I miss av123

[eddie]

I know I'm opening myself up to criticism, but I do miss AV123. I don't condone what Mr Schifter did, but I miss the site and the fanboys. I like the whole idea of having quality speakers available at a knockdown price. I should have known it was too good to be true to have wood veneered speakers made with quality components at those prices. I miss the previews for upcoming products and the updates that kept you abreast of the whole development process of his upcoming products. It's too bad Mr Shifter couldn't keep it together and resorted to dishonesty. It was a fun place to hang out and it was nice thinking that I could afford his products. I don't see anything out there that even comes close to what he was offering for the price, nor do I see the same enthusiastic fanbase for any other company. Oh well, it was fun just reminiscing.

 

[j_garcia]

There are plenty of other ID manufacturers out there.... Not too much at the price of the X line, but plenty at the price of the Rockets.

 

[zhimbo]

There are plenty of other ID manufacturers out there.... Not too much at the price of the X line, but plenty at the price of the Rockets.

And with no shortage of fanboys, either! Although AV123 fanboys were a bit more enthusiastic than usual, I suppose.

 

[ratso]

come on over to the salk circle at audiocircle.

 

[eddie]

There are plenty of other ID manufacturers out there.... Not too much at the price of the X line, but plenty at the price of the Rockets.

The X-Line was what I was thinking of mostly.

 

[eddie]

come on over to the salk circle at audiocircle.

Too rich for my blood! Thanks anyway. I do admire the products though.

 

[gmichael]

I miss that I was never able to get the matching center and surrounds for my Mini's. Now I have a system that can never have matching speakers unless I start over.

 

[shadyJ]

My understanding is that Mr. Schifter didn't 'resort' to dishonesty- he never resorted to honesty in the first place. He didn't pay suppliers, he ripped off his own employees and business partners, and he cut corners other companies wouldn't have, such as spending anything on quality control. That's how he sold stuff so cheaply. One thing Schifter did well was he cultivated enthusiasm with charisma and salesmanship, and also personal involvement with his customer base. I think there will be success for the businessman who can replicate that but with out all the crookedness of AV123.

 

[Volta]

So what ever happened to Mark? Has anyone seen him around the forums or seen him lurking? I wonder if he will ever show up again.

 

[Warpdrv]

I'd like to think he's still in jail.....

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I have a X-sub... wondering whether I should give it away or set it on fire.

 

[cschang]

So what ever happened to Mark? Has anyone seen him around the forums or seen him lurking? I wonder if he will ever show up again.

I'd like to think he's still in jail.....

This was a while ago, but my understanding is that he was on some type of work release program. In jail at night or weekends, and out during the week or day to work.

 

[MatthewB.]

I still have my pair of Strata Mini's in my home office/guest bedroom used strictly in a stereo setup and although the sweet spot is very small, when sitting in that sweet spot, the sound is still quite fantastic. Shame that Schifty ran it right into the ground, but I guess I'll be doing the same with these speakers considering if I were to sell them, I wouldn't get much for em. So I'll keep them and use them till they start to break down.

I can't complain too much because these were the pair that Mark let make the rounds on another forums "Pass the speaker" audition where they traveled across the U.S> and I got to demo them at a member who lived in Florida and they sounded fantastic, so I got to buy them at half off and in great condition.

I still get compliments on them, but mostly from people who don't know the whole AV123 story.

 

[j_garcia]

Here is the thing about the X-series: They were designed by Danny at GR. AV123 was practically just a manufacturer in that respect IMO, and they were designed to be a great sounding budget speaker. To that end, they were excellent, and I was surprised that they could produce a speaker that sounded that good for prices like that. GR A/V-1 kits with no cabinets cost more than what they were asking for a pair of finished XLS bookshelf speakers, but they also weren't quite as good as the A/V-1 (I compared them in my setup).

I liked AV123, but this is one of those sleeping dogs that should be left to lie.

 

[woofersus]

FWIW, Danny Richie has a bunch of the leftover X-series stuff for sale pretty cheap if anybody wishes they hadn't missed it. The factory in Columbia was fed a bunch of orders to keep the appearance of a future, then was stuck with a ton of stock that would never be sold. Danny bought it all to help them out and is selling it at around cost. (tellingly this is still more than what AV123 frequently sold b-stock for)

It's true Danny was 100% responsible for the X-series designs. (and sometimes even spec'd higher than what AV123 delivered) He did the crossovers (or the later, updated crossovers) for all their speakers, but the X-Series and the LS6/LS9 speakers were all his.

 

[exospire]

Hey guys

I have the ELT525 5.0 set, and I love it but I've had it for a couple years and I'd like to upgrade. I WISH I could find some Rockets because they sound perfect for me, but what is around that would be comparable? I got the ELT525 5.0 set during their Black Friday event for $800 lol. I don't think theres anything better for that price. I'm looking to spend about $1100 on two towers and a center, and save for surrounds later. My sub is a SVS PB10-NSD and receiver Onkyo SR707. What do you guys think? I loved the smoothness and warm tonality of the ELT525s, just want a bigger sound and improve on the soundstage, and a new center since that is the ELT525's weak point.

 

[Rmassey]

Yeah, I miss the forum too. I was a regular there. I wouldn't consider myself a fan-boy (you can decide) as I was often very critical of all the hoopla around new products, pre-orders, buy now deliver later sales tactics. The whole charity fraud thing has left me with a bad vibe that is hard to dismiss. I live in CO and went to all the local Rocket GTG events and even over the Marks house a few times to demo gear. It's inexcusable what he did to customers, employees, charities... no sympathy here.

I have a house full of AV123 products (550s, 750s, 760s, Bigfoot, ELTs, UFW-10, MFW-15) and they all work/sound just fine. I was always very cautious about my purchase of AV123 products and stuck mostly to speakers/subs.

AV123 electronics were a disaster for the business and consumer IMO. I got lucky with an early production run of the MFW-15 sub, with a functional amp, that still works. I had two UFW10s, one died and they took it back in exchange for the MFW. The one early electronics product that I do have is the PT combo + SOCS, running with my 750s and UFW sub. This is a really nice 2 channel system that continues to deliver incredible sound.

I think if they had just stuck to speakers and perhaps subs (with better quality amps), they would have endured. The partnership with Danny Richie on XO designs was always a win. The 760s I have sound incredible and I won them in a GTG raffle so what's not to like.

I think the early products that came from the China factory were very high quality. The Columbia factory was a disaster IMO and constantly plagued with production and quality issues, making delivery dates, rising shipping/fuel costs, etc. I have a black MFW that came from Columbia, so it does not suffer from finish issues as some of the veneer products did.

Oh well, these days are gone forever. I haven't found another forum/manf. that fills the void so I guess I'll just continue to enjoy my Rockets.

 

[Nuance AH]

I wonder how many of the AV123 regulars cut bait, sold their products and purchased something else? And regarding those folks, I'm curious what they replaced their AV123 speakers with.

Mark is a crook, and it's too bad it effected so many (good) people.

 

[j_garcia]

FWIW, Danny Richie has a bunch of the leftover X-series stuff for sale pretty cheap if anybody wishes they hadn't missed it. The factory in Columbia was fed a bunch of orders to keep the appearance of a future, then was stuck with a ton of stock that would never be sold. Danny bought it all to help them out and is selling it at around cost. (tellingly this is still more than what AV123 frequently sold b-stock for)

It's true Danny was 100% responsible for the X-series designs. (and sometimes even spec'd higher than what AV123 delivered) He did the crossovers (or the later, updated crossovers) for all their speakers, but the X-Series and the LS6/LS9 speakers were all his.

Mark was always that was IMO. The factory in Columbia wasn't the only company he left hanging. I heard a story about him not paying a shipping company in the midwest who subsequently kept all of the inventory they had from AV123, and this was YEARS before the bigger scandal. Everyone who dealt with them knew about the big announcements and long, long delays, or never even delivering products. It just sucks that it had to go that way and that he pulled so many others who thought they were doing something good into their actual business just to screw them all.

I had a lot of fun discussing things on their forum though. Good people there. And of course, the speakers were the real reason, because some of those speakers were excellent.

 

[woofersus]

Mark was always that was IMO. The factory in Columbia wasn't the only company he left hanging. I heard a story about him not paying a shipping company in the midwest who subsequently kept all of the inventory they had from AV123, and this was YEARS before the bigger scandal. Everyone who dealt with them knew about the big announcements and long, long delays, or never even delivering products. It just sucks that it had to go that way and that he pulled so many others who thought they were doing something good into their actual business just to screw them all.

I had a lot of fun discussing things on their forum though. Good people there. And of course, the speakers were the real reason, because some of those speakers were excellent.

Oh believe me, I've heard 1st hand accounts from plenty of people who got screwed over the years - some of which dwarf the charities fraud scandal. That's behind us now though, and the speakers that remain are still very nice in many cases. Owners shouldn't have to feel bad for having them.