[Aether Audio]

Friends,

Within the last few days my gmail connection has been down and I haven't been getting any emails.  Therefore I thought the best way to make contact and update those of you that are waiting on your orders would be to make a posting here.

Added to the above, I really haven't had the time to troubleshoot the problem.  It may be relatively simple to fix, but as you will see, I've been VERY busy.  The fact is, I have suddenly and unexpectedly been "thrust" into a new and very important project.  Timing was not good for me in this new effort, but then it hasn't been for some time anyway.

The upshot is that a yet "un-named" company has commissioned us to design (from scratch) and manufacture a new speaker for them.  This opportunity came out of the "blue" and due to the request/need of one of their large distributors; a very short development time was allotted.  In fact, we've had less than a month to accomplish this goal and deliver the first production batch to this distributor.  Needless to say, I have been literally working around the clock to meet this deadline.

Just so you all understand, this project offers us the opportunity of a large, ongoing source of sales and income.  The company that will be marketing this design has distributors worldwide and the expected volume is not trivial.

OK then… as most of you already know, Aether Audio has assumed the responsibility of fulfilling all of (the now defunct) SP Technology's old speaker orders.  As such, there are several of you that are still waiting to ultimately receive your speakers. 

Although many of you do know, for those that don't I must add that the new Aether Audio has no other investors to support this ongoing effort.  In fact, I was forced to file for unemployment insurance for the first 10 months of 2009.  That alone should give everyone some idea of our resources.

As it stands therefore, we are essentially "alone" and our only means of guaranteeing that every old SP Tech customer receives his speakers is to continue selling new product.  For the time being, all profit from any new sales is diverted to complete the older orders.  Rest assured, not a dime of profit has or will go into my personal pocket until every last customer has received his speakers.  Added to this, as I have shared with those that have been waiting, I will not cease from working and using every resource at my disposal until every one of those orders has been filled and shipped.

In light of this commitment, I am at times forced to make decisions that will affect those that are waiting.  In reality, the only significant result of such decisions is that their wait time may be extended a bit longer.  This most recent speaker project is therefore a prime example.  Due to our financial need for continued income, this project has delayed the shipment of 5 loudspeaker (2 of which are warranty returns) and 2 Black Box orders by about one month.  These orders were either finished or almost finished when this new project was suddenly presented to us.

We regret being "forced" to make the decision to delay completing the above-mentioned orders, but "the needs of the few out-weigh the needs of the many."  You see, we have two very large orders for Revelation Grand Masters that were taken under the old SP Technology banner.  Seeing that these two orders only made it to the beginning stages, should Aether Audio fail as a business these customers may be many years awaiting completion of them – if ever.  These two customers have at least $10K each invested that they might never see returned to them.  Therefore… Aether Audio MUST survive and I must make whatever decisions I deem necessary in order to improve the odds thereof.  At times that may mean the TEMPORARY delay of the next order in line so as to make time available to whatever generates new income.

Nevertheless, we are now about to ship this first production batch and fortunately, virtually all of the initial design work and tooling has been completed.  Therefore, we can now delegate the majority of production tasks for that product to new laborers, which will once again free up my time to resume completion of the previous orders.  In fact, 3 of the 5 speaker orders are almost ready to ship and both Black Box orders will only take a day or two to complete once work resumes on them.

Finally, once the above orders ship we then only have the two Revelation Grand Master orders that represent those from old SP Tech.  A few new speaker orders have come in recently under the Aether Audio banner, but they are smaller and already well under way. 

The "good news" in all of this is that this new project is based on enclosures that we are out-sourcing, so a minimal investment in machining and fabrication is needed to support their production.  That being the case, approximately 85% of the production tasks for this product can be delegated to relatively unskilled laborers.  That being the case, the three primary entities of Aether Audio (myself being one of them) will be free to work on other, more demanding tasks and the production of the other models.

Also, there are two other very positive spin-offs that have resulted from this new project.  The first of these is that this project represents an ongoing and relatively dependable source of income for Aether Audio.  This all but guarantees our survival and ultimately the completion of every old speaker order.  It will also likely allow us to advertise for the very first time.  Secondly, there is a technology spin-off as well.  In my research, a new development has resulted that is nothing short of amazing and truly represents an industry "first."  I cannot speak to the nature of this development at this time, but rest assured it will affect all future product production and in most cases will be backwards compatible to the majority of units in the field.  Once this "un-named" company has launched their marketing efforts for this new product, we will then disclose the nature of this development.

In the mean time, we beg your infinite patience and sincerely thank those of you that have tarried with us through this transition to Aether Audio.  Please rest assured that we are working as hard as we can to deliver your order and to secure your investment.  Furthermore, those of you that have already invested in a SP Tech product or those that are considering investment in a new Aether Audio loudspeaker, you can be sure that we will never rest in our efforts to improve delivery times, advance the state of the art in loudspeaker performance, and to make such advances available to owners of previous product.

Take care, 
-Bob

[konut]

Hi Bob, thanks for keeping us appraised of the latest news. I can think of no one more deserving, in audio, to reap the rewards of prosperity as the result of your fertile mind and ongoing curiosity and research. Hope this happens sooner rather than later. Can't wait to hear about the "new development". Perhaps I've fallen victim to Pavlov's syndrome of rising expectations as I've found your products nothing short of stunning. Keep swingin' for the fences! 

[ted_b]

Hi Bob, thanks for keeping us appraised of the latest news. I can think of no one more deserving, in audio, to reap the rewards of prosperity as the result of your fertile mind and ongoing curiosity and research. Hope this happens sooner rather than later. Can't wait to hear about the "new development". Perhaps I've fallen victim to Pavlov's syndrome of rising expectations as I've found your products nothing short of stunning. Keep swingin' for the fences!

+1.   

[mcullinan]

Yes, Besides the people he has done business with in the past and taken advantage of there time and hard work, then changed company names and failed to deliver on his promises. Besides that, I cant think of anyone better either.
Mike Cullinan
SP Technology website designer/logo/poster up over 2 years. Recieved nothing

[satfrat]

Considering the situation of past customers (AC members) who have potentially lost thousands of dollars, both from an order and for services rendered, it's hard to imagine that anyone would actually want to take the chance to actually attempt placing an order. I guess faith works in mysterious ways but placing an order after hearing the story of those affected in the past and with your own revelations of your current situation goes past just faith IMHO. Frankly I feel more bad about those who you've taken both money and services from. I can only hope those numbers don't continue to grow, both for their sake and for yours Bob, again after hearing the story from a few who have been discarded verbally by you.
 
ted_b,,, I really have to wonder how quick you would be to +1 if you were one of those out 10+G? 
 
Must be AudioCircle's no religion policy doesn't apply to you Bob, praise the Lord,,, for you.
 
Cheers,
Robin

[ted_b]

Robin,
Really, he bilked you out of 10G's???  I'd take that up personally with him.  On the other hand, if he did nothing against you then I'm not sure why the axe?

Bob has been nothing but good to me, and to those to whom I've recommended him.  Are his production times long and often delayed, yes.  Are his speakers worth every minute I waited..absolutely!   

[jackman]

I commend Bob's honesty and wish him all the best in his new venture.  His post was very straightforward and I'm guessing, not easy to write.  These are tough times and Bob has always struck me as an honest man.  Good luck and please keep us posted regarding the status of your company.

[bhobba]

Thanks for the update Bob.  Great to hear your business is becoming more stable.  I can well understand how frightening it is to be on the edge all the time.  This is made even worse by the fact you are making a world class product.

I think I have mentioned it previously but I am now confident that in November my sad financial situation will abate as I get my long awaited superannuation.  That means I can take delivery of the minis I put a down-payment on and ordered.  Can you advise on what time-frame we are looking at here?  Just how many months before November should I ask you to start building so I can get them in November?  Would now be too soon?  I have enough dosh to pay the balance we agreed as soon as they are completed if done before November but wont be able to take actual delivery until then. What suits you best?

If you want to contact me directly use bhobba@yahoo.com.

Thanks
Bill 

[ooheadsoo]

A true scam artist would have run off long ago, and would never have willingly disclosed so much information.  We have heard of so many glimmers of hope that fail to come through - I'm glad this one is looking up.

[Aether Audio]

mcullinan, et. al.,

Mike,

As I've suggested in the past… you really do seem to be your own worst enemy.  You could have let the issue go and continued in whatever private conversations and/or comments about me, SP Tech, etc., that you wish.  But no… you had to go and make it public, and here on my new forum at that.  I told you that I keep EVERY email that I send or receive and that should you go public, I have all 191 messages that I've sent you to use in my own defense... if need be.  Well, since you opened Pandora's box, below is a c&p of the last one I ever sent you for all to see.

Folks, in the beginning when Mike approached me about doing a website for SP Tech, I told him then that we had no funds to pay for it.  He then asked for a pair of Timepiece 3.0s in return for the work.  Although that seemed to be a viable option, even then, we were behind on orders and our production capacity was at a minimum.  I only had my son to build the enclosures and he was none too committed at the time.  Seeing our shop rent and other overhead was eating us alive, I had little left after a sale to pay him for the work.  It was understandable though as both he and I were working at starvation wages and lived with continual worry as to whether would or not we would make it through any given month – and this went on for several years.

Considering the above, I was more than a bit reluctant to make the deal with Mike, and told him so and WHY from the very beginning.  I told him that it would take some time to finish his speakers if we did make the deal and that the company was on shaky ground.  Seeing that I had (and always have) been committed to this day to seeing that we complete every order, I told him that although it might take a while, that we would eventually get his speakers done for him.  Knowing this up front, Mike still agreed to the deal.

Well, as time progressed the website turned out to be a bit more work than Mike had counted on.  He asked if we would "upgrade" him to a pair of Continuum 2.5s in exchange.  Once again, I reluctantly agreed.  I say "reluctant" only because of the fear I had as to how long it would take – not because Mike's excellent work didn't deserve it.

OK then, as mentioned in my original post here, we were operating on the same basic principle… trying to "outrun" the overhead.  As such, we could only work on Mike's C2.5s a little at a time in between other paying orders.  It was slow going, but we did manage to get the enclosure shells assembled and mostly finished.  Of course, as you can see from the email date below, this was essentially 6-months after all hope for new investor support had completely died, and SP Tech was bankrupt for all intents and purposes.

All along the way, I continually kept Mike abreast of our situation and shared with him every bit of potential good news and/or setbacks.  Seeing we owed him and that he had tarried in good faith, I essentially treated him as one of the investors and even forwarded messages to him from the other investors so he knew the facts and that I wasn't just putting him off.  Hence… the 191 messages I sent to him over the course of time.  Heck, I even sent pictures to him showing our progress on his speakers along the way.

That alone should suggest my best intentions and commitment to him were firm.  Anybody else that had nefarious intentions would have just "blown him off" long before then.  In fact, my commitment to him remained until the very end and as you can see from the email below, it was HE that severed our relationship.  While I can most certainly understand his frustration, at this point he had nothing more to loose by simply waiting and trusting that somehow I would eventually manage to get his speakers to him.  Had he not done this, I would still have the same commitment and as long as blood was still coursing through my veins, I would have never ceased in my efforts to eventually deliver on our obligation to him.  This is no different than the same commitment that I have for the other customers mentioned above.

Now, we must all remember that SP Tech is bankrupt.  I will soon be filing the final papers and it will be done once and for all.  In fact, SP Tech would have been legally dissolved before now except for the fact that I didn't even have the funds for the lawyer and court fees.  That being the case I could have easily walked away from those earlier obligations and washed my hands of them.  Business is business and companies fail all of the time.  Investors, vendors and customers often loose their investment and that's just the way it goes.  I COULD have started over under the Aether Audio name and not start "out of the gate" with the financial burden of completing a single one of those old orders.  After all, SP Tech had 2 other investors that had equal shares as me.  Why should I be the one to subject myself and my family to the ongoing burden – especially when the company's failure was a direct result of the other investors failing to live up to their original commitment no less the 9-months into the formation of the company?  They are as legally and morally responsible as me… if not more so.

But no… I'm not gonna do that.  You see, that just doesn't send a good message to those that stand by and simply observe.  Many if not most know that I openly speak of my faith and share the hope that lies within me when the opportunity presents itself.  That being said, if such faith is to amount to anything it must be backed up with commensurate behavior.  Walking away from your friends and customers and washing your hands of your commitment to them via some legal instrument such as "bankruptcy" is not what I call "loving your neighbor as yourself."

By the grace of God that strengthens me, every customer that does not turn their back on me will eventually get their speakers – however long and difficult the process may be.  Not only that, but I live, hope and continue to work to see that every investor eventually sees his original investment returned to him… "Bankruptcy be damned."  So I ask… "What more can one man do?"

-Bob

PS.  Mike, I never heard back from you in all these months, so I guess the issue stands.  As it is, your speakers have now been committed to a gentleman in Denmark.  Before you further herald the evils of Bob, just remember… you are the one that walked away.

----- Original Message -----
From: Aether Audio
To: Mike Cullinan
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 4:14 PM
Subject: Re: Alright Bob...


Mike,
 
OK then.  Does that mean if somehow (yes... it will be a bit of a miracle) I can manage to get the guys to complete the speakers we have in process for you, that we should just put them up for sale?  This sucks as I'll bet anything that once those knuckleheads hear that there will be money in it for them, one or the other or both will manage to find time to work on them. 
 
I wish that weren't the case, but I can't make them or anybody do anything... unless they want to.  It's no different for anybody else... if your employer can't/won't pay you... you don't do any more work for them.  As I said, all except for the legal filling thereof, we are bankrupt.  If you end up seeing a pair of red cherry C2.5s with  maple veneer on the sides up on Audiogon or AC... don't come running back to me saying that now you want your speakers.  By then I will have made the deal with them and that they would get the money out of the sale.
 
Just let me know and that's what I'll do.  As it is, my original commitment of never giving up and trying to get them to you stands.  But... if you say otherwise I will take your e-mail as evidence to the fact that you have abandoned any interest that you have in receiving the speakers and/or payment for services rendered.  Just understand that this is not by my choice, but rather yours and that you freely acknowledge so. 
 
Quite frankly though, I don't quite understand why you would do that.  As it is you have nothing more to loose and there still remains a (albeit, a potentially longer-term than preferred) chance/hope that you will eventually get them.  Maybe it's not actually about the speakers though.  Maybe you feel like a fool and want/need somebody to point the finger at and blame?  If so, I'm sorry that that may be the case.  As for me, I learned a long time ago that pride is usually an expensive commodity, that in the end I really can't afford.
 
Oh... no worries.  I never expected you to make excuses for me.  Everybody has known to one degree or the other that we have had funding issues for a long time.  Also as I said previously, everybody understands when a business goes bankrupt.  It happens all of the time - especially these days in this economy.  If anybody doubts the fact, have them try calling the phone number - it's been disconnected - can't pay the bill.  While you're at it, feel free to share any of my e-mails so they can clearly see what a jerk I've been and how all along, my only intent was to deceive you and take advantage of you.  Trust me, I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of.  In fact, if I'm ever questioned by anyone I will be glad to forward copies of all our e-mails.  That way they will clearly see that all I ever did was the best I could based on the circumstances and that I went by what I believed at the time to be valid information.  They will also see that it wasn't I that closed the door - but rather you.
 
So... unless I hear otherwise from you... I guess that's it.  Don't feel too bad as you're not alone.  Huh... Karsten's lost about $250K another Danish guy $20K, another $17K and me $15K - and that's just the investors.  Looks like SP Tech didn't discriminate.  Take your time though and think about it.  I won't say anything to Tim or Jason until I hear back from you.  Once the deal is done with them though... it's done.  I'm sorry you feel this way though and if it were possible for me to make things right... I would do it in a heartbeat.
 
Best wishes,
-Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Cullinan
To: Bob The Man
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 3:18 PM
Subject: RE: Alright Bob...


Bob,
Im done making excuses for you to others all these months/years. Im severing all business with you. Have a nice life.
Mike

[mcullinan]

YEs Bob, after 2 years of communications and probably 50 hours solid on the phone I never received a thing. Not to mention 200+ emails of when I was going to have the speakers in trade and seeing those dates pass by. That was after 2 years of waiting listening to your half baked excuses. I too have every single email and piece of correspondence.
The fact stands that I never received our agreed payment in a reasonable amount of time and I finally gave up. That doesnt mean you are not corrupt. I provided my services in a timely manner. In a professional manner. My last email did sever ties & of course the speakers are going elsewhere. You felt no sense of duty, it was your responsibility to complete.
Mike

[Aether Audio]

Okay Mike,

You wanna keep it going and beating a dead horse?  As I said, the facts are on my side.

That was after 2 years of waiting listening to your half baked excuses.

So you are also essentially calling me a liar, eh?  As I told everyone, I forwarded all of those messages from Karsten and Thomas to you.  You know (now) that I was basically being strung along with false promises of further investment and that without it we were screwed.  You also knew back then from those messages that these guys appeared to be "legit" and that my situation was totally dependent on their following through with the new investment.  You also knew from those same messages that this had been going on for some time and that I kept getting the "story" that the funds would be forthcoming "in the next month or so."

You also knew that Karsten was the original primary investor and my legal partner.  He was the one "legitimizing" Thomas' claims of new invetment.  As I said, he wasn't some "new guy out of the blue," but my PARTNER and equal shareholder.  His total investment of $250K and obvious desire not to see it all go "down the drain" would have indicated to anyone that the promises of new investment from Thomas would have been legitimate and possesed a high probability of coming to pass.  Had I known otherwise, I would have shut down SP Tech 3 years ago.

Again, Karsten was a PARTNER and vice-president.  I was morally and legally obligated to not only confer with him, but to make decisions based on his input.  What part of that don't you understand?  SP Tech was a "class C" CORPORATION!!!  We're talking a full-blown corporation and not even a "Sub-Chapter S" corp.  Obviously you don't know much about business practices or you would understand how my hands were tied.  Had I even attempted to legally dissolve the company without his and the other's permission/agreement, I could have been in serious legal trouble.

The upshot though is that as it turned out, Karsten was only engaging in "whishful thinking."  Had I truly suspected this was the case from the onset, I would have dissolved SP Tech before you even came along and offered your services.  Then we wouldn't even be having this issue.

So be my guest, keep up the onslaught and continue to demonize me if you wish.  Considering the FACTs and my continued commitment to every customer AND the fact that slowly but surely... I AM DELIVERING ON MY PROMISES... we'll see in the end who wins the public debate.

Sadly, had you not put your foot in your mouth, you also would have been one of those that ultimately benefits from my efforts.  As I've said numerous times, I'm doing the best I can based on the cards that were dealt to me.  Maybe that's not good enough for you, but what do you wanna bet it is for the others?  Or maybe we should ask them? 

Hey Brett & Roger... whaddaya say... should I just give up and let you guys go "cry in your milk" over the money you lost?  Hey... then that monkey will be off my back and I can have some peace of mind.  Sure... you'll slam me for the rest of your lives to every audiophile you meet, but its a big world and folks will eventually forget.  Seeing SP Tech was so small in the first place and never advertised, if you do bad-mouth me most will not even know who you're talkinng about.

What? You say "NOOOOO... don't give up!!!"  Yeah, that's kind-a what I figured you'd say.  Don't worry, I already figured Mike was sort of am "odd-ball" and that his feelings didn't really reflect those of the majority.  Hang tight, the hairs are a tad grey-er than before and the bags under my eyes are a bit deeper, but the old "constitution" is still there and as strong as ever.  You'll see... by the grace of God you'll see.

-Bob

[mcullinan]

Bob,
You are so right and so honest. And the facts ARE on your side. Thanks for letting me see that. Good Luck Bob.

Mike

[rajacat]

Better lay off the coffee and whiskey! )

[mfsoa]

Interesting - All this time we were hearing about "Karsten this" and "Karsten that" and "Karsten just tried the amazing Mundorff caps and couldn't believe..." I had no idea he had any financial/managerial interest in SPTech.

Now I hear that he's the partner/investor/VP of the operation.

I'd appreciate it if you could direct me to the AudioCircle posts where where Karsten's involvement with SPTech was clearly stated, and my doubts will be assuaged.

If these posts do not exist, his involvement in the SPTech threads can be seen as the worst kind of manipulation of AudioCircle and its participants.

I always wondered who the heck this Karsten dude was - Is this info just being made public now?

I will totally and completely be at ease with this if I just happened to miss the posts that fully disclosed his financial and managaerial stake in SPTech, and apologize in advance if my scepticism was not valid.

(But if it was valid, you get a mad face  )

-Mike

[ted_b]

??  As far back as 6 yrs ago Karsten was always noted as the SP Tech Denmark rep.  Whether he had any more interest in SP Tech was moot for me; he was SP tech in Denmark and any info from him was considered same as Bob's...forthright, honest, yet commercially/financially involved.  No offense, but if you didn't know Karsten was part of Bob's SP Tech efforts you weren't paying attention.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=10317.0

[mfsoa]

I thought he was a dealer who was just giving helpful and friendly advice and took his comments as such.

Had I known that he essentially owned the company I would have viewed the comments differently, but maybe that's just me.

Thanks for helping me to better understand the situation 

-Mike

[mfsoa]

If he was only noted as the "SPTech Denmark rep" as you say, but actually owned the company, I do consider that to be extremely deceptive, an abuse of the site and very disrespectful to the readership. Especially in light of Bob's admission once that he was only here for the free advertising he got.

Maybe K was defined as more than that, I don't know.

-Mike

[mfsoa]

Ted,

I just flipped through the thread you linked, and I saw no mention that he was the owner of the company.

Would Wolfy really be asking for K's opinion of the speakers in the way he did if he knew that K owned the company?

Do you not see it as really bad form that the owner of a company would pose as one of it's dealers and post endless praise for his own items?

Do you see any of the other company owners here talking about their stuff in this way, much less hiding behind the guise of something they are not and then talking their gear up like that?

I vote dispicable until shown otherwise, and I am genuinely willing to be shown otherwise if it is possible.

-Mike

[groovybassist]

I'm with mfsoa here - I've followed SP Tech and actually owned a set of Timepiece Mini's at one point and don't recall any threads mentioning Karsten as an owner rather than just a dealer.  Even though someone is a dealer of a product and supporter of it, their enthusiasm for the products they sell is one step removed from the mfg., so while maybe not totally objective, a dealer is likely to be a bit more objective than a mfg., and will likely even discuss strengths and weaknesses of the products they carry (in comparison to each other).  I personally don't like an investor, owner or whatever, not disclosing that openly as they praise a particular product.

While the TP Mini's were decent speakers, my experiences with SP Tech were a mixed bag.  At some point, professionalism counts, even for the smaller mfg.