[grantc79]

I just picked up that pair of Ebony HT3's that has been for sale in Oregon for awhile now.

Now I gotta wait for them to get down to New Orleans and hope they get here safely.

They are insured for the purchase price of a new pair anyways so in a sick way I'm kinda hoping they are blown up by terrorists (aka FedEx box handlers) while in transit so I can get a custom pair. 

Either way, its the most excited I've been about a speaker purchase in quite awhile. Looking forward to picking up a matching center and sub too when I like the HT3's as much as I'm sure I will.  aa

[K Shep]

I just shipped a pair of speakers that suffered damage.  Please don't take this the wrong way.  You do not want to deal with FedEx! 

Fortunately, the plinth took the blunt force trauma.  It is easily unbolted and swapped out.  FedEx is requiring us to reassemble the shipment to its original packing.  Then FedEx will pick up the parcel and take it back to there facility for inspection.  So my friend who bought the speakers has to pack them back up throw them back in his vehicle take them back to his place of employment (where we shipped them, tried to make it easier) and FedEx expects to have the speakers back to my friend in 7 business days  .

Kirk

[Nuance]

That's a bummer about having to take the speakers back to get inspected.  Can you have them come to your location instead?

Congrats on your purchase, grantc!  It's nice to have another Salk member.  I look forward to your impressions.

[grantc79]

Well from what I've heard UPS flatly refuses to pay their insurance claims in many cases so I dunno I suppose its a roll of the dice no matter what.

[TJHUB]

I just picked up that pair of Ebony HT3's that has been for sale in Oregon for awhile now.

Now I gotta wait for them to get down to New Orleans and hope they get here safely.

They are insured for the purchase price of a new pair anyways so in a sick way I'm kinda hoping they are blown up by terrorists (aka FedEx box handlers) while in transit so I can get a custom pair. 

Either way, its the most excited I've been about a speaker purchase in quite awhile. Looking forward to picking up a matching center and sub too when I like the HT3's as much as I'm sure I will.  aa

Congrats on your purchase.  You should be excited!    However, I do not feel sorry for your little tiny wait.  Some of us had to wait over 2 months to get our Salk's after ordering them.  Once you survive that, you feel like you can survive almost anything! 

I do feel for your worries about your new babies arriving in one piece and unharmed.  It is scary for certain.  Don't worry too much though, they'll make it just fine. 

For the record, I'd ship via FedEx long before UPS.  I'm sure it differs from region to region, but UPS is absolutely bottom of the barrel when it comes to shipping things in one piece.  I have never (knock on wood) had an issue with FedEx. 

[K Shep]

I just picked up that pair of Ebony HT3's that has been for sale in Oregon for awhile now.

Now I gotta wait for them to get down to New Orleans and hope they get here safely.

They are insured for the purchase price of a new pair anyways so in a sick way I'm kinda hoping they are blown up by terrorists (aka FedEx box handlers) while in transit so I can get a custom pair. 

Either way, its the most excited I've been about a speaker purchase in quite awhile. Looking forward to picking up a matching center and sub too when I like the HT3's as much as I'm sure I will.  aa

Congratulations on your purchase!  I look forward to hearing your feedback on the HT3.  When I purchase another pair of Salks those are the babies.

Kirk

[Wayner]

I'll share my waiting story so you won't feel so bad. When I was a kid, I bought a Dynaco Pat-4 preamp kit and put that together (lawn mowing money, farmer money). That went good so I eventually had enough money to buy a pair of AR-2ax speakers and a Dynaco Stereo 120 kit. Well, after a few nights the amplifier kit was done. I was so proud. I hooked up the new unplayed speakers to the amp, hooked up my preamp and turntable. The moment I had been waiting for, for a long time was at the flip of a switch or two. First the preamp. Then the power amp. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke rose from my newly assembled Dynaco power amp and the world fell silent (it never stopped being silent). The amp was toast. I worked for a TV/radio repairman on saturdays and he had an extra HEATHKIT amp that he let me borrow until my Dynaco could be fixed. After getting things hooked up again, I discovered that only one channel worked. Turns out that while smoking my amp, it also smoked one of my AR speakers. Well, 4 months later and 2 train trips brought my ARs back to me. It was the one of the worst time of my young life.

Wayner 

[fishinbob]

Let's see....in order to take care of a broken plinth one must give back the speaker(s), in their entirety, to the gorillas that damaged them in the first place.   I would check into the price of a new one from Jim and lick my wounds.

I just shipped a pair of speakers that suffered damage.  Please don't take this the wrong way.  You do not want to deal with FedEx! 

Fortunately, the plinth took the blunt force trauma.  It is easily unbolted and swapped out.  FedEx is requiring us to reassemble the shipment to its original packing.  Then FedEx will pick up the parcel and take it back to there facility for inspection.  So my friend who bought the speakers has to pack them back up throw them back in his vehicle take them back to his place of employment (where we shipped them, tried to make it easier) and FedEx expects to have the speakers back to my friend in 7 business days  .

Kirk

[floresjc]

I'll share my FedEx horror story. I live in the suburbs of DC, about 35 mins or so from Dennis Murphy. I listened to the Salk lineup in his secret lab and decided to order HT2-TL's before I left for Afghanistan. So I put down a deposit with Jim.

On Audiogon, a pair of custom bubinga HT3's show up at a good price (considering they were bought in 2006 originally) over the summer. So I buy them, and have Jim transfer my deposit over for SongTowers for my home theater. The HT3's have to make it from Tennessee to Northern Virginia, about 435 miles if I remember. So I'm overseas and my wife emails with photos saying the top corners are mashed in, the two rear corners on the one speaker, and one of the rear corners on the other. I'm pretty crushed, but I call Jim and he says no biggie, can patch it up.

So FedEx tells my wife they will have the driver help pack them up, since they are so large and she is by herself. He shows up the next day, expecting the boxes to be sealed and curbside (down a flight of like 20 steps on my townhouse) for him to throw in the truck because he can't help pack, its not policy. Doesn't happen and he walks off saying its not his problem, he will stop by the next day to see if they are ready to go out of the kindness of his heart. So I call back pretty upset and by some miracle he comes back the next day and my wife had them packed in the box by herself (although he had to carry them down the stairs). The next 3 weeks is a gaggle of "who has the speakers and where are they" as FedEx tells me they are going to Michigan, the seller they are going to me in VA (what FedEx told him), and online one is listed in both locations. Official policy is they are supposed to go to the seller unless otherwise directed (in a damaged goods scenario), and despite being otherwise directed, they went to the seller. In any case, the seller drives a half hour over to his local FedEx, where the manager is kind and helpful. In a 2nd miracle, *both* HT3's are there and he simply has them shipped to Jim.

So eventually they get to Jim. He pulls them out of the box, and they are pretty much totalled. All the corners were mashed in on both speakers, one of the ribbons was ripped, and the 10" woofer on one was completely crushed, he said it look like someone had just kicked it in. The box didn't show any additional damage to those areas, just the corners as they originally showed up at my place. The only useable part in a rebuild would be the pair of Seas Excel drivers.

In any case, not a fun experience, and I'm back to HT2-TL's and SongTowers. But I'm thrilled nonetheless!

[K Shep]

Let's see....in order to take care of a broken plinth one must give back the speaker(s), in their entirety, to the gorillas that damaged them in the first place.   I would check into the price of a new one from Jim and lick my wounds.

I just shipped a pair of speakers that suffered damage.  Please don't take this the wrong way.  You do not want to deal with FedEx! 

Fortunately, the plinth took the blunt force trauma.  It is easily unbolted and swapped out.  FedEx is requiring us to reassemble the shipment to its original packing.  Then FedEx will pick up the parcel and take it back to there facility for inspection.  So my friend who bought the speakers has to pack them back up throw them back in his vehicle take them back to his place of employment (where we shipped them, tried to make it easier) and FedEx expects to have the speakers back to my friend in 7 business days  .

Kirk

Wounds licked...$100 split between us.  Jim is covering the freight.  Everyone is satisfied, I didn't say everyone is happy.

I have been in a UPS facility before and the sorting process is brutal.  Gorillas throwing boxes on conveyors that then travel up, down and sideways, bumping and grinding all the way.  Then a zombie at the other end snaps up the package and throws it back in a truck headed for the next warehouse.  I have gone through the Audiogon process 11 times in the past 6 months and this is the first problem.  I guess 9-10% no-damage success rate isn't bad.

Kirk

[K Shep]

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[K Shep]

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