Castle Acoustics in the UK answered all of my questions via email regarding the crossover specs of my speakers quickly and accurately. Their US rep. May Audio Marketing was also great to deal with, and supplied some of the best customer service that I have ever encountered in any industry. Kevin Walsh at Homegrown Audio is one of the best as well as Craig at Vibrapods. I am an hours drive from Upscale Audio and cannot wait to visit their shop when I look into a small SET setup for our spare bedroom, based on the feedback that I have seen posted at this sight. |
Vac, Shunyata, Audio magic are among the best. |
Talon Audio has been great. They are always accesible, willing to stay on the phone and answer all your questions, and are very helpful. |
My best experience was with Beyerdynamics. I always liked their headphones better than Sennheiser, although the latter was always rated higher by the audio press. So I bought a pair of their DT 811 headphones 8 years ago and recently the plastic suspension system broke. I sent them a letter and asked them to send me a replacement at my own cost, but they sent the replacement for no charge! They have also been very helpful with servicing microphones I have bought from them. |
Based upon my experience with trying to keep a Data II transport functioning, Theta gets a thumbs down. While they were polite, it was clearly apparent that they had no system. They kept no records of previous repairs to specific units. Theta makes good sounding products, but I will never purchase another of their products again. |
In my experience, Bryston is so good, it's scary. Sent in a 14 year-old 3B amp that had heretofore worked flawlessly throughout its lifetime, because it began exhibiting a slight mechanical hum. The amp arrived back at my residence a few days later, causing me to believe I had screwed up with the address or something and that therefore, it had not been deliverable. Further inspection however revealed no signs that such had been the case. I next opened the carton and found a letter from Bryston informing that the necessary repairs had been made, detailing the diagnosis, detailing the repairs, detailing a list of additional parts replacements and revisions thrown in for good measure and stating that as a result, the amp had been brought up to near current [3BST] specs! No charge!! Wholly incredulous. Bravo, Bryston! |
Both Bryston and Mark Levinson are amoung the very best! |
I agree wholeheartedly Rayhall - Stereophile service is appalling. I have given up on them. |
Some of the worst customer service I have experienced was from Stereophile. I ordered 5 back issues which were supposted to take 3-4 weeks to be delivered. After 6 weeks, I started emailing and received no response. After 7 weeks, I called about 5 or 6 times before I could talk with anyone live. All calls and voicemail messages went unresponded to until I started yelling. Eventually, I got my magazines after about 8 weeks. |
The Best customer service I've experienced in the last year is with a small company BMI Virtue Power Cords. The owner designer, Brian Introcaso worked with all the custom situations for upgrading my power cords. He spent ample time in answering all my questions and designing my Eel power cords to work in my system. Very happy and pleased. |
Cardas has great customer service. I emailed George Cardas when I had a problem....the response to my email was received within hours. To make a long story short, he replaced my cables with ones that were 1/2 meter longer, at no charge. . His Neutral Reference cables are great-sounding ! VPI is also very good for customer service. As well, I like their philosophy that just about everything they make is upgradeable as funds become available. |
Best: Sonic Frontiers. Excellant, prompt service by e-mail. Very happy with service. |
VAC and Cary are also very good. |
Thiel is excellent. I blew a tweeter in my 3.6s that was absolutely my fault. They replaced it free. Worst is Goldmund. They can only be contacted by e-mail, and it takes about two to three weeksfor them to respond. I had a problem with my SRMs. A distributor sent it back for me, which saved me hundreds in overseas shipping, but it took over three months to get them back. I would hesitate to buy anything foreign made without good US representation again. I also had a pronblem with KR amps. It cost me about a Grand for shipping to and from. At least they answer their e-mail promptly. |
Always get a quick and knowledgeable response from B&W Speaker Co. |
About 4 years ago I lost a tweeter in my Snell E/III's. I was living in Albuquerque and had no local dealer. So I call Snell up in Massachusets, and the fisrt person that I talk to says that I should take it to a dealer unless I feel up to some soldering. I say OK, and a few days later a package arrives with a nice new vifa tweeter. Good Company. Chris C. |
Most of the high-end manufacturers I've dealt with have been excellent. These include CAL, Krell and McCormack. But, by far, the one that stands out is VPI. These folks really care about their products and, perhaps, even more so, their customers. They will bend over backwards to accommodate you and make certain you are getting the most from their wonderful products. If you are analog-inclined you cannot do better for yourself than VPI. Creek and Celestion have never answered my emails. I figure they're still peeved at us Yanks for that 1776 thing. Sony shouldn't even be mentioned in this forum! They are a mass producer - perhaps the massest - that only cares about moving product. Their customer service, such as it is, is hideous. Some years ago I swore never to buy another Sony product of any kind and have stuck to it. In the product categories you might found yourself shopping Sony do yourself a favor and go with Panasonic, among others. They are not going to give you "high-end" service but they will help, which is more than Sony is likely to do. |
The worst - don't know, but some years ago it took Nakamichi 4 tries to fix a problem with my cassette deck. The best? No contest here - Bryston, hands down! |
Worst: Sony! I have a Sony DTC 670 DAT deck that has transport problems. I took it to my local Sony authorized service center and after looking at it they told me they weren't authorized to work on DAT's so send it to Sony. I sent it to Sony to be fixed and was told about 6 weeks turnaround. After 2 and 1/2 months I called wanting to know where my deck was. I gave them my name, address,etc. and they said they had nothing with my name on it. I flipped. After 1 hour on the phone, they found my deck sitting on a shelf with no name on it. They lost my info and had no way to contact me. They told me it was fixed and would send it right out. A week later still no deck, called again and was told they hadn't worked on it yet. It would be 2 more weeks. I was furious at this point but figured I could wait 2 more weeks. After 3 weeks I still had not gotten it back. I called again and was told that service would not work on it because it had been opened up by someone before they received it. The only time it was opened up was at my local Sony authorized service center. So they sent my deck back to me UNFIXED and then forgot to refund my $165 that I sent them with the deck. I called and complained and my check was sent OVERNIGHT mail. Afetr this experience I will no longer buy anything Sony. |
My best experience has been with Audioquest. Those guye e-mailed me right away, gave me a name & number for future use and even volunteered helpful, related info I didn't even ask for. The worst: SONY by far. Had a camcorder that needed a chip. I could have swam to Japan and back before it arrived at their service center - 6 months!!! And the damn thing broke again after 6 weeks - with the same problem. Never offered a replacement and the thing wasn't even a year old. Sony sucks! |
YBA, Oracle, Aragon. All have given me terrific service, including items I've bought used off the 'net. If you have the opportunity to buy any of their products, don't hesitate at all. To maximize your audiophile experience, get a good relationship established with a dependable local dealer, it can go a long way to making sure you remain satisfied. |
best: sonic frontiers-very heplful, friendly, technically as Best: Sonic Frontiers-knowledge, friendly, technically astute. Speak to Douglas. Worst: Sony, no one is even close. Ater dropping nearly four grand on a XBR rear projector, it was impossile to reach anyone for technical info. Even after calbration TV is still not right. Absolutely impossible to reach anyone at Sony who knows anything. Have tried everything. Go else where to avoid that "screwed again" feeling. |
Sumiko is the worst. How they stay in business is a wonder to me. |
THE WORST IS VELODYNE.THEY HAVE NUMBERS ALL OVER THE PLACE BUT NO LIVE CONTACT.AUDIGON SAYS TO CONTACT JODY SMALLS MAYBE JODY,THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT AND SOME GUY THAT ANSWERS THEIR 800 NUMBER (RECORDING) ABOUT LITERATURE THINK THE CUSTOMER IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT,WAKE UP VELODYNE! I AM TRYING TO BUY A PART AND I GUESS IF IT ISN'T A SUBWOOFER THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED EVEN THOUGH IT GOES TO ONE OF THEIR SUBS I BOUGHT.MAGNAPAN IS THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN. I CALLED ABOUT AN OWNER'S MANUAL I LOST.I HAD ONE ON MY DOORSTEP IN THREE DAYS, ALL 37 PAGES AND THEY DIDN'T ASK ME TO PAY FOR IT, NOT EVEN THE POSTAGE! ASKED ME IF THERE WAS ANYTHING ELSE THEY COULD DO AND TOLD ME TO CALL BACK IF I NEEDED ANY FURTHER ASSISTANCE, WOW!!!!!!!!!! |
Best:- The Cable Company. Class act. Recently intervened with a cable mfgr. for me - the mfgr. agreed to an upgrade which cost The Cable Company the sale of a pair of expensive cables. Putting my interests ahead of their short-term gain has boosted both my loyalty and my confidence. |
Theata,Digital, my nomination for best.Pioneer for worst.I own Elite(tv,and dvd player).Like Sony,they have this maze/menu that I figure is designed to aggravate you so you won't call again.At Theata,the girls always put me thru to someone who can help me(data 3 & gen5a 24/96) |
I live a few minutes from the plant.I get over to see the guys in the Parts Connection often.Their customer service is the best I have ever encountered.Class act all the way.Parrasound customer service is also very good.Worst Mcintosh.I emailed twice with questions no reponse both times.Very over rated gear and extremely overpriced. |
