[ted_b]

Yes, Bob's frustrations were that he had to redo and recheck everything because the process was broken by "lazy" (his words) attempts to cut corners.  I own his older boxes and they are great (and sound amazing).

I spoke with Bob this week, so he is not dead, or done, or anything but what he's been for some time....behind and dancing as fast as he can to catch up....but he will not put quantity ahead of quality. 

[groovybassist]

All:

I'm the guy selling the used Cherry Mini's on A'Gon and here on Audiocircle.  Just so everyone knows, the pair I'm selling was constructed by Tim Shelton.  From my perspective, Tim's work is way ahead of the in-house work that was being done when he joined up with SP Tech.  Trust me, I've seen both in the flesh.

-Mike

P.S.  If anyone has concerns about my credibility or description, I'm also "groovybassist" on A'Gon and have all positive feedback there - feel free to look.

[ted_b]

Mike,
Those Mini's are gorgeous.    There is NO debate that Tim's work is master-craftsman stuff, and that the boxes done before Tim arrived are not of the same SOTA quality.  However, the argument was beginning to surface that pre-Tim work was shoddy or not-ready-for-primetime, and those of us who owned the good quality (but nothing to write home about) boxes wanted to set the record straight.

[Goosepond]

I'll chime in here.

I've had my Mini's since June of last year. I told Bob I wanted the Walnut finish from the pics on his site. When I got the speakers, I thought they were black they were so dark. I told Bob, more than anything wondering where the finish I saw in the pics went to.

He admitted he had had a problem, first with the brightness of the pics and mostly with the staining process. He offered to do something about it, but the more I LISTENED to the Mini's, the less important the finish seemed. They are actually very nice looking, you just have to shine a little light on them to see the grain. No problems with the quality of the workmanship.

In fact, I liked them enough that I ordered a pair of TP 3.0's, which according to Bob are almost there. 

Gene

[groovybassist]

ted_b:

I must be having a senior moment - I've seen folks use the acronym "SOTA" in a couple of different contexts, but my simple mind is drawing a blank on the right words for it.  I can come up with lots of wacky ideas, but I'm sure they're not right.  Can you help me bring an end to this looooooong senior moment???  Thanks.

-Mike

P.S.  Thanks for your comments on the Mini's.  I can only speak to the two pairs I've seen - one during the production challenges and one from Tim.

[opnly bafld]

sota=state of the art

[groovybassist]

opnly bafld:

Geez - how obvious was that???  Thanks!

-Mike

[jwes]

Hey guys (and gals if appropriate),

Thanks for the responses and PM's.  I didn't want to start an issue about woodworking quality - I was just noting what my experiences were as a potential customer looking into this (reading from Bob's and other posts), and the things I was finding.  If I were able to get in touch with Bob or someone who works there through phone or e-mail or if the public link to website worked, then I probably would have been more reassured.  Makes sense that the issue being addressed by him was more one of speed than quality.  Anyway, congrats to all who have these apparently great speakers...

Jim

[orientalexpress]

I'm the third owners off my revalation ,The quality is still amazing.mine travel from colorado to chicago then to San Francisco.i heard some amazing system here at Audio vision.nothing had the combination of bass mid , high ,image in one packet like the SP Tech speakers..



lapsan