The Exogal saga continued....


As the owner of the Comet Plus/Ion combo, I have been a vocal critic of Exogal for fumbling the ball on the absence of applications needed to run them. They made the Comet without an illuminated window and reading it is difficult, and the remote, by their own admission, is inadequate. So the apps were indispensable, period. They have claimed for months that a new, improved remote "module" was in the making and about to be released immanently. I actually tried out a prototype they sent me and it wasn't very good. As time passed I tried to communicate with them via their website (on which they advertise a streamer line that they don't make!) and by phone, and was ignored.

So I chased down their sales manager here on Audiogon and he put me in touch with the CEO. The CEO admitted there was a problem and offered a range of excuses--a knee operation, a major internet hacking of their site, the pandemic, poor Chinese-sourced parts, an inability to get parts, etc. [In retrospect I am surprised that he didn't claim the same aliens who started the forest fires in California had attacked Minnesota] I said that I had the Ion packed up in a box as it was unusable and requested a remote for the Comet which he said was ready and would be shipped. He further stated that a new product line was in the making and that when it was released those who had the misfortune to purchase the Comet/Ion could trade those units in for "generous" credit toward the new line. Very well, I have spend thousands of dollars on this stuff so how long do I have to sit on it until I can change it out? There is no timetable for the new offerings--possibly by the end of the year, possibly not. Basically I got the old "trust me, I'm working on it" speech that they give everyone.

Two weeks went by--no remote. At that point I demanded a refund for the Comet and Ion which of course the CEO denied. He claimed he didn't send the remote because he assumed that I had packed both the Comet and Ion away until the unspecified time that he would so generously exchange them for his new products! He said he would send the remote immediately.

Yet another week has gone by--no remote. So I pass all this on to the court of public opinion. But it is ironic that the CEO of Exogal, in one of his own public postings right here on Exogal wrote: 
 "
Too many audio companies announce a product, start selling it, and then frustrate the paying customer with BS excuses. Meanwhile, they've got your money." That sounds remarkably like the situation I find myself in. 
128x128rtorchia
Modesty is apparently not one of your personality attributes.

In any case, I'll do better than fishing up your videos and go straight to the written word. In your Dagogo review if the Comet (October 2015) you start your self stated "accolades" by noting that the Comet is "well-planned and executed." You continue to state that the front display is "nearly non existent" and describe how it is basically unreadable. Then you say that isn't a "mistake but intentional [that word italicized for emphasis!] as Exogal does not wish for the owner to actually use the display." Then you continue to describe at length the apps by which the Comet was intended to be controlled. Your review even quotes Jeff saying  "the emphasis on device apps won't go away. That approach simply allows us too many features and control options." Well, it certainly has gone away.

So very plainly according to both you and old Jeff the Comet was designed to be used with apps that are now no longer available. Yet when I complained about this total failure on this thread you chimed in and defended Exogal. Then you  later wrote a review of this crappy remote that is not what purchasers wanted, in fact not even what the "Fabulous Four" Exogal owner/founders initially wanted. That's how we came to this impasse--I criticized Exogal as an irresponsible failure and you defended them despite your past statements in print and otherwise. So yes, you are propping up a dead horse.

In your original review, consistent with your methodology, you included no graphs and technical measurements such as what one routinely finds on Audio Science Review. You did have a lot of subjective impressions such as saying the component if "as cute as a button." Is that sort of expression a substitute for technical testing and data? I think not. Subjective rhapsodizing isn't a substitute for science. 

So I have to wonder how and why a reviewer defends (as per your past contributions to this thread) a totally flawed and ill-conceived component that no longer functions in the manner you so approvingly described in your review. Your communications here are redolent of an attitude of superiority--"Trust me I know better because I am a big whiz with lots of knowledge and experience." Sorry, I'm not jumping on that bandwagon. 

Incidentally, I checked out your Eastern Electric thing and plenty of very knowledgeable people think it is less than ideal. 



Other than informing the community, it was a waste of time to talk to you. I am finished with this conversation. 
Of course you are finished—you are throughly refuted. I hope that readers here will start reading Audio Science Review and draw their own conclusions. Companies like Nord, Topping, VTV, RME, Gustard, etc. make wonderful sounding components that are a fraction of the cost of some boutique things like Exogal. There is even a little Australian company that offers great components in beautifully crafted aluminum cases. Your choice is a 7k system that is highly problematic versus a 2.5k system that sounds considerably better. Moreover the reviews of these products are based on science and electrical engineering, not fanciful subjective hooey. Exogal will never be able to compete with new products because of their pricing, and on top of that they have promised a “generous” trade in for the Comet/Ion fiasco. Anyhow, do check out ASR—I would never buy anything that didn’t qualify for their recommended list.


It’s one year later and still no new Exogal anything. What happened to those new improved components that we were going to be able to trade our Comets and Ions in for? As I predicted one year ago, Exogal occupies a plot in the great electronic graveyard.