After 5 days of riding the phone with EMBARQ and Earthlink tech support, fixing all their glitches in my new inet/email system, this olde man feels like lecturing this afternoon. My apologies in advance.
(EDIT: I won't mention the problems with the EMBARQ cell service signup gone bad. Take these phones and....*&%&%^ #%^.)
This X-sub issue is a perfect example of why people need to audition equipment for themselves and keep recommendations from others at arm's length until the audition. Perhaps pro-reviews are more reliable, but I'd wager not by much. They only get one sample to test...not a significant sampling by anyone's statistical analysis. But at least the pro-review may provide verification of (one unit's) performance against manufacturer's claims.
The Cadence X-sub came highly recommended from members of this forum and other places and yet had a high defect rate. That the company was able to reduce the final run to only 10 unacceptable noise producers (complaints/returns...not defective units) out of 500 and find it acceptable is worthy of a spin job in the political world. I truly hope the new version is a quality rig, deserving of the price tag. And I'm cheered to know that Cadence customer service stepped up, somewhat, to correct the problem.
One needs to be especially aware when someone says, "I've heard that YYY is great.", or "the reviews say YYY delivers clarity...". Personal experience trumps that kind of advice every time. But it's still not enough. The a/v world is filled with competition...some ethical, some not, some quality equipment, some not. Caveat emptor. Do the research...it's your money.
Good cheer.
The Grump
