Droplet CD Player: Contacting Consonance

Compasmar,
Take a look at the comments on some of the Consonance products by some of the sellers on Agon, particularly
"Trelja" an Agon member. Beautiful products that sound
good but have terrible customer service. Caveat Emptor!
Tony

Don't know where you purchased your unit, but Quest for Sound in Bensalem Pa, would be a good place to contact. Stephen Monte is a great guy and may be able to help with the repair. Good luck. Glen

I second Glenfihi's comment. Quest For Sound is a great dealer.

I purchased a Consonance Hybrid Integrated amp that failed with less than 5 hours of listening. The unit was suppose to be under warranty. I did contact Opera/Consonance and did have a reply from Amanda at Consonance. With much negotiating, she agreed to send me a brand new and complete board assembly to replace the old board. It was suppose to be shipped and received about 2 weeks ago. I have since emailed Consonance/Amanda 4 different times with no reply. I have no confidence in the reliability or the warranty by Consonance/Opera. SonnY

Compasmar, you have the right e-mail address for Opera Audio/Consonance. And, no, surprising as it is, you are far from the only person in need of support from the company currently being ignored or not receiving even the most rudimentary of replies.

Being as close to the situation as most anyone, from what I have noticed, the response to inquiries for support by customer and dealer alike of the components which have been failing in the field has been steadily decreasing, providing less and less communication, and to my knowledge, virtually nothing in terms of resolution - warranty or no warranty. As the statement has been made, I now feel compelled to include a warning in the ads where I'm liquidating my former stock - caveat emptor. By that, I mean, based on what we're experiencing in the field, don't expect or depend on any support from the factory whatsoever.

The company will inevitably try to reestablish themselves here somewhere down the line. When that day comes, it is likely folks considering a purchase of a new high-end audio component will factor the level of support the company provides into the equation before deciding to patronize them.

Of course, please feel free to contact me offline if a more in-depth perspective is desired.

DISCLAIMER: I was the exclusive importer/distributor/repair facility for all Opera Audio and Consonance components in the USA and Canada up until deciding to walk away from the line, which I made official in October, 2008.

IME a few chinese and korean companies consider that the client-manufacturer relationship ends after the sale is closed.
This is a cultural and economical trait that comes with extremely high volumes, very short product lifecycles and low margins.

I once had the privilege of negotiating a large batch of information technology products with a korean manufacturer. They kept me asking how many I needed and I kept asking technical questions. After the third unanswered technical question, I asked: where is your product made, can I talk to the engineers?
The reply was very instructive: IT VARIES A LOT.

Here is the scoop:
There are several specialized companies in the far east that specialize in outsourcing electronics production. An outsourcer plant has dozens of automated board assembly lines and makes cell phones in 5 of those lines, stereos in a couple of lines, boomboxes in another one and car alarms in another one.
Manufacturers open bids/RFPs for the lowest-cost producers, so your prized far-east stereo may be built in one city this month and another city three months from now.
The outsourcer has the liberty of changing part sources, as long as the manufacturing specs are met, so, for example, finding the specific servo board version that matches your laser/transport version made last year at a former outsourcing facility can be a nighmare.
Add to that the "manufaturer's" indifference to last year's product and the consumer is navigating deep, dark waters.
I am not saying that this is the Opera/Consonance business model, just that one should take care when buying far-east mass-produced products. Ask for a warranty in writing and make sure that there is a local distributor to back you up.

In my country, KIA Motors has been in and out of the country two times already, leaving thousands of cars and vans with no spare parts and no official dealer network. One must be a born optimist to buy product from them, no matter at what price.

I can certainly relate to Trelja's troubles and aplaud him for being frank about the maintenance/warranty issues.

I echo some previous comments regarding Quest for Sound. I have Consonance Cyber 800 monos and Cyber 222 pre. No problems with service from Quest. Stephen Monte is a joy to deal with.