[Eric]

For me reviewing a speaker is much more than just reviewing how it performs in terms of audio. For me customer service is big. So, I thought I would would begin my review describing how ACI has treated me as a customer.

I was initially looking at Vandersteens and Von Schweikerts. I had sold my Jaguar / Titan combo, because my audio room was moving from a room we now needed for a bed room. Audio will now be in the living room. My wife does not want separate subs in ther LR.  I listened to the Vandy 3A-signatures and the  VS VR4 Jrs. They are both wonderful speakers, and I highly recommend them. They just were not what I was looking for.

Since I liked my Jags I called ACI to see if they had any model that didn't have separate subs. I spoke with Mike (the owner). He remembered me from my first purchase. I discovered that the Jags now come with LFM's and separate subs are no longer required.

Mike cut me a great deal on the Jag / LFM's. He was leaving on vacation and said they would ship in a week or so. After 2 weeks I called ACI to see where the order stood. They apologized profusely and indicated that due to the summer sales they were a little behind. That was fine with me.

Today I received a call from Mike himself. It was his first day back from vacation. He noticed that my Jags had not shipped. He said that in order to cut time to delivery, and since I live fairly closely to ACI, they were going to deliver them personally this week.

So for my intial post I give ACI an A+++++ (10 out or 10) in customer service. They are freindly on the phone and take their obligation to their customers very seriously.

I will continue to post my findings on this thread as I review them during break in.

[JLM]

Isn't dealing with the boss so cool?  

First time that happened to me was to meet Irving (Bud) Fried in the 70's when he would come out to his dealers to conduct demonstrations.  Attending the 2003 Midwest Audio Fest was another opprotunity to meet several owners/designers, including Michael Barnes (Norh) and Louis Chochos (Omega Speakers).

I've also attended the 2002 and 2003 DecFests (Decware).  In 2002 we met Ed Shilling and in 2003 Steve Deckert invited us to his place (house, garage where he and his friends did their regular Saturday night jam, and his shop with sound room).  His wife helped to host, we used his bathroom and drank his beer.  Since the DecFests Ed has kept up with my postings and PM'd me out of the blue and Steve's woodworker (Ziggy) has offered to send me his amp to audition.

My thanks go out to the internet and this forum for making these kind of relationships so possible.

[mb]

A review of any of the newer ACI products would be most welcome! I've not heard much about Audio Concepts since their full product line rollover. I have the Sapphire IIILEs, and they're serving me very well. It's a pity that there is not enough feedback on the latest Sapphires that use the very nice Vifa wood pulp midbass for me to form an impression on how it compares with the IIILE.