I guess we need to clean up some issues here. First, we bought the assetts to Talon Audio Technologies. The transaction was similar to a bankruptcy sale, in that we did only buy the assetts. Thus technically all speakers made prior to our purchase of the company do not have the company behind it that warranted it. Now, does that mean we would abandon loyal Talon customers--absolutely not. The fact is with speakers unless they are abused failure and warranty repair is very rare. The plate amps are the only thing that we have had any calls on (other than one pair of Hawks that was literaly dropped by Fed-X--what a debacle that was).
To answer the original question about the plate amp: The original plate amp on the ROC was okay, not great. We have found a much better amp, but it's a different size. In order to make it useable for an existing ROC owner we either have to custom make a box for it, or get the ROC sent back in and rework the cabinet to accomodate the new amp. At the price we quoted $1600 we make almost nothing, but I recognized it's not a great value. The customer is paying for cabinet rework which doesn't lead to superior performance. Thus we just ordered one of the new Crown XTI amps and are in the process of testing it. These amps retail for $1000 and may be better than the plate amp we found. We make nothing on the customer buying a Crown amp, they can buy it from many sources. Our company concern is to provide customer service, look for viable solutions for the customer, even if that solution is for them to buy an amplifier from a source other than our own.
In the end, we absolutely want to service prior Talon owners, even second owners, but we can't be financially liable for their repairs or the new Talon will be out of business. We intend to keep the company financially strong and around for many years to come. We will continue product development and will be showing a new speaker at CES. We invite anyone at CES to come visit us there.
To answer the original question about the plate amp: The original plate amp on the ROC was okay, not great. We have found a much better amp, but it's a different size. In order to make it useable for an existing ROC owner we either have to custom make a box for it, or get the ROC sent back in and rework the cabinet to accomodate the new amp. At the price we quoted $1600 we make almost nothing, but I recognized it's not a great value. The customer is paying for cabinet rework which doesn't lead to superior performance. Thus we just ordered one of the new Crown XTI amps and are in the process of testing it. These amps retail for $1000 and may be better than the plate amp we found. We make nothing on the customer buying a Crown amp, they can buy it from many sources. Our company concern is to provide customer service, look for viable solutions for the customer, even if that solution is for them to buy an amplifier from a source other than our own.
In the end, we absolutely want to service prior Talon owners, even second owners, but we can't be financially liable for their repairs or the new Talon will be out of business. We intend to keep the company financially strong and around for many years to come. We will continue product development and will be showing a new speaker at CES. We invite anyone at CES to come visit us there.