Tube Research Labs Dude vs. Shindo Labs preamps

Best sounding preamp I have ever heard - even with last nagging issue to resolve. Quality and customer service on the exact opposite end of the spectrum.

That's good Charlie. I hope you will finally have some resolution to this. It will put your mind at ease. Please let us know what happens.

And NO, for the last time, I am not on the payroll. I am a surgeon. I don't need to moonlight as an audio dealer/distributor. LOL. The only reason I know any details in regards to this sordid little saga is that I am friends with the Weitzels and speak with them regularly. We talk about a lot of things ranging well beyond audio. I choose to support them because I choose to support them as does Glory/Gallant/Grannyring, etc.

My wife gets angry when she sees Audiogon yellow on the computer screen and says I am being distracted far too often by audio. Time for me to sign off.

Ciao....

"Quality and customer service on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. "

Well, I have had the best customer support from TRL. So like everything else, there are all kinds of customers and their satisfaction level but if you work with TRL people they can help you I am sure.

Yes let me put the quality part of it in monetary context for you:

- A chassis that is f’d up (back plate they used was too large, a top cover that I can’t be tighten down due to a cap that's too tall to fit inside. Take a guess as to what that will do to resell value in my case!
- A ground problem (calling it that for now)
- Additional cost to replace the output stage tubes (the one that came with it were cheap, warn-out junk)
- Additional cost to ship and have a third party assess the problem
- Additional cost to fix (unknown at this point)

That's what "inherent value" means in my case. And they had absolutely no problem selling me the unit in this condition and making it worse in some cases along the way. There in lies by real beef with them.

cdente:

I cannot take a guess because without the other party being able to repond there is no way to determine who is right and wrong. The problems that you mentioned do not sound too serious to me. The grounding problem is very common and can be fixed easily. The tube could be just bad luck, additional costs to ship and additional cost to fix are obviously going to incur if you showed it to someone else. You seemed to be pissed. So what is the objective here? Bash TRL or find a solution?