Spectron Musician III SE Mk.2? What Changed?

Tvad made a good point.

Ubgub, I couldnt agree more.

So, how many Spectron IIISE owners are seriously...seriously considering getting the MK2 upgrade? (If I lived in Chatsworth I'd be knocking at their front door tomorrow.)

I also agree with Tvad's post.

I beleive that it is reasonable to consider the customer relations history of a company that you are about to hand over 7K to for an amplifier.

This starts with the ability to provide basic information regarding amplifier/upgrades, etc. Spectron doesn't do a good job with this.

So, if they can't do a good job at providing the basic product information, how are they going to handle the more complex technical issues such as troubleshooting and matching with other components?

I have spoken with Simon on several occasions about many issues.
I have considered upgrading my MusicianII among other things.

His response has been uniform that he is not a technician nor a customer service person really and that he just must wear all of the hats in the company right now.

I find this to be somewhat hard to accept based upon his responses in this Forum and throughout our other conversations.

His general answer seems to be that the Amp I own is so old and "Over the hill" that it is not really even worth discussing with me.
I realize they are one of only a few manufacturers who will provide an upgrade path in the first place but I look for a lot more detail before blindly going down that path.

When I have had other technical questions I have been told the amp is so before his time there with Spectron that he can not give any help whatsoever and that if I want to I can email a question to Mr Ulrick for a possible( but unlikely) answer but so far I have not ever received a reply to one of these.

I have even asked abbout certain features of my amp that are unknown to him and there is no attempt at all to get the information and no apology either.

Now I realize upon many telephone conversations with Simon that a certain amount is getting "lost in translation" but this is all the more reason to be careful with Spectron not an endorsement to send them business.

When I have asked about the marketing plans and whether they are considering adding to their staff to better serve customer inquiry it seems like an abstract notion that I am suggesting.

I also think that the OEM projects they are working on are taking a lot of company resources and the Consumer product side suffers.

Please don't get me wrong,I really like Simon and have learned to have a productive conversation with him,it has just taken some geting to know him first.

None of this would matter at all of course if the product were not so enticing and I have to say that I like it enough to remain interested despite any customer relations issues.

I also am amazed at how defensive some here can be when someone asks legitimate questons and is merely dismissed and wants more detail.

The attacks on Kabir as being anything less than sincere seem unfounded and childish here and who the heck decided that we are not engineers or concerned with the technical aspects of the hobby if we are audiophiles?

Give me a break.

Ed