Product support in 5-10 years

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Yrage

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 3
Product support in 5-10 years
« on: 25 Mar 2019, 11:13 pm »
I would like to purchase a pair of Salk speakers. My next thought is not meant to be disrespectful or sound callous. What will happen to product service if Mr. Salk steps down from the company?

thehighend

Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #1 on: 26 Mar 2019, 12:32 pm »
Then you would be in the fortunate group of those folks who were lucky enough to buy a pair of Salk speakers from the man himself. 

Keep in mind that Salk doesn't make drivers, which should be available from their manufacturers.  The same holds for crossover parts -- which rarely fail.

mav52

Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #2 on: 26 Mar 2019, 12:42 pm »
That pretty much can be said about anything you purchase today.  Small or large company failure.  Henry Ford died a long time ago and his company is still running, for an example.  I would think Jim Salk has set up plans for his team to continue the work he has started.

Photon46

Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #3 on: 26 Mar 2019, 01:54 pm »
Speakers are not very high on the list of audio products I worry about with regard to future service. I'd be quite interested to know how many speakers ever need to go back to the factory for service, I'd imagine its not a very high percentage. Amps, preamps, cd players, servers, phono cartridges; now those have future potential service issues worth factoring into one's purchase decision. In this day and age of shifting consumer tastes and corporate acquisitions of smaller companies, ANY purchase of high end audio gear is a leap of faith as to the continued presence of a manufacturer.

Phil A

Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #4 on: 26 Mar 2019, 02:10 pm »
Speakers are not very high on the list of audio products I worry about with regard to future service. I'd be quite interested to know how many speakers ever need to go back to the factory for service, I'd imagine its not a very high percentage. Amps, preamps, cd players, servers, phono cartridges; now those have future potential service issues worth factoring into one's purchase decision. In this day and age of shifting consumer tastes and corporate acquisitions of smaller companies, ANY purchase of high end audio gear is a leap of faith as to the continued presence of a manufacturer.

I'd agree.  It would be a bit different if a company had proprietary drivers vs. those made by other companies.  Also everything has a shelf life.  If one buys a CD player, for example, typically they use a CD drive made by a manufacturer other than the brand of CD player.  Those drives are only supported for a limited amount of time.  Capacitors won't last forever in anything either.  I wouldn't be concerned with buying a pair of speakers as noted in the post above.

jsalk

Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #5 on: 26 Mar 2019, 03:40 pm »
I agree with many of the comments above.

From the beginning, we have always tried to source the best drivers for a given application from among the finest, most experienced driver manufacturers in the industry.  This generally means that the drivers we use will be available for many years.  And while some of these drivers will eventually be discontinued, we have found manufacturers are still willing to build more on special order.

Take the Seas W18 for example.  We have been working with this driver since around 2001.  It is still in production today and will likely be around for quite a few years to come.  These are high quality drivers and there continues to be strong demand for them despite the fact that the W18's are now about 20 years old. So if for some reason we were not around in coming years, customers, in most cases, will still be able to source replacement drivers if that becomes necessary.

This is why we've steered clear of highly customized or proprietary drivers. 

A few years back, we took on the Bud Fried brand.  We get about one call a week from Fried owners inquiring about replacement drivers. Unfortunately, we can't help them since many of the drivers Bud used were custom-designed for him and are no longer available.  We don't want that to happen to our customers. 

Of course, speaker companies come and go and manufacturers get bought up and operate differently under new management.  So, long term, there is no guarantee no matter what brand you purchase.  But we try to the best of our ability to take this into consideration with any new design.  Under normal use, you should expect 20 - 30 years of great performance.  Beyond that, it is anyone's guess, regardless of the brand.

- Jim

Don_S

Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #6 on: 26 Mar 2019, 04:52 pm »
Companies should have a succession plan. Too many have closed when the principal was lost or incapacitated.  We have seen that happen here on Audio Circle too many times. A succession plan is right for the customers, employees and the principal's family.

Joe Frances

  • Jr. Member
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Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #7 on: 28 Mar 2019, 03:35 am »
I bought a pair of lovely Meadowlark towers back in 1997 from something of a "one-man band" maker Patrick McGinty, and they still work fine.   While the speakers are golden, I am getting older, and can't lift the bloomin' things anymore, so I plan to get new lighter monitors.  My sense is  well-made speakers may out last their owner; or the owner's interest level; or the owner's "lifestyle. 

McGInty's back now with powered speakers.  I don't even know if he or rather (new) Meadowlark would service my speakers, if needed.  But I've gotten a lot of good service from them and I agree with Jim 20-30 years is a look long run.

artur9

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 468
Re: Product support in 5-10 years
« Reply #8 on: 29 Mar 2019, 12:28 am »
My sense is  well-made speakers may out last their owner
Ah! so there's where the term "monkey coffin" comes from!  (jk!)