DO NOT BUY anything from AV123

[Chu Gai]

VA451 moderation has resulted in the deletion of another post which used to be located here. It was a post from a user, Steve_vai_rules, and asked the question that many have seen asked before which I'll paraphrase, "Mark, could you respond to me email please." Apparently he's spoken to Mark in the past and has sent a few emails off to him that have not been responded to. As many know, this is an example of, "Our company has ALWAYS bent over backwards for everyone that has crossed our door...". I tell ya, there's an awful lot of bending over going on there.

 

[tesseract]

I have chatted with Steve over there many times, he seems like quite a decent fellow. He recently made a fairly large purchase.

I know Mark says he just had surgery, but somebody needs to step up and take the helm in his absence. Part of my disenchantment with Longmont was my unanswered emails. Then I read more and more about what was happening over there, all the bannings, the posts and threads swept under the rug, and the falling out of longtime jilted "family" forum members and customers, raffles, pre paid beta testers, new product releases while pre paid vaporware is ignored, etc...

 

[tesseract]

Geez, I really would like to own an Arnie Nudell loaded planar with sub (Strata Mini), but after voicing my opinion over there, and a few other places, I am afraid I would get an empty shell of a cabinet ala the Ninja.

 

[JoshK]

Hell, you don't even have to voice your opinion to get sub par products.

 

[tesseract]

True, dat.

 

[cschang]

Geez, I really would like to own an Arnie Nudell loaded planar with sub (Strata Mini), but after voicing my opinion over there, and a few other places, I am afraid I would get an empty shell of a cabinet ala the Ninja.

Nudell had nothing to do with the Strata Mini. Danny Richie did the crossover.

A nice speaker toneally, but the mids are not very clean. A nice looking speaker though.

 

[Chu Gai]

Nudell had nothing to do with the Strata Mini. Danny Richie did the crossover.

A nice speaker toneally, but the mids are not very clean. A nice looking speaker though.

That's corrrect. One might say they were inspired by his long time friend and former associate, Arnie Nudell. Nudell was the person who after he parted ways with Genesis because he was fired/retired/quit/something, was supposed to be involved in the RSL-II project and we know how that worked out.

 

[Stereodude]

Some people don't know when to stop digging...

Hello All...

This is precisely how the rumor mill winds up... (re the reference to cash strapped)...

We are not a wealthy company - but we are being very careful with our decision making for future products and the planning that this requires...

I've answered the questions and comments with probably FAR MORE information than most might have.

So if we take him at his word (yeah, I know...), that must mean they're denying refunds and withholding raffle funds not by accident (because they don't have it), but instead by intent. You see they have the money, but just don't want to refund it or send it to the charities because they're being careful. He could pay Mr. Pu the 7 figure sum that he's owed, but they're being careful instead. He could pay his designers the large sums of money that they're owed, but they're being careful instead. You see they're not cash strapped... They're just being very careful with their money.

Is this really the message he want out there?

 

[T2T]

Let's all take a moment to wish Sean a.k.a. "The Skiing Ninja" best of luck tomorrow (Monday 2/22/2010). For this is his court date against VA321.

Good luck, Sean ... we'll be thinking of you!

 

[MinusTheBear]

Yes that is very insulting to anyone that is owed anything. Does a healthy company refuse refunds to customers? Does a healthy company bait and switch the consumer to store credit (or another product) when a pre-paid product turns into vaporware? Does a healthy company intentionally have customers wait years for undelivered product in which THEY PAID FOR? Allegedly does a healthy company have the president and CEO underfund raffles that were conducted on their company forum?

Now this doesn't sound like a cash strapped company does it?

Well, if your president is not going to admit that the company is cash strapped that is some really shady business practices for a healthy company.

 

[gonk]

So they are NOT "cash-strapped" - they are simply are "being very careful" as they plan new product development. Ummm... they have several things they can decide to focus their resources on:

• Finish development of products that were announced years ago.
• Start development of entirely new products.
• Pay refunds that were requested in 2008 or early 2009.
• Pay charities the money that has been owed to them for two to five years.
• Pay money owed to vendors and other business associates.

We've heard some talk about the RSC-500, which falls under item 1, but there are others (BMF, Xplosive, Ref200, whatever name is being used for Mark's elusive SWG monitor, and of course the RSL-II that Mark already accepted $72,000 in payments for) that have dropped off the radar with an almost audible "thud." Instead, the subs have been replaced by entirely new sub designs - which made no sense at first glance, but makes a lot more sense after seeing posts from Mark Seaton indicating that he didn't plan to invest any more time working on AV123 designs. There have been no reports of movement on the other items, though. So the one option that seems to be the least critical (starting entirely new product development) is the one that is getting the most attention.

 

[Eddie Horton]

This is funny. Let's see how long it lasts. http://forums.av123.com/showpost.php?p=756918&postcount=72

 

[Chu Gai]

Let's all take a moment to wish Sean a.k.a. "The Skiing Ninja" best of luck tomorrow (Monday 2/22/2010). For this is his court date against VA321.

Good luck, Sean ... we'll be thinking of you!

I'd wager he'll shoot for a postponement based on medical reasons. Probably something like he's too week to travel and Suzanne has to come over to assist him with his condition. If so, better be a doctor's note.

 

[Chu Gai]

This is funny. Let's see how long it lasts. http://forums.av123.com/showpost.php?p=756918&postcount=72

Let's make sure we don't lose this now!

It was not my intent to start a rumor that AV123 was cash strapped or to make trouble. I took you at your word that you owed customers and others money and products and that you were committed to eventually meeting those obligations as funds became available. You said this awhile ago so if you have since met all of your financial obligations, I apologize. Since the board was shut down, I have checked out the board infrequently and you probably have updated your financial situation while I have been away.

I have a pair of 250mkIIs, a pair of 850 sigs, a bigfoot sig, a UFW-12, a P-1 and a P-3. They are all now out of warranty and some appear to be discontinued. My question is whether you have adequate parts to support all of these products for the forseeable future. Thank you in advance for a direct response to this direct question.

 

[Chu Gai]

If, as Shifty say, "We are not a wealthy company", imagine the financial straits they'd be in if they hadn't boned the customers, boned the employees, boned their suppliers, boned Ms. Khabarovsk, gotten the Porche, Benz, and watches, and taken advantage of each and every raffle participant? Why they'd have been out of business 5 years ago. Then it would've been just like every other company where Shifty had a prominent role.

Audio Alchemy - dead
Genesis - dead and reborn under new management
Perpetual Technologies - dead
AV451 - ?

 

[mhawker]

I'd wager he'll shoot for a postponement based on medical reasons. Probably something like he's too week to travel and Suzanne has to come over to assist him with his condition. If so, better be a doctor's note.

I'm sure his doctor would love to write him a note. Unfortunately, with him being called out of the country to assist the poor children in struggling-third-world-istan, that won't be possible.

 

[Stereodude]

I'd wager he'll shoot for a postponement based on medical reasons. Probably something like he's too week to travel and Suzanne has to come over to assist him with his condition. If so, better be a doctor's note.

FWIW, the court case is actually against Suzanne, not MLS...

 

[Stereodude]

Instead, the subs have been replaced by entirely new sub designs - which made no sense at first glance, but makes a lot more sense after seeing posts from Mark Seaton indicating that he didn't plan to flush any more time working on AV123 designs.

There, I fixed it for you.

It's crazy... When you don't pay contractors for their work, after a while they stop working on your stuff.

Further, VA321 has had exactly 0 hit subs if you subtract the Mark Seaton designed MFW-15. How VA321 thinks they can play in an increasingly competitive market against people like TCA, Epik, SVS, etc without a loyal following, you know the people who will buy it just because it's from MLS and VA321, without someone like Mark Seaton cooking up great designs is beyond me, but then again clearly VA321 isn't known for wise long term business decisions.

 

[Chu Gai]

FWIW, the court case is actually against Suzanne, not MLS...

Yeah, I know, but she'll play the devoted step-daugher routine who is so distraught by the near brush with death and has to assist him. Maybe Sean will chime in later.

 

[Tex-amp]

If, as Shifty say, "We are not a wealthy company", imagine the financial straits they'd be in if they hadn't boned the customers, boned the employees, boned their suppliers, boned Ms. Khabarovsk, gotten the Porche, Benz, and watches, and taken advantage of each and every raffle participant? Why they'd have been out of business 5 years ago. Then it would've been just like every other company where Shifty had a prominent role.

Audio Alchemy - dead
Genesis - dead and reborn under new management
Perpetual Technologies - dead
AV451 - ?

Audio Alchemy died a fewer years after MLS and his partners sold it.