Expectations for warranty repair timing

In my experience, one must temper impatient desire for the return of one's gear with a realistic appraisal of the manufacturer's size and scale of operation. If you have a component from a one or two man shop, a month's wait is nothing unusual. I've had an amp sit waiting for repair for multiple month's from one well known but small manufacturer. On the other hand, if I had gear go back to someone like Bryston who operates on a larger scale, I would expect a repair to be completed within a month's time unless there was a delay for parts. However, I've also heard more than one person complain that really large manufacturers can be really slow and unresponsive as well. In any event, I learned long ago, have two of everything so you've always got a backup. 

You are so right lousyreeds1, a little communication would go a long way in these matters. It never ceases to amaze me how poorly so many companies perform with regard to keeping customers informed about the status of orders, repairs, etc. 

I went through the exact three month same wait for a Marantz SA11S1 "repair" only to have Marantz eventually throw in the towel and admit they couldn't provide repair parts for it because the laser assembly was no longer available and the engineers couldn't come up with an alternative. Not much a manufacturer can do when the subcontractor quits making parts for them. Unfortunately, a retail purchaser has no way of knowing if this sort of situation will arise at some time in the future.