Bob,
I agree with Seth; if you are interested in Electro, do not discredit them over the one issue being mentioned.
EC has been around for 30 years, they didn’t achieve this by not being a good company. The aforementioned thread has brought people out of the wood work to thrash a company over a situation we do not even know the why’s and where’s of the Companies thinking.
The internet, has brought a whole new set of circumstances that companies are having to work with, some of which will be learned through trial and error.
If you are to go to www.mcintoshlabs.com, you will get the disclaimer that I list below. Here is just another example of another long standing company trying to confront new issues; where is the Mac outrage?
For the Consumer’s Protection:
In order to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction, “new” McIntosh products may only be purchased over-the-counter or delivered and installed by an Authorized McIntosh Dealer.
McIntosh products that are purchased over the Internet, by phone or mail order are presumed to be “used” and do not qualify for any McIntosh Warranty.
McIntosh does not warrant, in any way, products that are purchased from anyone who is not an Authorized Dealer or that had their serial number altered or defaced.
***
That said, I believe the EMC1 to be an awesome player, but as for the rest of EC, I agree with the others that there is a lot of other equipment to consider as well; then again, that is not your question.
