In 2008, Exact Power was bought by Middle Atlantic Products, a manufacturer who built rack and mounting hardware for commercial/industrial power products. It seems Mid-Atlantic has little interest in EP's niche, high-end, audio market and wants to broaden the potential market to whole-house power solutions. They no longer make any of the products that made EP so great. |
What a shame. Does anybody know if Exact Power's founder has set up another business to continue the high end-work?
Regards, Florian Hassel |
Ron Jackson still seems to have his Jackson Engineering transformer and toroidal companies in Chatsworth, CA. But it seems he's setting up Magnetic Core Corporation to expand into the consumer electronics, PDA, and computer industries. |
Much as I love the design, Darkmoebius is right, Exactpower was bought by Middle Atlantic Products last year and they have stopped producing/supporting consumer units (partly because a major parts supplier went bust.) And their commercial products are not regenerators, just heavy-duty building distribution/protection systems.
The good news is, I'm having lunch with Bob Schluter, MAP's President and CEO on Aug. 13th to discuss (among other things) the importance of him having a presence in the consumer market, and the very special features of the EP-15A design, for which he is now the patent owner!
It could help the cause, if lots of audiophiles contacted MAP and let them know you want the EP-15A and the other consumer products back. You can call or e-mail:
Toll free: 800-266-7225
email: sales@exactpower.com
or (if you can take a minute) write to:
Mr. Robert Schluter, President
Middle Atlantic Products Inc.
300 Fairfield Road
Fairfield, NJ 07004
(973) 839-1011 | fax (973) 839-1976
International +1 973 839-1011 | fax +1 973 831-4982
Middle Atlantic Canada
voice (613) 836-2501 fax (613) 836-2690
Or you can email me through Audiogon's email system and I will be happy to convey your interest to Mr. Schluter when I meet with him. Thanks everyone, and I'll let you know what happens.
Neil
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Neil, I really think it is great that a CEO would take the time to meet with a hobbyist who is outside of his target market. This kinda gives me hope.
I never got the chance to own an EP product, but when I owned an Art Audio PX-25 amp, the owner of AA said that EP products were the only ones he found that did not adversely affect dynamics and sound.
Good luck with your meeting |
DM, I actually have a bit more cred than the average Audiophile, but I think Mr. Schluter wants to meet as a result of several emails I sent urging him to rethink his marketing strategy. After all, he's a businessman, not a philanthropist ;-)
His company is in NJ, but he has property north of Tucson, where I live, so we agreed to get together when he next came to town. The EP is a unique device, and I feel that someone should continue to develop it, and keep it on the market.
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I think if MAP could figure out how to produce the EP15A at a price point at least 25% less, the unit would be a better business opportunity. I recall that this piece sold new for about $2k. Personally, I wouldn't pay that much for this unit, or any other AC conditioning/regenerating device for that matter. |
Yeah, I had a hunch you had some juice to get that meeting, Nsgarch ;0)
"as a result of several emails I sent urging him to rethink his marketing strategy. After all, he's a businessman, not a philanthropist ;-)"
I have a good friend from college who started a t-shirt company out of a public storage space and the back of his car. It's a $60 million a tear skateboard/snowboard clothing line w/ 4 different brands.
He said an old ultra-successful business told him early on "If you find customers asking you over and over again for a product, and you don't offer it, then you need to seriously rethink your business plan" |
DM, I agree with that (last) advice, and hope many of you will take a minute to express your enthusiasm -- hopefully before Aug 13th ;-) |
OK. I had a fun and productive meeting today w/ Bob Schluter, and was informed that he is ready to begin repairing EP-15A's, on a case by case basis after determining what will be required to fix your unit. He wants to review further details with me to give to everyone, so please don't write them for repair authorization numbers just yet. I will keep you posted; it will only be a week or so.
Yes, there will be an EP-20A in the near future (probably next year.) Besides higher capacity, utilizing the same patented waveform analysis and feed-forward correction amplifier, it will also include a new, patented, turn-on/memory-turn-off protection circuits designed to eliminate the in-rush current problems sometimes suffered by the EP-15A's.
Stay tuned.
Neil
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Nsgarch, you rock!
Were they already working on an EP-20A, or is this something you've had up your sleeve? |
DM -- first of all thanks ;-)
Second, the only thing I have up my sleeve is lint! I don't work for Exactpower ;-)
Third, Bob basically decided he wanted to make the unit more robust in terms of protecting it (and the equipment plugged into it) from turn-on and turn-off problems (not associated with the basic waveform correction circuitry which works just fine ;-) To that end, he has designed (and patented) some new modules that not only limit in-rush current, but ALSO "remember" the condition of the EP's circuits when the unit is/was turned off. This little trick adds further protection for the unit (and your gear) when the unit is turned back on! BTW, Bob is a very creative engineer IMO ;-)
So having made these improvements/changes, he felt it would be worthwhile to give the EP greater capacity at the same time, and why not? It's such an efficient design to begin with, and with home systems (especially HT) growing larger and larger, that it seemed a no-brainer.
- Neil
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This is great news for our hobby.
When I owned an Art Audio PX-25 amp, I asked the company's owner, Joe Fratus, which power cleaner/conditioner/etc. I should get which would not negatively affect the amps performance. He said the only products he had ever used, out of many, which did not constrict dynamics, etc. were EP's.
That's a pretty impressive endorsement, for me because makes superb amps and has an incredibly open mind about matching components. |
I have received the following infomation from Middle Adlantic Products Inc. for obtaining Exactpower EP-15A repairs:
1.) The customer needs to call them at 800-266-7225 and request a RA for “Exact Power EP repair”. (I was not provided with an email contact but I'll see if I can get one.)
2.) They will issue a RA number which must be on the outside of the box.
3.) The customer must send it prepaid and of course packed very well. Any info on what the problem is, and how it came to be, will be helpful and should be included.
4.) The customer also needs to provide their contact info so MAP can call or email once the analysis is done, to discuss the repair options and costs.
Repairs will be quoted on a parts and labor basis. This is not going to be a profit center for them, so the rates will be reasonable; they are commited to fully support customers who purchased these units.
Unfortunately, some of the very early models had design flaws which are not repairable. Regardless, if it is just a display problem on an older unit (a common defect) they likely will be able to fix it.
- Neil
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In addition to the 800 number, a RA can also be requested using either of the following email addresses:
ragroup@middleatlantic.com
-or-
exactpowerreturns@middleatlantic.com
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