How did this turn into a Kevin Deal bashing thread? I was under the impression that the central theme was how advertising controls what is written in glossy rags. Upscale Audio is only one advertiser, they ALL do it!
As for my dealings with Kevin, I will admit that he is not warm and fuzzy, and that his "people skills" may be lacking, but he is an honest and reliable dealer, and they are far and few between.
I was looking to grab one of his closeout SLP-98P F1 earlier this year, and spoke with him on the phone. I wanted a unit that had a custom paint job, but it sold for more than the standard red chassis finish, and I didn't want to pay more. He was not very helpful on the phone, so I just ordered the lesser model from his website. Then he called me and told me that the standard model I ordered from his website was not available with the MC phono option that I ordered, so he offered me the custom painted one that I wanted in the first place at a $500 discount....lower price than the standard finish unit. I took it and I am very happy with the deal.
Meanwhile, a friend of mine also picked up one of the closeout SLP-98 F1 units from Upscale Audio. He has had a lot of problems in just over 2 months with his unit. He shipped it to Cary once for repairs, when he got it back it worked great....for three weeks. Then it screwed up again. He wanted a new unit from Cary, claiming he bought a lemon. Cary was of no assistance. When he told Kevin Deal of this problem, Kevin offered to give him full trade in value towards any other item he offered. My friend gladly jumped on this opportunity. I think that shows tremendous character of Kevin Deal.
So no, he may not have the best people skills in the business, but he is honest and reliable. If I have to chose who I want to do business with, I'd prefer to do business with Kevin Deal over a smooth talking bull-shit artist.
