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In Reply to: Did you fax him, call him or even read the note posted on his website? posted by John Chleapas on March 11, 2007 at 10:04:10:
I hate this. Have spent weeks surfing and reading this and other forums to get an honest take on Welborne. His amps (Terraplanes) really seem to be at the top of my list. Finally have the money in hand, and by an amazing coincidence the site announces a 15% off sale. I'm gold baby and ready to order - then all these disturbing posts!I get the sense that Welborne is as I have read several times a "good guy". And he certainly responded quickly to me last week via e-mail (within the hour even). And I don't want to miss the 15% break that expires at the end of this week. But these ripples in an otherwise clear lake are troubling. Please advise. And then advise again.
Follow Ups:
I live in Israel and I waited for 2 month to receive my DRD 300B amps. This is a fair time to wait.
I remember that I too was a little angry when I didn't receive a reply from him for every Email I have sent him regarding my order, but in the end I received the amps AND they sound great.He has a small business and things take a little longer.
Please remember that Ron is not a crook and he won't steal your money!
Ron just responded to my latest and last pre-order question in a very timely manner. I'm good to go and I think a bit of a wait and spotty contact over the time frame I expect this to take are acceptable in context. I just want these right. I'm not a DIY'er and still think this is the best route.
I waited 3 months for my 45 Star Chiefs due to the silver transformers and Ron always replied to my emails , maybe not same day, but he did reply. I was getting frustrated as I'd just sold my DRD 45s, however the wait was worth it. I would have waited 6 months to get them if I knew what joy was to come.Definately buy the Terraplanes. You'll fall in love with them. An unbelievable bargain and one of the best amps around IMO. In fact I'm tempted to buy in his sale the kit Star Chief to experiment on and practice my soldering skills.
Don't forget to post your impressions when they do arrive.
OK, I'm in! Just placed my order. Thanks for the honest pros and cons discussions. Would hate to think how scary a purchase like this might be if not for forums like this. I will post my thoughts and experiences as they occur.
I have received my Star Chief kit and a while ago you commented that you wished you had not sold your DRD45s. After I complete my Kit, I will be in the same situation. Keep the DRD45s or sell them.So, tell me why you wished you would have kept them.
Cut-Throat
Hi Cut-Throat,Hope your Star Chief are coming along nicely.
You will be impressed at the difference compared to the DRD45.
To answer your question, I would have kept them to experiment on. By that I mean they would have given me the option of trying out different 'flavours' on the DRD to gauge what effect changes make and whether to implement them in the Star Chief. I would hate to change something in the Star Chief and have it all go wrong with my beginer soldering skills. I don't even know how to discharge a capacitor yet!
I have a friend who has changed to battery bias and claims it has had the greatest improvement. Also some resistors can be changed to Bulk Metal Foils and perhaps change caps to Vcaps.
So, for the price you would get for your DRD45s it makes sense to keep them IMO.
Not so smart after all am I!!!
cheers
smart
Since, I'm building my Star Chiefs, I have no problem modding and unmodding my amps. So, I'll probably just convert my DRD45s to cash. My house is overflowing with stereo gear anyway! : -)
Cut-Throat
Welborne does respond to orders and pre-order questions. I've ordered and put together a pair of DRD45s. I didn't post about that first experience here because it seems that Welborne has some staunch defenders and I wondered if the problems were uncharacteristic and it seems that one is a "bad" person for saying something about the poor service.
After the second go around, I don't feel like they were uncharacteristic problems. The order that per his website should take 1 - 3 weeks was about 8 weeks. I was shorted parts. One was easy to find out but the second one wasn't because he lists large separate parts and bags of parts on the inventory. On the first shortage, I was missing a large part so it was easy to see. On the second, I was missing parts from the bag so I didn't find out until I didn't have the parts to install. The instructions are quite detailed and nice in areas and then totally fall apart in others with INCORRECT diagrams and wiring instructions. I don't mean unclear, I do mean wrong. I'm guessing that there have been parts changes over time and he hasn't kept up the instructions. When I had a problem at the end of the build, I called repeatedly and left messages. A week and half or so later, he finally got around to sending an e-mail to see if I was still having a problem. He didn't offer any recommendations as to a possible solution even though I had left descriptions of the problem. Luckily, I was able to get help from someone else. I'm not a first time kit builder but sometimes you just get stuck and need a word or two in the right direction. Don't depend on Welborne for that word or two. There are other kit makers out there who have good kits and who will provide assistance.
I can certainly vouch for Welbourne's prompt responses to basic and succinct pre-order questions -- particularly when it must look to Ron like there's a large and profitable order very likely to come his way should he spend a couple of minutes answering a short and simple e-mail or two. For what it's worth, here's my experience:When the DRD series of amplifiers first came to market, I was *very* interested in them. (So interested, in fact, that on several separate occasions around that time, I had my "shopping basket" loaded up and was ready to hit the "send" button. I was really that close.) I e-mailed with Ron a number of times in connection with some basic (but critical) questions like speaker and pre-amp matching, room size considerations, etc. (This was my first foray into the land of the S.E.T.) He was normally prompt and courteous in replying -- although often curt. That is, not always as forthcoming, explicit, or verbose as I would have liked. (And I suppose that I'm willing to take most of the blame for those feelings; I was at a point -- like we all were at one time -- where I needed some hand-holding. I just happened not to get it. That said, I did understand that Welbourne was trying to run a business consisting of more than a single customer! So, I didn't take *any* offense. For all Ron knew, I was just hanging around wasting his time. At the end of the day, though, he was was wrong about me and lost a customer as a result.)
You see, the more we corresponded (and I didn't overdo it -- three times, maybe?), the more his interest level obviously declined -- to the point of almost no interest at all. Maybe that was to be expected. Like I said, he didn't know me, and I couldn't "prove" my own level of interest with anything but an order. But, that said, there *was* potentially a multi-thousand-dollar order coming his way, and I guess I was hoping for a little bit more in the way of enthusiasm from someone who, by all accounts, is very enthusiastic about what he does. I actually started to have doubts about his operation's interest (let alone timely ability) to execute my order. In the end, he simply made me feel like whether or not I became a customer didn't matter a whole lot to him; so, I *didn't* become a customer -- at least not of his. And it came down to nothing more than the fact that I couldn't get comfortable with his level of interest in me and my satisfaction with his products.
So, I decided to start talking to Jeff Korneff, who insisted on giving me his home number and who had all the time in the world for me as we sat around shooting the breeze about everything from 45s and the relative merits of different circuit designs to muscle cars and problems with the fairer sex. He *proved* his dedication to his craft and his deep concern that I be happy with what I was about to order. (Several times he tried to talk me *out* of a 45-based power amplifier. Thank God he failed!) His ethics were beyond reproach, and I realized that this was the "comfort level" that I was after. So, he got my order -- plain and simple. Did it take a long time to get my amplifier built? Hell yeah! Several months at least. *But*, that was part of our understanding going into the transaction. He was very forthcoming about just how long it would take. None of this "one to three weeks" turning into "one to three months" business. I paid him half up front and half right before delivery. And when he built my 76-based preamp, he suggested the same payment scheme. I went ahead and paid for the whole thing in advance, as I recall, such was my confidence in him.
Now, this post is not meant to be some Welbourne-bashing, Korneff-praising propaganda piece. (I don't even think that Jeff is in business any longer, so I'm not attempting to steer anyone away from Welbourne and to Korneff. Besides, in the end, their businesses are/were *very* different in large part.) What this post *is* meant to be is some advice to (particularly new) folks to make sure that they have a good, comfortable feeling going into a transaction with an "amateur" audio business. (And, believe me, I use the word "amateur" with a tremendous amount of respect -- as in, the type of person who is in this out of pure love as opposed to love of profit. Furthermore, I believe that Ron Welbourne fits the definition of "amateur" in all of the best, purest ways.)
Just understand what you're getting into, so that you don't end up disappointed. And if it feels wrong, don't pull the trigger; walk away. Otherwise, you're practically guaranteed to wind up disappointed -- particularly when your credit card has been charged, you've already received your monthly bill, no products have shown up at your front door, and the interest level on the other end appears to have evaporated. (Incidentally, my view -- and this is true across the board, in all forms of mail order, not just in specialty audio -- is that charging a credit card before items are packed and ready to ship is ***highly*** unethical. That would be a deal-breaker for me no matter how badly I wanted whatever it was that was being prematurely charged.)
Sorry to be so long-winded. But, whether or not it should, one's buying experience *can* color one's satisfaction with a product going forward. No one should spend lots of hard-earned money on something, only to have massive and frustrating problems in purchasing, shipping, building, customer support, etc. -- and then sit there when it's all resolved and feel like it just wasn't worth it in the end.
So, a couple (too many) words from someone who steered way clear of the potential Welbourne pitfalls -- although I understand that many, many people have had awesome experiences dealing with his company.
I bought my 45 DRD tube rectified mono blocks on a sale from him. I think at most it was 3 weeks from the initial ordering date until their arrival as in delivered to my door. The build quality and fit and finish is quite good. The output transformers are made by ElectraPrint and the quality shames some higher end amps. Of course it is your money and your decision alone as to which company you buy your next amp from. I own both his 45 and 300b DRD amps. Again good luck on your final decision. I hope whatever the outcome of these threads are is a kick in the a$$ to Ron that improves his customer service. I just felt like people were piling on with multiple threads saying the same thing with the same people *barking* at him is all in different forums at AA. John
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