Beware of Wayne's audio - Poor product quality & worst business ethics
I wanted to get a periphery outer ring for my VPI Scout Master. The VPI ring was around 1200 bucks and I couldn’t convince myself to spend that much for something that wouldn’t make a significant night and day difference in sound quality. So I decided to look for other cheaper alternatives and came across Wayne’s Audio. These rings are advertised as “universal rings” and seemed significantly cheaper (almost 1/2 price). I asked around on the VPI forum if anyone used these and someone replied saying he wasn’t happy with the quality. Considering its mostly a “VPI only” forum, I took his comment with a grain of salt and decided to reach out to Wayne audio regarding the “quality concern” and Wayne replied saying his products were top notch and I could return them if I wasn’t happy for any reason. I was convinced and bought the ring. The ring arrived and here are my findings:The ring was much bigger than the VPI Platter. A “centering plate” came with the ring. This plate should be used to center the ring while placing the ring on the platter and then you remove the plate. After placement, when you turn on the tt, the circular motion of platter creates a centrifugal force and since the ring ( which is not exactly the same size of the platter) is being pushed around and hits the sides of the records. Centrifugal force is the same force that makes you feel like you are being thrown out when you sit on a merry go round. If you directly look at the record while its spinning, you could see the ring moving around. I am fairly new to turntables but I assume, vibration control is very important in turntables which is why people buy expensive platforms, better feet, heavy platters and outboard motors. This subtle movement of the ring (being thrown around by the circular motion of the platter) creates micro vibrations by hitting the record. You can clearly see this while the record is spinning. Though the spinning ring looks really cool, it defeats the purpose of anti-vibration and in my humble opinion creates more issues than providing any benefit. To add to this, there was also a small dent on the inside of the ring.My 2 cents - If you are looking for a ring, spend the extra money and find the perfectly sized ring for your platter, probably the one that your tt manufacturer makes. Universal rings sound like a great idea, but in my experience they worsen your sound instead of improving them.When I was in the market to buy a ring, I couldn’t find much reviews on Wayne’s ring, all I saw was cool YouTube videos. I was misled by those videos and ended up buying one. In my humble opinion, you are better off with no ring, than a ring that’s not the same size as your platter.
I reached out to Wayne's audio for a refund. This is where things got a little complicated. I reached out to him with pics and videos explaining why this will not work for my tt explaining the reasons above. I was thinking he'd charge me for 15% restocking fee but he never said anything about a restocking fee and reluctantly agreed for the ring to be sent back. He also emailed me the address the ring should be sent to. I packaged the ring and sent it back to him through USPS. The tracking said the ring was delivered to him but I didnt hear back from him. When I reached out, he said he didnt receive the ring. Although I sent him proof that the ring was sent to the right address and was delivered he said it was probably stolen from his front porch and would not refund the money. After a lot of back and forth emails and phone calls I was able to get 50% of my money back. So in the end, I paid 50% of the cost for a product that I don't even have with me lol. However I learned 2 valuable lessons from this whole experience:
1. Never send anything without "signature reqd" option. 2. When a reputable company sells a product for a higher price, there is probably a good reason behind it. Don't discount that and go for a cheaper alternative as you may at loss in the end. Now I believe a company like VPI would have never done this to me.
Testpilot, roxy54, the OP on another forum confirmed that he did not insure the item, nor did he specify that a signature was required. The vendor was willing to take back the item and refund 100% of the money upon receipt of the returned goods. The ring went “missing” and the vendor agreed to refund the OP 50% and the vendor is still out the sold goods. Gotcha, but I still think that he would have looked better by going above and beyond and eating it. That's what exceptional businesses do.
Hi, This is Wayne, Wayne’s Audio. This man brought an outer ring from me about 40 days ago. After he received the ring, he asked to return the ring, and I agreed. But he did not give any information after he shipped, if he give me tracking number at that time I will definitely be waiting for it at my company. And after 1 week he said the return item arrived and want the refund. And he said he added the signature request, but I still have not received the ring. Of course, with no signature and no post notice sticker on my door, and I didn’t receive the item, I am still waiting for the item. He said the tracking number said the item arrived, but he can not provide me with the name and address of who he mailed to, so I thought he may have sent to a wrong address or some thing.....?
Then after couple of days, I still have not received the return item. After consideration, l can help to share some of his loss, so I refund him half the cost first, then let’s see what happens in the future, if I get the ring back, I will refund him the other half and if he received the returned item, just ship back to me again and he will get his full refund. Hope he can understand.
More than half of my customers who uses VPI turntable say the ring works great, flattens your records, protects your cartridge, and improves your listening experience. you can definitely hear the difference when an outer ring is applied.
Yes, you can pay $1200 for VPI ring or $1350 for Clearaudio ring.
My Outer ring is universal and fully comparable with their originally ring; mine can also fit other brand’s platter too. I am the manufacture and I directly sell to the consumers, no middleman. So The rings cost only half of their price but the effect is the same.
I have great customer's feedback on eBay,Audiogon & Audio Mart,please review them.
Though it is a buyers responsibility to insure the ring fits his particular platter (as brf---the main man on the VPI Forum---said, VPI has made platters in both 11.5" and 12" diameters), shouldn’t the maker of the ring---designed especially for VPI’s---know which platters his ring fits, and make that info available to the public? That would save he and his customers this kind of hassle.
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