Kevin gets the

Goldenear1948, it seems as if you are starting to figure out who's behind the curtain. Kevin is not alone back there, the glossy rags have served their masters (advertisers) well for decades now.

All of the reviewers today remind me of Julian Hirsch's writing in Stereo Review in the 70's and 80's. "Of all of the speakers that I have listened to in the last 20 years, these XXXX speakers are certainly one of them." LOL!!!

How did this turn into a Kevin Deal bashing thread? I was under the impression that the central theme was how advertising controls what is written in glossy rags. Upscale Audio is only one advertiser, they ALL do it!

As for my dealings with Kevin, I will admit that he is not warm and fuzzy, and that his "people skills" may be lacking, but he is an honest and reliable dealer, and they are far and few between.

I was looking to grab one of his closeout SLP-98P F1 earlier this year, and spoke with him on the phone. I wanted a unit that had a custom paint job, but it sold for more than the standard red chassis finish, and I didn't want to pay more. He was not very helpful on the phone, so I just ordered the lesser model from his website. Then he called me and told me that the standard model I ordered from his website was not available with the MC phono option that I ordered, so he offered me the custom painted one that I wanted in the first place at a $500 discount....lower price than the standard finish unit. I took it and I am very happy with the deal.

Meanwhile, a friend of mine also picked up one of the closeout SLP-98 F1 units from Upscale Audio. He has had a lot of problems in just over 2 months with his unit. He shipped it to Cary once for repairs, when he got it back it worked great....for three weeks. Then it screwed up again. He wanted a new unit from Cary, claiming he bought a lemon. Cary was of no assistance. When he told Kevin Deal of this problem, Kevin offered to give him full trade in value towards any other item he offered. My friend gladly jumped on this opportunity. I think that shows tremendous character of Kevin Deal.

So no, he may not have the best people skills in the business, but he is honest and reliable. If I have to chose who I want to do business with, I'd prefer to do business with Kevin Deal over a smooth talking bull-shit artist.

Upscale Audio is no longer a Cary Audio dealer, though they do still have some closeout units in which the warranty is being honored. I purchased one of these a few months back. I think that Kevin dropped Cary when Cary decided to start selling direct, though I cannot say for sure how that marriage broke up.

I bought a SLP-98 from Kevin, just as Wescoman (Steve) did, but my unit has the internal phono stage (P) and has performed flawlessly so far. I have heard a lot of scary rumors about Cary customer service, but I know of other high end companies that I can attest to having poor service records.

It does appear as though Cary is headed downstream since Dennis Had's departure. They appear to be headed for the less expensive end of the high end spectrum, which is unusual as I watch the rest of the high end brands spiral ridiculously into the upper economic stratosphere. Most American companies seem to be racing to the upper price levels, meanwhile Cary seems to be wanting to go toe-to-toe with the Chinese market (Jolida, PrimaLuna, etc.) It will be interesting to see how this turns out for them.