Most helpful audio companies


I don't think I saw this thread before, if it already exists: cover my head with ashes.

A few days ago I spit my gall at Vibex as one of the most customer unfriendly companies I have ever encountered. (I consider not giving any information on the products the epitome of customer unfriendliness; meanwhile, even the Austrian/German distributor admitted that Vibex never tells them anything and never will). And whilst I am at it, allow me to lambast Wireworld and Audio Physic as well.

More importantly, though, why not reward the guys that will bend over backwards to try and help their customers, by which I don't mean attempting to sell their products but genuinely give advice (which may mean advice not to purchase one or the other product) and let us share their knowledge and experience. Keeping to manufacturers only, my nominees are:

Tidal Audio (Joern Janczak and Lothar Braeun)
Audioplan (Thomas Kuehn)
AMR (Vince Luke)
VooDoo Cable (Bruce Richardson)
PS Audio (Paul McGowan)
Townshend (Max and Sue Townshend)

Alright then, here are a few non-manufacturers as well (non-exhaustive!): special thanks to Tomasso Piemontese, Alex Loth, Albert Porter, Ed Doggen, John Potis et al.

Three cheers to all of them!

karelfd
Did you talk to the owner ? If not you have to take into consideration that some employees have additudes. Maybe a letter to whoever it needs to go to to address your complaint is in order.
I highly recommend:

Bruce Thigpen - Eminent Technologies

Klaus Bunge - Odyssey Audio

John Strohbeen - Ohm Acoustics

Outstanding service from all three over the past few years!
I would add: Aerial speakers, and Zu cables to the list of good companies.
regards, David
Synergistic Research, Martin Logan are friendly and will talk to you. Martin Logan's long term support of its products is phenomenol. I recently replaced the panels in my discontinued CLS(es) purchased in 1987. I was amazed that product support was there after 20 years. This kind of security makes me feel much better when I lay out the big bucks. Years ago, I had a similar experience with Bryston. Bryston fixed an amp at no charge that I had purchased used.
This has been done many times but I don't mind repeating so,

Resolution Audio, absolutely first rate.
Thiel, wonderful customer service.
Dan Wright - ModWright Instruments

What a nice guy - he is all about customer service and builds some of the best audio products in the world. A true craftsman with a down to earth attitude.
heads up to leonard at audio research, conrad johnson and magnepan. jeff roland is pretty nice too.

in fact my experience is most companies i have contacted have been cooperative about answering questions.

it is the exception that is not customer-friendly.
Best store experience by far:
Audio Connection in Verona NJ

Some company owners who are great:

Bruce Thigpen
Roger Sanders
Richard Vandersteen

Some companies service and staff are:

Classe
AudioQuest
SOTA
Magnepan
Musical Surroundings
VPI
Just a few I have dealt with, I have some bad things to say about more then a few others but no need to waste time.
Some direct Internet manufacturers will top lists for many people. Namely MLS and company at AV123.com, Mike D and ACI, Rick Craig of Selah Audio, among others.
I have had excellent luck in that I have not had *ANY* issue with service from any of the companies I dealt with; in fact bend over backwards service from the following:

Aerial Acoustics (met and phoned Mike Kelly)
Sonic Euphoria
AV123 (Perpetual Technologies)
ASC (room treatment)

(Mostly in regard to information, one manufacturer had an issue - cold solder joint - and it was settled right away).

These I have not purchased from but had VERY good service in regard to their product use and (in a few cases) helpful suggestions in regard to *general audio set up*:

Green Mountain Audio
FT Audio

... and a few more that I am unable to remember (sorry folks!).

Others were either neutral or I had no reason to contact.
Jason Bloom of Apogee Acoustics (sadly now defunct)
Sheila Weisfield of VPI
Kirk and Donna of Sota
Bang and Olufsen (once you finally get through to the right person)
Paul McGowan of PS Audio (for his spirited and well written newsletters)
And believe it or not- SONY! They goodwilled a processor repair for a unit I bought used that had not been manufactured for as long as the warranty period.
SHURE- Sent me a new type V stylus after I bent it flipping up the guard (WAAAY too close!)and admitted doing so.
Nitty Gritty
Any company willing to send you an owners manual for free or one that takes the trouble to archive past product manual downloads on their website.
Most accomidating is Gilbert Yeung at Blue Circle.

He will custom build anything he makes to order whether electronically or cosmetically.

You want a purple preamp with lime green volume knobs, and a specific power cord hard wired. Ok with him.
In no order:

Bobby - Merlin
Dan - Modwright
Roy - Green Mountain
Robert - Ridge Street
Dan Wright / Modwright
I don't think you will find anyone else that will go as far as Dan in customer service and satisfaction.
Ayre and Transparent. They go out of their way to help and make you comfortable regarding any questions, etc.
I just got off the phone with Dusty at Channel Islands, he was checking my phono pre......... it turned out just fine, the problem was in my system........ any way he was so patient and nice and cool and I could go on forever, Great guy. I've had good luck with these owners, VTL and Harmonic Tech were nice people.
Easy ... Frank Dai at Signal Cable, Ty Lashbrook of Tyler Acoustics, and Paul Weitzel at Tube Research Labs (TRL). These are guys who sometimes answer calls directly and always return phone messages or emails. They're great examples of what customer service is all about.
Atma Sphere - Ralph Karsten
Merlin - Bobby Palkovic
Millersound - Bill Legall
VAC - Kevin Hayes
Victor and Steve at Balanced Audio (BAT) are very helpful and customer oriented as well. Nice folks.
Sean and Adam at Zu Audio. Not only is there customer support beyond reproach, but they seem like truly nice folks.
Paul Grzybek at Tube Audio Design has always been very helpful to me. He was quite willing to do a mod for me on the TAD-150 preamp. Thiel also gets an A+ in my book for help with advice over the years.
My communication and dealings with Mike Dzurko of ACI and Louis Chochos of Omega Loudspeakers have been nothing short of stellar.
I've gotten great help from Blue Circle, BAT, Audience and Theta. But then again, I haven't needed help from that many more companies.
Rick Shultz at virtual dynamics is one of the greatest audio guys in the business. His crew is great too.

Anthem is super on taking care of their people
Do you think Richard gray would be on the list of giving you a bunch of non sense explanations like bad salesman???
Eva Anna Manley, Gilbert Yeung of Blue Circle, Elina Lamm, Victor of BAT, Armin Kraus/Holger Fromme Avant Garde this folks is the best. I respect them.
Wow, my old thread is being revived. I must take the opportunity to add Ted Denney of Synergistic Research then.
Let me add another to my previous list; Bel Canto Design. I recently had a question concerning my evo2i and answers came directly from John Stronczer. Always quick too.
Bobby Palkovic @ Merlin
Ralph & Bill @ Atma-Sphere
Mike & Sheila @ VPI

They are as good as it gets! Cheers,
Spencer
i see this thread has been quiet for quite a while now, but having just come across it, i feel compelled to offer up a name that i see has hit the list several times already...

Atma Sphere - Ralph Karsten

the level of service he provides his customers is truly remarkable.
Ty Lashbrook with Tyler Acoustics is by far the most helpful person I have ever dealt with.He will go above and beyond the call of duty to please his customers.Not to mention,he makes fantastic speakers.
I have had a couple of Eagle amps and Russell Sherwood at EKSC is always available for audio advice.
Ayre: Charles Hansen
Decware: Steve Deckert
Synergistic: Ted Denney
MIT: Bruce Brisson
VPI: not quite as user friendly but still supportive
emotiva is the epitome of how to establish an audio business in lean times--build a decent product, market it directly, which enables it to be priced substantially lower than comparable retail-distributed products, and be zealous about customer service. i've also been impressed by vmps, whose principal strikes me as particualrly knowledgeable and sincere.
I accompanied an audiophile friend to CAI principal Dusty's house, and Dusty was a friendly as could be. I now have one of their phono stages and power supplies, and have sent 2 emails to CAI requesting information. Neither has received a reply.

In contrast, Velodyne and DVDO have provided great customer support. In the past, Madrigal was magnificent in supporting Proceed products -- I dropped my Amp 3 taking it out of the rack, forgetting how heavy it is; Madrigal repaired and shipped the unit without cost to me even though I admitted culpability.

db
Spectron Audio - Simon Thacher
Aesthetix - Glenn Buckley

truly two of the most accommodating and helpful people i have come across in this hobby.
Put me down for Paul McGowan and PS Audio. I have experienced only exceptional service, communications and policy from Paul and company...