A message from av123 about the delivery of LS-9’s
Dear Potential LS Customers
For several months now we have been grappling with the delivery of LS Series Loudspeakers. There were some late deliveries of both LS-6’s and LS-9’s, and we are pleased to report that the mechanisms have been put in place that will allow us to deliver these speakers in a more timely and predictable manner..
For those of you that have had LS-9’s “on order” but no deposit or payments in place, we’ve decided to send this note in order to share directly with you how we would like to “manage” your orders for the benefit of both parties. Our goal is clarity and accountability to these quoted delivery times, both now – and on into the future. Please understand that the somber tone of this letter does not reflect my inner happiness and joy with FINALLY being able to let my hair down a bit with respect to this project. My only goal with this letter is to let you all know how we are keeping things “at scale” here at av123 – and that includes making promises that need to be kept at all costs. This letter accurately reflects my “mood” about this – but please don’t worry – I’m smiling more now than I have in the last 4 or 5 months. I can “see the light” and it’s NOT the headlights ahead getting ready to run me down…
Our vendor team has been SUPER at delivering on-time and in budget the enclosures that heretofore had been difficult to procure. That coupled to an even supply of Woofers and Planar Magnetic Midrange / Tweeter elements allows us to predictably plan our production – and delivery. Fortunately, we’ve been doing a good job of this and hitting our numbers with regularity. As well, we have managed multiple sources for several key items and THIS ALONE also takes away some of the “headache factor” when a vendor is late (or worse)…
Many have asked about “new orders” with respect to the LS-9’s. We are getting requests (several per week) and we have told everyone that we must deliver our entire backlog of A Stock and B Stock before considering new business. As well, we have been “holding back” some incredible reviews of our LS Series Loudspeakers as we felt we needed to properly (continue to) attend to the delivery of current paid for, or partially paid for orders.
So… we therefore need to convey to all of you “on order folks” the issues at hand. A Stock LS-9’s that are a non-Piano Finish are current priced at $5995. We will be able to keep that price at least until October of this year. A Stock LS-9’s that are Piano Finish however must suffer a small price increase due to the difficult nature of finishing these large speakers in the Piano Variant. We therefore will be raising our price to $7495 dollars for any new orders. After the reviews hit (and I am aware of them BTW) I predict a giant “run – don’t walk” to av123 with respect to these speakers. It will be a bit like “old times” here once again… J
Here’s the rub – most all of you have had your “on order set” at our original MSRP’s of $3995 and $4495. Unfortunately, these numbers just don’t get close to working in our current cost environment. I have been wrestling with this letter for many weeks now --- with these facts known and understood. I’ve decided the best compromise I can come up with is to “split the difference” in the interest of good faith – good PR and just plain good “sense”…
So here are the numbers:
Non-Piano Finishes $4995
Piano Finishes $5995
For those interested, we will require the following on a non-cancelable basis:
· A payment of $1000 dollars at time of order. This locks in your cabinet
· A second payment of $1500 dollars due one month before your shipping date.
· Balance payable the night before we ship your speakers.
We realize that this is a serious act of faith on your part – but we have very specific arrangements with our cabinet vendors that will INSURE the delivery of your speaker enclosures – and your payments along the way make that all possible (for both of us). As well, we are requiring that you connect with us PRIOR TO June 26th to lock in your order. Anyone in the “on order queue” that has not confirmed with us by the close of business June 30th – we will (unfortunately) consider your order canceled.
Please do let us know if you are interested. Current delivery time is quoted as end-September – and we feel very confident sharing that with you.
Thank you…
All the best,
Mark L. Schifter
