Are Avalon still in Bussines


Hi my name is Dan,

I have the Avalon Opus Ceramiqe.

I need new woofers.

no one answering mail or phone for some time now

Any helpful ideas?

thanks

 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xthesound
Me too.  Avalon, what's going on?  Great speakers, but I don't understand the customer relations or marketing.  Seems like they try to get people to talk with dealers rather than directly with them?
Dan you don't need to go through Avalon at all.

Most all of Avalons drivers are off the shelf parts. Carefully remove the woofers from the cabinet and the model and specs of the driver may be on the woofer itself.

Your drivers are made by Acuton of Germany you can always email them directly for the exact specs that Avalon used in the speaker and then source the drivers from Madison or another US distributor who can source the parts for you.

You will also save money that way, as most likely Avalon is charging a premium for replacement parts.

You may want to fix your speakers and upgrade to a newer design.

Those drivers were superb but some of todays high tech speakers are even better.

Good luck.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ 
I used to own Avalon speakers and had the same experience with their customer service or lack of.  It take phone calls and e-mail to finally get through.  Not very good.
Last June I did something stupid and blew a tweeter in one of my Eidolons.

Avalon Acoustics answered the phone on the third ring. Using the speakers serial number they sourced the proper tweeter. They mentioned that most of the drivers they use are made to their proprietary specification.
 
Avalon required a bank transfer for payment or use one of their dealers for a more traditional method of purchase. I did the bank transfer and the tweeter was ground shipped and received five days later. 

I see a very similar looking tweeter on the madisoundspeakerstore site but the model number on my tweeters box isn't the same. Avalon Acoustics is a small and long established company with a reputation for snubbing some in the audio press. I've personally seen their speakers being used in more than a few high end post production studios over the years, and good enough for Rick Rubin.

Undoubtedly there are speakers that will satisfy different tastes. I'm always entertained by listening to a talented retailer define what is a better speaker. At this level of investment I'll continue to trust the choices of the industry professionals and support the manufacturer for replacement parts. 
I too had a terrible experience last year ordering replacement parts.Impossible to get through by phone.E-mails were left unanswered even after many reminders.
I have to say that a few years ago I did not have any of these problems; seems to be something more recently.
What worked for me is researching the web for alternative e-mail IDs within Avalon (e.g. sales, marketing, management etc...) and send a reminder mail copied  to all with the full history of reminders.
That did the job; promptly I got a response to my enquiry...
But even then they really make you work hard to get parts shipped overseas. They refuse to arrange on their behalf and include the cost in their quote so you have to organise shipping yourself. Not easy as USPS doesn't accept foreign credit cards.
Good luck!