstrip said:
Not long ago we had a thread where several Spectral enthusiasts said wonderful things about the brand and products. Where are they now?

I have no direct experience with the brand, but a good local friend who considers them highly always managed to get parts for service of his units and advice from the factory, as we do not have local representative.

For me it all comes down to the importer, which in my case is More Music in the Netherlands. They are first rate on everything they bring into this country, including Spectral.

dgw · Sep 20, 2014

dan31 said:
I can say that I have had good direct interactions with Spectral Audio. I have spoken with Marc several times and he has been very polite and helpful. I have purchased the most recent spec components through an authorized dealer.

Yes, that's because you are in SF Bay and you have bought New. How do you buy through an authorised dealer when you live in England where there is no authorised dealer - a bit tricky. So you do the next best thing and contact the manufacturer directly, only to be told, No we can't help you.

nirodha · Sep 20, 2014

dgw said:
Yes, that's because you are in SF Bay and you have bought New. How do you buy through an authorised dealer when you live in England where there is no authorised dealer - a bit tricky. So you do the next best thing and contact the manufacturer directly, only to be told, No we can't help you.

I have the original 360 monos, and love them. However, I don't think I would have bought them without an official importer being present in my country. I love Spectral but there must be other brands that "do it for you" as well...?!?

JackD201 · Sep 21, 2014

ack said:
(I admire MartinLogan more than anyone can imagine What I admire the most, though, is that I have had zero problems with my MLs for 12+ years now.) One thing I forgot to mention about Spectral is that for me to get answers to my questions/issues through the dealer, I have to wait until the dealer's designated time to talk to Spectral. Patience is a virtue.

???????

You mean if I was a Spectral dealer they would give me "designated times" when I could call them??????? Dealers aren't just customers, we are the immediate customers. I hope that is not what you meant.

ack · Sep 21, 2014

Let's put it this way: that's what I have been told regarding my questions/issues; and why would anyone lie about it. Having said that, don't read too much into it, those designated times could still be several times a week, and probably every day. Don't interpret this as turnaround taking a long time, only that they appear to manage time very effectively (I assume because of company size). Whether this happens to all dealers, especially foreign, I don't know; I somehow doubt it. All in all, they've ALWAYS put emphasis on working through dealers. Regardless, turnaround to my questions has always been within the day; service turnaround is equally quick (2 weeks max for my equipment, including 6 business days in transit). I am simply trying to explain why they would refuse to spend time answering tire-kickers' questions all the time - they draw the line somewhere, I guess,

Spectral PR is AWFUL. Service Dept totally unhelpful.

VIP/Donor

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member

Well-Known Member

VIP/Donor

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member

Well-Known Member

Member Sponsor

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member

VIP/Donor

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

WBF Founding Member

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member

Similar threads