No experience with wilson but Revel quoted 6-8 month but I found a demo pair in stock instead. McIntosh quoted 3-4 months and it showed up in 2.
Wilson not delivering speakers as scheduled
Anyone else having a difficult time getting their Wilson speakers delivered as scheduled? I ordered a new pair of Wilson’s in March and was told I would have them by September. It’s mid November and speakers are still not delivered nor likely to arrive soon. Anyone ordering speakers from Wilson, take note, add 3-6 months to whatever you are told!
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During such difficult times, it is established brands that do the best. this, due to how people instinctively 'turtle', their way through difficult times. they go for known quantities, known brands, things other people have also done or been involved in. this is regardless if the product and/or social/cultural/economic scenario it is happening within (in situ) deserves it or not. People go for the safe ride, the safe buy. thus, sales increase dramatically for 'known quantities' vs the newer less well known explorative ones. this means that established norms do well. I'd imagine that Phillipe patek watches, for example, might even be back ordered right now. Of course the watches are heavily back-ordered. (first time I ever made that query on the net, and it is as expected, even more so due to the world's current situation) The big well known companies in high end audio have orders on the books they can't fulfill. Everyone wants to move forward and be 'normal' and they also want to 'play it safe'. This combination ends up having the known qualities have record sales. People take risks but they still do all they can to play it safe. Eg..normally there are 100 doors for people to pass through and you see many many people passing through the various doors, with some concentration in a given set of doors, but lots of people trying various doors, moving about hesitating and whatnot, milling about a bit. As soon as SHTF happens eg...a fire in the building.....suddenly...you see the vast majority of the doors being ignored and the people all start to congregate, to pass though just a few of the well known norms. They play it safe. They move through the danger zone single file. We carry and enact these psychological underpinnings in everything and everywhere. So the few well known companies end up with a S-Ton of orders, deserved or not. There are exceptions, not quite bits of clarity in it... but the overall pattern is noted to be true. |
I just received my Bryston 3B Cube amp after waiting 3 months. James Tanner the CEO of Bryston said part of the problem is a large parts shortage. I read in a recent article on the supply shortage that chips on the average are taking 16-50 weeks to deliver. I assume Wilson like Bryston also has specially made parts for their products. That is also a problem. |
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I believe Wilson is a lot of composites in their speaker enclosures. I have heard that there is a severe shortage of the reason used to make these materials right now. The company I have making some speaker enclosures for me has been waiting for many months to get the composite material necessary due to this issue. |
"Wouldn’t that be the role of the Dealer, not the manufacture?" I would agree if Wilson is in fact giving the dealers that information. I can imagine calling the dealer and them saying "we haven't heard a thing." Or maybe they are fully informed, I have no idea, but I tend to agree with gdnrbob, Wilson is the one with the supply chain issue and or labor issue, they should reach out to its customers or at least send that information to all the dealers for distribution if they aren't already. The price of a Wilson speaker should include that level of service even when things aren't going great. |
@ebm, Yes, it is the result of Pandemic slowdown, but if I were running a company, especially a bespoke company like Wilson, I would be on the phone to each customer with an order explaining why their speakers are delayed. And, given the price of their speakers-even the entry Sabrina, I don't think it would be more than a few hundred calls or emails. Nothing shows that you care about your customers than personal outreach. B |
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i think we all know that in high end audio there are two prominent business models for equipment makers dealers, and direct sales those using the former, traditional model should/would rely on dealers to the customer interface, as most customer service (installation, demos, returns etc etc) are provided to the customer by the dealer - wilson belongs in this category if i am not mistaken then there are some modern and/or smaller companies trying to cut the dealer (and their percentage) out of the chain (some well known ones, schiit, buchardt, nuprime, mojo, denafrips and so on) -- in that case, the company bears the burden/obligation to interface directly with the customer (or to leave them under-served in order to pass a along substantial cost saving, as the case may be...) of course, for some high ticket companies with a traditional dealer network, the owner/maker may still reach out to some customers directly, as an added nice touch, but that can be a plus or a minus (and often may in fact not be welcome by the dealer, if the dealer has a lot invested and a lucrative history working with and pleasing the customer) |
Guess I'm lucky, but I just got my new Wilson Sabrina X's a couple weeks early. I imagine supply chain issues are a large part of any delay. Could be some of the special composite materials they use all the way to paint. I live in Texas and the winter storm we had last year is still causing chaos across the US as far as supply chain issues. We've some of the largest chemical / petrochemical manufacturing plants here. They still have not caught up with the backlog. |
Thanks all for the therapy! Wilson are now saying the issue is with glue/adhesives. Evidently they aren’t using Elmers. I think the issue is more about setting expectations and being honest about the rate at which they are able to fulfill the orders they take, the same applies to their dealerships. They generally take a 50% deposit. Had someone kept their deposit invested in a DOW index fund from March to November, they would have grown it by 13%. Suggest anyone ordering a new pair of Wilson’s try to work an agreement for a 10% deposit and add a few months to the planned delivery - that should make for a happy buyer. This assumes of course that like me, your a fan of the Wilson sound. |
@ozzy62 I'm amazed when the obvious goes unseen, denied & then the witness ridiculed. I remember trying to point out something to a dog and they just looked at my finger. kinda like battered wife syndrome. Get the he** beat out of you on a regular basis but always defend the abuser when someone calls him out. The abuser loves & depends on the defense of his victim to cover up his bad behavior. Besides, he promises nice things for her if she will keep the cops away |
@rok2id I have listened to a number of the Polk's including the L200, L600 and the R500. I think they are all fantastic and I would have kept the L600's but the bass response simply overpowered my room (13' x 17'). Big, big sound and the ring radiator tweeters are wonderful. All of them are very punchy and slightly warm, with BIG and DEEP bass response. The Legend 600 was slightly fuller sounding through the mid-band but not by much. All are very revealing. Imaging is very good. After listening to all three I ended up with the Reserve 500 based on the bass response in my room, the big sound it makes and the detail and resolution without being at all bright. The looks of the Reserve line are fairly utilitarian but the Reserve and the Legend series use the same drivers and components, it really boils down to aesthetics between the R's and the L's. Detail and resolution have never been Polk hallmarks in the past but my goodness these tweeters are good in that regard. Price is insane for the sound you're getting in my opinion. The Reserve 500's in particularly have incredible bass extension but texture and definition aren't the best but in no way bloated if set up properly in the room. I currently have Dynaudio C1's, Yamaha Soavo NSF 901's, compared the Buchardt S300 and recently owned but did not do a direct comparison with JM Lab Micro Utopias and JM Lab Mini Utopias and I flat out prefer the Polk's. Keep in mind though I'm using pretty muscular amplification with them, PS Audio BHK 250 and PrimaLuna Diaglogue Premium HP amp wit KT150s. Both are good with both lines (except the PL and the Legend 600's, not enough gitty-up particularly in the bass) but in my opinion the Polk's want grippy solid state power. I'm probably as much of an audio snob as most and I would have never considered Polk's as my primary speakers. Not sure I still do and I wouldn't call them my dream speakers by any stretch (still thinking of Wilson Duette MK1's in the future) but I'm very happy with what these things can do regardless of the money spent. I would call them fun speakers, by no means reference speakers but stunning for the money. To keep from hogging up this thread feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions. Hope this helps. |
Excellent response. You answered all my questions exactly. My room is about the same size as yours, and I was worried about the bass response of the L600 being a little too much. Thanks for differentiating between the R and L series. It seems to be as I thought. I currently have the Polk Lsim 705. Before them, I had the Polk Lsi15 and then Polk LS90, so I am a Polk guy. :) Before then, JBL. Thank You Cheers
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@rok2id A couple of years ago I bought the Polk Lsim 703’s new for like 450 bucks since they were being discontinued. I had no need for them but just wanted to hear them. I sold those earlier this year so I don’t have them for direct comparison but the legends and the reserves are going to have quite a bit more resolution and detail while the 703 are bit darker and warmer. Low end and mid bass punch were also impressive with the 703’s but the L200's, which are comparable stand mounts, beat those pretty handily based on memory. |
