Yup, was scared when he did that, lol. I am enjoying it though. I have to fix a wall in the room and then I'll listen critically. Got home today and more wow. Just love listening to them.
Richard has a deep voice and an opinion. Many take it the wrong way. Guys, he's a pussy cat deep down and a nice guy. Passionate as much as anyone in the hobby/business. He may have 'lectured' you, but it's the way he communicates. My take away has always been that here's a guy on the mount rushmore of audio and he takes our phone calls when needed. WOW. That's rare to say the least. He wants everyone to have the best sounding gear they can afford and over time he's proven that he can do that.
When you think about it, it's too expensive to offer upgrades to the lower priced speakers. He has to charge a mark up to make money and if it takes a couple of hours to undress the speaker, unsolder and screw an older component and then put it all back in place, solder and reinstall the grill, that's going to cost at least 4 or 500. HE only offeres his upgrades to the more expensive speakers. Plus to offer an upgrade, there is shipping which isn't cheap as hey are all full size speakers. What many don't realize is that anytime he makes a change in drivers, he must also change out components in the crossovers too. That's two speakers he has to do it on and for a speaker that costs under 2k or so, it's probably not worth it for anyone in the long run. He also only offers the upgrades to the original owners (you may or may not have been one) when they are offered. Ayre is one of the few who don't have that restriction I believe. There are a couple of others, but most don't even offer an upgrade path still. JMHO
Richard has a deep voice and an opinion. Many take it the wrong way. Guys, he's a pussy cat deep down and a nice guy. Passionate as much as anyone in the hobby/business. He may have 'lectured' you, but it's the way he communicates. My take away has always been that here's a guy on the mount rushmore of audio and he takes our phone calls when needed. WOW. That's rare to say the least. He wants everyone to have the best sounding gear they can afford and over time he's proven that he can do that.
When you think about it, it's too expensive to offer upgrades to the lower priced speakers. He has to charge a mark up to make money and if it takes a couple of hours to undress the speaker, unsolder and screw an older component and then put it all back in place, solder and reinstall the grill, that's going to cost at least 4 or 500. HE only offeres his upgrades to the more expensive speakers. Plus to offer an upgrade, there is shipping which isn't cheap as hey are all full size speakers. What many don't realize is that anytime he makes a change in drivers, he must also change out components in the crossovers too. That's two speakers he has to do it on and for a speaker that costs under 2k or so, it's probably not worth it for anyone in the long run. He also only offers the upgrades to the original owners (you may or may not have been one) when they are offered. Ayre is one of the few who don't have that restriction I believe. There are a couple of others, but most don't even offer an upgrade path still. JMHO

