Just sticking my nose in because I know something about all the things in this thread. Having spent years in PE, I will first confirm that you are right about a lot of PE buys. But when PE firms buy a company, they always have some sort of plan to grow the business. It may not be sound or it may rely on a key person who later elects not to be a part of it but I guarantee it's about growing the business. You're right that old customers may not be the priority but in the PE world, if you don't buy a product at least once a year, you're an OWNER, not a CUSTOMER. Customers come back and spend more money, owners don't spend money but do cost money with pesky things like repairs and such. Note that I'm not defending the situation with Thiel, just offering perspective on how they think.
We try to offer personal service but it's time consuming and expensive but we think it's worth it in the end. But this is a tough business and the cost/price pressures are enormous at a time when most customers prefer to buy from discounters which a) devalues our work and b) deprives us of the revenue we need to deliver the demanded services.
There's no doubt that it's an expensive hobby but remember that a lot of people share some responsibility for the decline in service a lot of companies were known for. We're all mostly lucky because we have a baseline set of knowledge that allows us to make informed choices about gear. But our company hears from lots of interested consumers with little or no background in audio that the dealers are dead or worthless and the forums just mock them for their stupid questions. We take extra time and patience to help them because we believe it makes lifelong devotees of our gear.
I read a lot of comments in a lot of forums and groups that amount to: "Everything sucks except my gear in my room." Good for you but frankly you're not helping.
My wife likes to say that Complaining about today doesn't make tomorrow better.
Ask yourself what you are doing to change the situation for the better. If you aren't, then make different choices or frankly, shut up and go away. If you're helping improve the situation then that's awesome and keep it up.
Re: Thiel, you're basically screwed. Support the aftermarket repair guys and keep them in business. But Thiel's gone. At least the one you used to do business with...
As for the rest of the manufacturers, support us! Whether it's us or our competitors over at PS Audio, we're going to bust a gut trying to help you because it's in our interests to!
