Innuos' customer support is as good as it gets. My system crashed and Innuos responded post haste. My guy got on remotely and made things right. Customer service is closed on weekends. On Thursday we had an appointment for today, Monday. Most impressive.
I own some other components, but have been especially loyal to these brands: Conrad Johnson. I've had several pre amps and amps and love the CJ sound. Plus great customer service.
Shunyata for PC's that really enhance a system. Have had great experience with each new generation of PC's going back to the Helix, CX, Zitron and now the newest gen. Approachable folks who stand behind their products.
Linn for the LP12. Just keeps getting better with each new innovation.
Since I'm the customer, I would hope the manufacturer would be loyal to ME. I've already paid -- I don't owe them anything!
Auralic has been loyal to customers, in offering great trade-in value to those who upgrade. Bryston has been, also, in offering a great warranty and excellent service (as well as fine products). Audio by Van Alstine very kindly gave me the old price on a repeat order. JL Audio fixed my long out-of-warranty sub for a reasonable cost, then sent another one when I wasn't happy.
Those are the companies that have been loyal to me, and that I'll give first look when I'm looking for a new component.
Spectral - sound and an uncompromising approach to design. They won't release anything new unless it represents a move forward. They're pushing the state of the art. And they do this without stratospheric prices (compared to others, of course))
Steve McCormack is a great guy to talk to, and he has some great products too.
Thiel, for their innovation, refinement, and their sound.
It should be a given that high-end companies have great customer service. It behooves them to bend over backwards to help people considering the cost of gear.Especially now with the economy in the tank, it's all the more reason to take care of the custoemr.
Audio Note. They make everything from source components to speakers and everything in between including amplification and cables. One of the few companies to do so. If you like their house sound you can create a very synergistic system amongst their offerings. The result may be that you are spending money on music instead of equipment. Of course there is the concept of upgrading within the line and there are parts upgrades available for most, if not all, of their components.
When I originally bought my gear more than twelve years ago the US rep at that time was always available to answer any questions. A fuse rated for 220v operation was mistakenly installed in my amplifier and the rep offered to come to my home to install the correct fuse (which was not necessary as I got the correct one and installed it myself). As an apology he sent me a set of power tubes. Any e-mailed questions or inquiries have always been promptly answered by the company's owner, Peter Qvortrup. I'd say that's pretty good service.
Tonian Labs is also very good. When you contact them you speak with the speaker designer/builder. Fortunately I am in the LA area and when I asked to demo a pair of speakers the owner, Tony Minasian, offered to bring a pair to my home and set them up for me to evaluate. I took him up on the offer and the result was that I became an owner of his speakers.
Always willing to help with his products and it doesn't hurt that he has designed some incredible products. Bad products with good service is of no interest to me.
Some of the products coming out of the east are really getting good and they are really trying to step up the customer service. It's not easy to overcome language and cultural barriers and deliver some really sound products.
Atma-Sphere, VTL, Wavac as you say: Sound, quality, service Before that it was Jadis for the same reason. Speakers: Quad for many years. Now: Sound Labs Digital: Zanden Empirical Audio TT: Goldmund Wires: Stealth Carts: Peter Suchy's offerings All these combine for me in the best synergy to please my old ears.
Alon/ Nola / Dahlquist I owned a bunch of these over the years and still own Alon MK 5 speakers [ now in storage ] Ridge Street Audio is now the only cable I will own nothing is even close and if Robert keeps improving his cables I will be in the poor farm forever. The personal attention from Robert at Ridge Street is also very hard to top and one nice guy to talk to I have to here his speakers sometime. Marc
BAT.. Just great sounding equipment and exquisite build quality (in my opinion).. and, call me old fashioned, but they answer the phone when you call and have always been polite and helpful.
BAT and Vandersteen for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of this. After making a modest purchase of a 2Wq sub, I had a question about crossover settings which I posted via a support email address found on Vandersteen's site. The next evening, my wife handed me the phone and said "It's for you. . . a Richard Vandersteen calling." Richard helped me with my question (and a couple of follow ups). Oh yeah, great sub!
I love my BAT gear for its no-nonsense design, build quality and musical performance. I've also had terrific customer service from them as well. They cheerfully replaced a remote--no questions asked and without waiting for me to return the original before shipping at their end.
This list is not complete without a major shoutout to Bobby at Merlin. Talk about someone who builds a great product and goes to the ends of the earth to support his customers...
And Gordon at Wavelength is always right there if you need him. Superb, innovative products.
Lately I've been feeling the love from the team at NuForce. Great products at great prices and a real hustling organization to back it up.
What no Vandersteen? Not only does Richard make great long standing products at real world prices but also is for the most part always willing to help via a phone call.
Graham Engineering Galibier SimAudio Klyne Audio Arts Audio Space Herbie's Audio Labs Soundsmith Benz Micro
A couple of Montreal dealers, including Son Ideal. Arcadia Audio and Ovation Audio in the Toronto area. Two Canadian distributors, Charisma Audio and Plurison. UHF Magazine.
Another vote for ECM. Also Hyperion, Harmonia Mundi, Analekta and Atma.
Resolution Audio and Thiel. Both for sound quality and customer service. I bought my RA CD-50 on ebay and when I contacted RA about a problem I was having with the remote control Jeff Kalt sent me a new remote control along with a new EPROM chip to accommodate the remote. Guess what he charged? Nada! Similar service from Thiel for used speakers.
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