Von schweikert out of business since Albert's passing?


I have tried and tried to contact Von schweikert via email and phone. I call numbers listed in my manual and they are no longer in service. I have left messages on other numbers that ring. Funny thing is years ago when I emailed Von schweikert he himself answered my questions and made an amp suggestion for me. Has anybody had recent contact with them or know the status or the magical phone number that gets answered?

dpm2340

They post on their Facebook page almost daily.  I would try to contact them there. 

I had the same problem and found that they do not answer their phone. The Facebook page might be a way to communicate.

I find it remarkable that any company would rely on Facebook as its primary, or, worse yet, sole business platform.

I have never used FB, and am certainly not alone.

I have never used FB, and am certainly not alone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

FB, for contact??? good grief charlie brown. WElp another audio lab bites the old dust, Many more just ahead as this hobby slowly but surely is ~~~~~~not what it used to be. Speakers at hundreds of thousands $’s.

Just beyond The Twilight Zone.

btw I never bought into the Schweight hype over the past 3 decades. Not even once. 

 

 

When FB years ago forced users to download their app in order to send messages, I completely stopped messaging with them. 

1--Albert Von Schweikert sold the company to Leif Swanson a few years ago, prior to his passing, Leif is a sharp guy. and i think Albert’s son Damon might still share in ownership.

2--many manufacturers do not answer phone calls these days. that is why they have dealers. to deal with customers who want to talk to someone.

3--or email them and allow them a few days to answer. or contact a Von Schweikert dealer near you. that’s who should answer the phone. i realize common sense is just not that common.....but....come on now. :-)

https://www.vonschweikert.com/contact-c1d94

@emailists Only if you post on your phone. You can still send messages on a computer without downloading anything.

Yes, can confirm VSA is most certainly not out of business. 

I am currently considering their Endeavor SE model, and called VSA not two weeks ago to get some dealer information. I left a message with one of their engineers who answered the phone and none other than Damon Von Schweikert called me back to answer my silly questions personally. 

He was amazingly generous with his time - spent nearly 20 minutes on the phone with me! It was one of the most pleasant interactions I've had with any company - ever. To have someone like him call me back personally apply absolutely ZERO sales pressure - and even offered to host me at the HQ for an audition... it was just so nice and something I don't see much of these days.

Haven't had a chance to give the speakers a listen yet, but with service like that, I won't be crossing VSA off my list any time soon.

Uhg, I sometimes wish I never sold my Clearfield Continentals, which were one of Albert's early lines when he worked under Counterpoint before starting his own company.

I have had a pair of VR4.5s since new, over 30 years....not long ago I had a ???problem with one of the drivers, and, though difficult to get in contact with, Damon tried to be very helpful.....dont remember how I finally got in contact with him, but they were there last summer

I have left email and phone messages never to be returned. If you are having an issue and the manual tells you to call them for help, call me old but I expect an answer. So we answer the phone for new sales and the hell with the ones we've already sold. so they're facebook trollers. No wonder they don't answer. If there is one good thing to come out of this it is their product far exceeds their support.

@blackbag20 - No, I haven't had a chance to listen to them. Unfortunately, the VSA dealer network isn't terribly extensive. I'm in the SF Bay Area and the one local dealer doesn't have a set of Endeavors on hand. I might be going to AXPONA and hope they have them on demo there. But knowing show conditions, I might take them up on the offer and go listen at their HQ down near LA.

 

@dpm2340 - Which phone number did you use? I used 951.682.0706 and they answered directly. Maybe try calling in either the morning or late afternoon when they're not at lunch?

I used the on on their website, the one in my vr4 jr manual and the one in the manual specifically listed for help with speaker. three different numbers and email.

Hello all you music lovers,

This is Leif Swanson  designer/co-owner of VSA.  I'm not sure why we missed your call but it does happen from time to time. But I am surprised that both emails and phone calls were missed. Did you leave a message on the answering machine with your contact information?  Did you get the answering machine?  Was this just recent because I see this thread just started 2 days ago.  We have been very busy finalizing our newest addition to our product line the ULTRA 7 that we Re showing at the Florida audio show.  Also, with the amount of emails and phone calls it can take a day or two just to respond unfortunately.   Let's make this easy....you can email myself or Damon direct at

leif@vonschweikert.com

damon@vonschweikert.com

Please let us know how we can help asap.

We will be away all next week for the show, but our shop will still be open and Matt, our production manager will be handling things while we are away

VSA will be here for many,many years to come so don't worry.  

dpm2340 if you please try contacting us again so we can help.  Also, if you would please, resend the emails you sent previously that you didn't get a response so we can try to see how it was missed.  Thanks!

 

All the best

Leif

As a very satisfied VSA customer of many years. I was concerned about the title of this thread and called them today to find out whats up. I talked extensively to Damon. He was as pleasant and helpful as always and apologetic the the ball was dropped on a few calls. There was a combination of getting ready for shows, putting out a brand new flagship speaker the VR 7 Ultra and Covid running through the staff over the past month or so. They receive many calls a day and are happy to spend as much time and attention with someone deciding which of their older speakers tp buy on the used market as someone looking to purchase any of VSA terrific new speakers from the least expensive on up. That is time consuming but highly personalized and professional service. Here is an update posted today from Damon

 

I used to own the VR4 Gen II speakers.  They were my box speaker baptism after initially owning Quad 63s for a few years.  I went looking for dynamic speakers that could sound boxless like the Quads, but had the dynamics and palpability of a box speaker.  The VR4s were the ticket.  Astounding soundstaging and imaging and dynamics.  I was a happy VR4 owner for many years. 

I will try calling or emailing the supplied email addresses. Know this you can apologize to the forum but I called 8 or ten different times. Mostly around 6 or 7 eastern time. I emailed 5 or 6 different times. It can be brushed off however. So I'll try again. Then will post my results. Yes, I too owned the vr4 gen 2. One great speaker. 

thanks for all the help. 

I think it's inexcusable for a company to simply opt to no longer answer their phones and hope people exhaust themselves by hunting around to find them on facebook to "message" them. Seems to be a trend in the restaurant business too. I don't purchase from companies that are impossible to reach - it clearly indicates what it'll be like when or if you have a problem later. 

I think it's inexcusable for a company to simply opt to no longer answer their phones and hope people exhaust themselves by hunting around to find them on facebook to "message" them. Seems to be a trend in the restaurant business too. I don't purchase from companies that are impossible to reach - it clearly indicates what it'll be like when or if you have a problem later. 

Another former owner here. I bought the VR4 Silvers after hearing them at Hi-Fi 96 in Manhattan and meeting Albert himself. Very nice guy and I enjoyed meeting him and hearing the speakers at the show. I placed an order for the VR4s and my pair showed up with a bad woofer. When I called the factory, Albert answered the phone. He drop shipped another entire woofer enclosure to me with a call tag to pick up the bad one. They had great customer service back in the 90s.

I later bought a pair of VR4 Gen III HSEs but could never recreate that magic from the original VR4.

Oz

 

 

I later bought a pair of VR4 Gen III HSEs but could never recreate that magic from the original VR4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VS went from a winner and ended with a **Bomb** , too funny.

Thanks for everybody's input. I will email the factory over the weekend and see if I get a reply. I guess that facebook and audiocircle and others are much less expensive compared to buying magazine space. In addition I also assume it is more up to date. I will as I said before let you know how my email is handled. I started contacting the last fall about a pair of speakers I bought and found to have a bad tweeter. So I needed some input from them and quite possibly a part. Mostly I need answers. I purchased a pair of vr4 jr and am having some difficulty positioning them in my room. After all the suggestions in the book they give you a number direct to a tech to help. No answer. So I tried the number on the front of the manual. Obviously it has been changed. sp I turned to the website. I emailed cand called a number of times and did leave messages. Be assured they build a damn good speaker. But also know getting a reply from them or even being able to contact them is a pain in the . . you know.

i have finally spoken to Damon at the factory. Very helpful just as Albert was. We spoke for some time and tried working my issues out. Willing to do anything for me. I now have renewed faith in Vonschweikert. Thanks to everybody for their input.