Best and Worst customer service?

Most of the high-end manufacturers I've dealt with have been excellent. These include CAL, Krell and McCormack. But, by far, the one that stands out is VPI. These folks really care about their products and, perhaps, even more so, their customers. They will bend over backwards to accommodate you and make certain you are getting the most from their wonderful products. If you are analog-inclined you cannot do better for yourself than VPI. Creek and Celestion have never answered my emails. I figure they're still peeved at us Yanks for that 1776 thing. Sony shouldn't even be mentioned in this forum! They are a mass producer - perhaps the massest - that only cares about moving product. Their customer service, such as it is, is hideous. Some years ago I swore never to buy another Sony product of any kind and have stuck to it. In the product categories you might found yourself shopping Sony do yourself a favor and go with Panasonic, among others. They are not going to give you "high-end" service but they will help, which is more than Sony is likely to do.

About 4 years ago I lost a tweeter in my Snell E/III's. I was living in Albuquerque and had no local dealer. So I call Snell up in Massachusets, and the fisrt person that I talk to says that I should take it to a dealer unless I feel up to some soldering. I say OK, and a few days later a package arrives with a nice new vifa tweeter. Good Company. Chris C.

Always get a quick and knowledgeable response from B&W Speaker Co.

Thiel is excellent. I blew a tweeter in my 3.6s that was absolutely my fault. They replaced it free. Worst is Goldmund. They can only be contacted by e-mail, and it takes about two to three weeksfor them to respond. I had a problem with my SRMs. A distributor sent it back for me, which saved me hundreds in overseas shipping, but it took over three months to get them back. I would hesitate to buy anything foreign made without good US representation again. I also had a pronblem with KR amps. It cost me about a Grand for shipping to and from. At least they answer their e-mail promptly.

VAC and Cary are also very good.