AE Speakers Lambda TD Series Group Buy

[ssangste]

I posted about this over on the AE forum group buy thread.... but thought I'd put the same offer on this thread as well:

If anyone involved with the group buy is no longer wanting to wait for the items to arrive, I'm willing to buy out your order (depending on what model you purchased). I'm specifically interested in some more TD15Ms, but also very open to some more TD12 models.

Since I've just ordered a bunch of the pre-order SEOS-12 plastic waveguides, I want to try a bunch of different projects for those SEOS units with AE and other brand drivers to see which one I like the best. I'd never heard an AE woofer before except a couple years ago when one buddy tried a speaker with some of the AE dipole woofers running up to 150Hz or so... so no idea what the TD series of woofers sound like. But they get a lot of good press from the reading I've done over the past week or so... so I'd like to get some of them to try and see how these drivers sound in various configurations compared to other companies' driver offerings. I'm also very curious to compare as many different iterations of the waveguide equipped 2 way or 2.5 way designs as I can with my current Usher, Harbeth, and Von Schweikert speakers and evaluate the relative merits, drawbacks, etc. of each.

I was lucky enough to just buy a few TD12X units from another customer that were put in queue last year before the group buy. They're built and packaged and ready to ship from John. Hopefully they will ship out soon. I've also had one very nice gentleman on AVS Forum offer to sell me a pair of his group buy ordered TD15M drivers.... but I'm not sure that's enough drivers for all the projects I'd like to try. hehehe...... Soooooo... definitely at least another pair or more of TD15Ms and some more TD12 models (especially since I just bought those 3 TD12Xs... a few more might make a nice surround setup of speakers to try.... and I wouldn't mind giving an MTM style speaker a try with TD12Xs)....

While it would be nice to get in on the group buy price (I didn't even know about this SEOS thing until a couple weeks ago and therefore wasn't really even looking at various DIY driver options until long after the AE group buy closed), I'm more concerned with trying to cut the wait time for more drivers to be delivered to me to a more manageable timeframe than placing a new order today. I'd like to take over someone's group buy spot so there's a reasonable expectation of getting more drivers in a few months rather than whatever the timeframe might be for a new order placed today. What can I say.... I'm an impatient bugger when I get fixated on something new to try out / explore

Please contact me via PM or email (htdoc11 at yahoo dot com) if you are interested. I'm about to go into baby sequester mode very soon with our first baby. She could go any day now since we're past 36 weeks (and she is more than ready for the little fella to come out asap! hehehe). Given that, it's unlikely I'll be able to work on building stuff for a few months once he arrives... which hopefully means the timelines will line up perfectly with the arrival of parts and getting group buy woofers out to me (as well as all the plastic SEOS 12 waveguides I ordered). But again, I'd like to move myself up in the line and reduce the wait time compared to placing a new order today.

Thanks in advance for anyone wanting to assist me! I really appreciate it!

 

[rajacat]

AE still around??

Is AE still in business?

The owner isn't replying to Group Buy inquires. The owner isn't replying to legitimate customer inquires or shipping out past orders that are supposedly ready to go. I'm participating in the Group Buy and starting to worry that this GB is belly up.

Is there a GB participant here who lives in the Green Bay, Wisconsin vicinity willing search out and talk to the owner in person. It would be nice to get some closure to this fiasco, try to recover damages and move on.

I knew that I'd have to wait a while to get my pair of TD15m's but this is getting ridiculous.

Thanks,

Roy

 

[Shaun]

Not looking good...

See thread: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/209379-so-you-got-some-old-school-eh.html#post2956674

 

[dnewma04]

Doesn't look like what I'd expect from John's shop. Any indication of location?

 

[Shaun]

I hope it is not John's business. I could not find location info. Apparently the guy found it via CraigsList.

 

[rajacat]

Doesn't look like what I'd expect from John's shop. Any indication of location?

1825 Mill Street,
Green Bay, WI 54302

 

[Ed LaFontaine]

I tried the phone number once. It is on their webpage.

920-469-9198

I got a recorded message which directs one to use e-mail or their forum for contacting them.

 

[dnewma04]

It's definitely not AE.

 

[rajacat]

The issue with the chinese shipment is unfortunate. It is unfortunately a fact of business. IMO, you had to be a little naive to go into this thinking that wouldn't be a possibility. I'm referring to both the buyers and John himself. Supplier issues like this occur all the time. It is even tougher with foreign suppliers and IME even worse with Chinese suppliers (not a knock on the Chinese, but there is sometimes more variance whether due to language issues or sometimes less established companies).

John should have been more cautious with his delivery estimate especially given this was his first time going this route. This group buy and its excellent pricing was contingent on the Chinese order. There is significant risk tied up in that single point of failure.

DIYCable got stuck with a bad supplier and it put them under. If AE had a peer in the market, something like this would kill them too. Everyone would have demanded their money in return and gone with company X. The reality is that there is no peer that I know of. There are other good drivers, but they are either far more expensive or inferior even if it is only slight. This also hasn't been a catastrophic issue but a delay.

I bought into the GB and I basically expected something like this. I'm not particularly put out by it, but I'm sure others are. The only thing I would change would be with John's communication. From the start he should have disclaimed the possibility of delays. From there he should have communicated the status of delays.

Pallas, which BMS and B&C drivers are you referring to? Do you have links to the tests?

You seem to think that this delay/failure to deliver is co-equally the responsiblity of the vendor and the customer.

I've never had experience with a vendor with poorer communication skills. I certainly wouldn't have joined the GB if I'd known that there was a chance of a 4-5 month or more delay. It seems like he's just stonewalling the GB group. He won't even give an explanation as to why the supposedly finished parts haven't been shipped from China. Why even offer a GB if he's not sure of his Chinese partners. It's not just his skin on the table. Seems irresponsible to me. If you go to his forum it appears that he's even ignoring customers not in the GB and failing to ship orders that are supposedly boxed up and ready to go. Is he still in business?

 

[Shaun]

It's definitely not AE.

Well, I'm glad my hunch was wrong! Phew!

 

[dnewma04]

If I were John, I'd charge a hefty premium and buy US made parts/components. 500.00 TD series drivers would still better the competition and he'd run into fewer supply chain issues.

Unfortunately, the buyers demand cheaper prices and less reliable sources. The supply issues he has been having are not atypical and we probably should have mentioned them at the onset to prepare people for the possibility.

 

[John_E_Janowitz]

The items purchased in the warehouse were owned by a friend of mine who lived a few hours away. We had traded out some boxes of the Stryke SA071's and he had a few drivers made by Lambda back years ago but that is the extent of anything that resembles a Lambda, Stryke, or AE product in there. He turned everything over to the guy who had stored it for him as it wasn't of value to him anymore.

For those who have been in a panic mode, I can assure you there is nothing to worry about from Acoustic Elegance. I am back in the office for the first time today in a few weeks. Parts in china are still awaiting a ship to get on. I am hoping within the next week they will be loaded and on the water.

The TD18's are all finished and the remainder were boxed yesterday. Monday I will be able to get out invoices for the balance and get them shipped. Here are some pics from when they were done:

John

 

[rajacat]

Thanks for the update. It would be great if you'd toss the GB folks a bone every now and then.

Thanks,

Roy

 

[Ed LaFontaine]

From 23, March: Parts in china are still awaiting a ship to get on. I am hoping within the next week they will be loaded and on the water.

Where are the parts from China with regard to loading from there/in transit/expected to arrive?

Can we get any factual update with regard to the GB?

 

[rajacat]

Time for another update.

Could we have an update for the Group Buy?

 

[mspgs2]

crosspost

Could we have an update for the Group Buy?

two posts were made to their forums..

of note on 24 march they were still trying to get shipping sorted out.
I'm not sure how hard it is to get stuff on a container ship from China but it seems to be taking a long time to not even be on the way. Trip will take 2-3 weeks? Thats puts it in USA in May if they are on the way. Then offload. No idea how long it will sit in port until it gets sent to WI. Lets say a week. Be lucky to get them finished and shipped before August?

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Re: ** Official TD Woofer Group Buy Information **

Postby stryke » Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:35 pm
I'm trying to get everything straightened out for the group buy parts from china. They have still not able to leave yet. I am hoping very soon and doing everything I can to get this process going. This delay has been far longer than anything I could have ever imagined. In an effort to get some things moving, I will begin shipping a small quantity of woofers from steel fully machined here. As this requires significantly more machining time, and frames are in very short supply, they won't be shipping at a very fast rate but I want to start getting something out to people.

As an update on the TD18H's, all 8ohm non-apollo TD18's are ready to ship. Those who ordered them should have a paypal invoice at this point. As those are paid they can be shipped immediately. Once additional parts arrive, the 4ohm and apollo versions will be completed. Due to some orders being changed, I have a handful of 8ohm TD18H's which are available. If anyone wants to switch their order to the 8 Ohm version, please e-mail me at info(at)aespeakers.com with TD18H-8 in the subject and I will get them out right away.

John
*******************************************************************************
Acoustic Elegance/AE Speakers
1825 Mills St
Green Bay, WI 54302
phone: (920) 469-9198




Re: ** Official TD Woofer Group Buy Information **

Postby stryke » Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:24 pm
In addition, everyone who has made payment for the drivers on the group buy will be getting an email to confirm their order shortly. I have noticed that the impedance and S/X/H/M designation was left off on some of the invoices. I want to verify personally that everyone is getting the right woofers.

John
*******************************************************************************
Acoustic Elegance/AE Speakers
1825 Mills St
Green Bay, WI 54302
phone: (920) 469-9198

 

[rajacat]

Any update on this?

 

[CharlieLaub]

Yeah, that post was more than a week ago now. I am part of the group buy and did not receive any follow up EMail about it from them. I have checked my spam folders... nada.

-Charlie

 

[mspgs2]

sadly the only updates are work no related in any way to the group buy.

 

[bobgpsr]

by stryke » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:25 pm

I'm sorry, but I have not had the time to start going through the group buy orders yet and send emails. It took me nearly a full day just to get through the TD18 orders to get those verified, verify payments, verify customer information, etc. Going through the rest of the group buy orders will take the better part of a week. I had expected to have someone working in the office by now to handle that, but things did not work out and I am again forced to search for someone. I am not sure when I will have the time required to get through all the emails myself, but I will verify everything before anything is built. My priority has been building and shipping woofers and PR's that had been paid for some time ago. I did ship nearly everything that was on the build list other than the group buy orders. Only a few other woofers are awaiting top plates which will be back friday.

rajacat, all group buy orders were provided a paypal invoice to pay from. As the invoice is paid, paypal sends a confirmation of the payment directly to you. This is one of the benefits of paypal that I do not physically have to run credit cards, issue receipts, etc. If you did not receive the paypal receipt, likely it is in your spam folder as paypal often gets stuck there. If you paid through your paypal account you can verify your payment any time there.