3 votes from me: Louis Chochos - Omega Speakers Aric Kimball - Aric Audio Vlad Bazelkov - Audio Mirror Top notch individuals who care about their customers first and foremost, with tremendous products!
I haven't dealt with manufacturers per se but, after about eight years of flawless service the sound of my Primaluna Integrated began to degrade. I phoned Upscale Audio and guickly got a tech on the phone who described the flavor of every replacement tube they offered. I made my decision, and it wasn't long before the tubes were at my door. And yeah, the tubes made me happy. Maybe six months later, both the Primaluna's selector and volume knobs developed noise & glitches (I'm certain a good part of this is due to my relocation from sunny SoCal to a veritable tropical rainforest). Via email, Upscale encouraged me to unscrew the bottom of the amp, spray the offending moving parts with Deoxit and then spin the knobs around a bit. To be sure, I was a bit nervous doing the surgery but, again, everything worked out perfectly. It was also a treat to see how beautifully the amp was assembled. The amp has never sounded better.
I have dealt directly with Innuos in Portugal and they provided incredible customer support and service, above and beyond the call of duty. Kudos also to Tony Barnett at Ellington Hifi, my Innuos dealer—thoughtful, going out of his way to help kind of service.
Lamm has been great to me. Sent my preamp to them for a check up and another trip for a repair. Both times experienced professional process with great communication from Elina Lamm. Preamp shipped back promptly, working perfectly.
Bought a brand new emotiva exp 3 DR and it was DOA. Called them and they had a replacement on the way before they even received the other one back. Took 3 days. Bought some kimber Kable bi-amp 12 tc speaker wires. I made them into full range, kimber sent me the correct heat shrinks and solder for free. Schiit audio on the other hand is a joke. Bought a schiit freya plus and within 3 days the attenuator was acting up, emailed several times stating the issue. A week later the whole unit was dead. Shipped it back and instead of them shipping a new one out they repaired it and shipped it back. Took a month.
Roger West at Sound Labs Ralph Kartsen at Atma-Sphere Jason at Elusive Disc Radomir Bozevic at TACT Audio. He tried as hard as he could against overwhelming odds. Me in my own mind:)
Yeah, Mike Sanders. Once upon a time, I lived maybe ten minutes away from the guy. I had Numbers 031 and 032 Mono Amps (or was it Nos. 032 and 033?). It was the time when he was using 8417 output tubes which were, how shall I say it, lovely sounding but a bit cranky. He was ever patient with me as I'd show up to get replacement pairs. As for the sound of the amps themselves, sheer bliss.
Someone else mentioned Carl Marchisotto of Nola speakers. I have an interesting story. One of the midranges on a Nola speaker blew. I called Nola; much to my surprise, Mr. Marchisotto answered the phone. Nola did not have a replacement midrange, but he spent a half an hour on the phone with me talking about which speaker manufacturers made a suitable replacement. Very impressed with him.
My experience with Pass Labs was exemplary. I called them and a guy answered the phone and spent ten minutes or so with me discussing my issue and patiently answered all of my questions. At the end of the conversation I thanked the guy and told him I appreciated his help....and I asked him what his name was, he replied "my name is Nelson Pass."
Another time I called them to ask the price of a power cord for one of my X-600 monoblocs....they sent me one for free.
I've had great experiences with Audio Research also.
Dan Wright at Modwright will go way beyond the normal call of duty to make his customers happy. I didn’t even buy the MW CD player from him and he continually let me in about a new trade in he had coming in to see if I wanted to get it at a vastly reduced price. He worked on my CD player several times even though he could find nothing wrong with it at his place. He then gave me a wonderful newer model brand new. Plus, his players are absolutely way better sounding than their price even at normal retail.
I will also add Jeff Smith at Silversmith Audio as he went to great lengths to allow me to try his new speaker cables. He even made a second pair of adapters to allow biwiring to my speakers and got it out to me in 2 days while making it. Always stays very positive in all communications and is ready to talk shop.
I sent a Rogue power amp in for an upgrade and it got severely damaged on the return trip to me. Mark O'Brian (of Rogue) sent me a new amp and I did not have to pay a penny. He was very nice about it.
Not a manufacturer, but Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio. I also second Vlad Bazelkov at Audio Mirror. And add Kara Chaffe of Dehavilland. Also Egglestonworks (speakers). I have dealt directly with all of these folks and the service was first-class, as expected.
Surprised Keith Herron hasn’t shown up yet—the best! Also great experience with LTA and Lou at Daedalus. My recent purchase with Paulo at Sempersonus, maker of a very fine idler-type turntable was remarkably pleasant and professional. All wonderful guys truly dedicated to their craft and clients.
Legacy Audio. I had purchased a pair of their speakers and found one of the woofers was missing a bunch of screws that held the driver in place. I could not find that type of screw locally, and called Legacy. They sent me a package of the correct screws shipped UPS-NEXT DAY AIR. That tiny package cost them $50. This really impressed me!
Wolf audio. Joe and his staff are as fine as they come. Joe has been on the phone with me every time I have had a question or needed help. Being a bit older, I had some trepidation getting into computer audio. Any fears I have had have been assuaged knowing Joe is there to assist. They stand behind their products like very few, not to mention their servers are outstanding.
Another happy VTL customer..... absolutely the worst in this industry. Bea and Luke Manley are extremely rude and condescending, have no concept of what great customer service is all about.
Well, I sent a Moscode amp to George Kaye to get a upgrade on the amp and I have NEVER RECEIVED my amp back from him, then when I would call him all I got was it is not ready and the runaround. Mr Kaye if you are reading this I would like my AMP back!! I know it has been a few years. Please Be the upstanding Person I think you are and do the right thing !!!!
Though not relevant anymore, the best customer service I’ve ever experienced, and I mean in any industry not just audio, was with Thiel Audio. Though everyone, and I do mean everyone there, was great, I have to give special mention to Shari Graham.
A small claims suit is also a good idea. Years back I bought a refrigerator but weeks passed without delivery. I demanded a refund. Radio silence from the store though I had been in contact several times a week to resolve this. Finally started a small claims case. When they were served the store called and asked me what this was all about. I told the guy- come one- don’t play games. Got a judgment which was served. I received a full refund plus court costs
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