2. misc-audio
  3. 1229818461

Companies with good customer service?

I really like buying older gear, but one concern is always what happens if the piece breaks down? I'm curious to see what other people's experience has been with high end audio companies. I have had good experience with krell and with MIT. With krell, the repair took a couple months, and there were often periods of silence, and it was relatively expensive ($500), but they did replace a broken tray of a cd player and all the belts/bands, and ship a pretty heavy piece, which was a lot cheaper than a new cd player. And when I finally talked to them, they clearly knew their stuff and were very pleasant. With MIT, some balanced interconnects I had were acting screwy, so I got an RMA and they replaced the plastic interconnect part with heavy duty metal parts, and shipped them back without charge. Again, it took a few months, but there was no charge to fix cables that were probably over 10 years old at this point. Both these experiences made me feel like Krell or MIT are "safe" buys, in that I can get anything of theirs repaired if need be. What experience do other people have? What companies are good?
mainer8
ckorody
640 posts
 
An awful lot of companies are good - they have to be in a community this size. But one does need to factor in which companies are likely to be here when I need them...

Also there is old gear that is supported by third parties - pretty much the same thing as having the factory behind you

There is another thread on this very subject currently here on the Gon called "Company Loyalty"

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?hbest&1229010059&openmine&zzCkorody&4&5#Ckorody

for me personally:

Rowland
Merlin
Butler
Cary
BPT
Pass
Supratek
Boulder Cable
Wavelength Audio

note that in each case I bought their gear secondhand - meaning that the mfgr made nothing on the deal - but they were all right there without a seconds hesitation

pretty great IMHO
mlauner
250 posts
 
Naim Audio
blindjim
2,837 posts
 

Without question however and based on my exp with them… all of these are easy to contact, affable, forthcoming, and sheer pkleasures to deal with and request info… be you a new purchase customer or otherwise.

In no particular order, they are:

BAT
VooDoo Cable
Onkyo
Audio Art
Synergistic Research
Dodd Audio
B&W (US & OFFSHORE)
Art Audio
Phase Technologies
Coincident
Odyssey Audio
Audio Magic
Wilson Audio
Blue Jeans Cables
PS Audio
Running Springs Audio
Sound Anchor
Herbie’s Audio Labs
Vintage Tubes
Imperical Audio
Benchmark
Apogee
M Audio
Lavry Engineering
Velodyne
Silverline Audio
Pass Labs
McIntosh
Cardass Audio
ACI
Definitive Technology

I’m sure there are other’s which escape me now…. As to how long some of these “cottage industries at their finest” will continue to be prevalent and ongoing concerns is anyone’s guess. Especially those whose operation is restricted to limited numbers as it pertains to personnel… eg., ‘one man efforts’ so to speak. This latter note however has not been a detraction for me to purchase their products. New or used. Any warranty there goes with the understanding (I assume) that is as good as is the ambition and helth of the designer (s) themself. Naturally the build of many of these items is more than solid and that is a tremendous plus to consider too.
pwb
5 posts
 
Von Schweikert is the best company I have done business with. On two occasions I've had questions about my speakers and both times Albert personally called me. Great speakers and outstanding service!
markpao
403 posts
 
For me it has been:
Juicy Music
Mint LP Solution
Klipsch
Gingko
VPI
Outstanding customer service!
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