@uncledemp So right. Audio manufacturers sell through dealers. This one item is only available directly. This is to keep the price point low enough to sell this one item as a "loss leader." When many customers get this item, they realize, as we did in the 1970's, that Magnepan speakers reproduce what you send them. Many do not like this, but for those who do, the idea is to entice them to purchase larger, more expensive models as they move up in their electronics.
As for the snowstorm, email issues--I don't think they have a computer guy on staff to manage email, but they might--and employee turnover (big surprise these days, right?), it seems a few issues occurred at the same time to cause a short disruption. As mentioned in an earlier post, this is a SMALL, family owned company producing what I, and many others, believe to be the most accurate (BEST) speakers ever made. I would rather they be late in getting back to a potential customer than stop MAKING product to answer the phone.
Patience is required when dealing with small companies. As they pointed out, they sold more product last year than in their previous 52 years. Sounds like many people are "catching on" and finding their speakers desirable enough to fork over their hard-earned money for them. As we used to say at the large company that I worked for, that is what is called a "good" problem that I am sure they will address when they can pick their heads up from actually MAKING the speakers.
Cheers!