In regards to Soundsplinter...

[Ricci]

A question for the powers that be at SS.

I was just wondering what effect the apparent demise of TC Sounds and possibly also Audiopulse will have on the future of Soundsplinter? I know that they were the build house for SS, so what happens to the SS subwoofers? Will a new build house be brought in to take over manufacturing of the existing subs as is, or will there be a discontinuation of the old lines, with new ones to take their place?

[SoundSplinter]

Hello Ricci,

At the moment, there is no doubt that SoundSplinter inventory is beginning to run thin on certain popular products. I had approximately 200 drivers on order with TC when their bankruptcy was declared last December. Obviously, I haven't been able to receive delivery on those purchases, nor have I been able to make subsequent purchases. As a friend of TC, I have it on good faith that their intent is to rebuild their speaker company from the ground up. They cannot do this however, until their bankruptcy case is settled - and there is no real telling when that will be, as the decision rests in the hands of the court system. I am hoping no more than 15 - 45 days.

I am honestly not too interested in finding a new producer at this time, as I have a fair lot of other business to tend to these days in addition to subwoofer retailing (property management, website management, and stock trading). If it turns out TC doesn't make it back and I liquidate my remaining inventory (which I sincerely doubt will happen), just remember that I will never leave my customers out in the cold; I personally guarantee all warranty service for its full term, and if I don't have a replacement product for you at the time of said service, I'll refund your entire original purchase price.

[Ricci]

I appreciate the detailed and straightforward reply Mike. I was not trying to stir up the muck or anything. I had not heard anyone asking this question, so thought I would ask. It will be a shame if SS and it's drivers are not available any longer as they are some of the highest quality. Best of luck. Hopefully TC/AP gets their act together.

[Scott S]

I have been very much interested in this too. As an owner of two RLp18's, that I really like btw, I wouldn't want to see another great company go down.

Will have to keep my eyes open on any deals on more RLp18's. I would like to get another pair this year.

[atledreier]

Yeah, my two RL-p15s are looking for some company, dude. This might just prompt me to get my finger out and get them sooner!

I sure hope you can hang in there!

[a1161979]

SoundSplinter wrote:

Hello Ricci,

At the moment, there is no doubt that SoundSplinter inventory is beginning to run thin on certain popular products. I had approximately 200 drivers on order with TC when their bankruptcy was declared last December. Obviously, I haven't been able to receive delivery on those purchases, nor have I been able to make subsequent purchases. As a friend of TC, I have it on good faith that their intent is to rebuild their speaker company from the ground up. They cannot do this however, until their bankruptcy case is settled - and there is no real telling when that will be, as the decision rests in the hands of the court system. I am hoping no more than 15 - 45 days.

I am honestly not too interested in finding a new producer at this time, as I have a fair lot of other business to tend to these days in addition to subwoofer retailing (property management, website management, and stock trading). If it turns out TC doesn't make it back and I liquidate my remaining inventory (which I sincerely doubt will happen), just remember that I will never leave my customers out in the cold; I personally guarantee all warranty service for its full term, and if I don't have a replacement product for you at the time of said service, I'll refund your entire original purchase price.

Mike this may not be a question you want to answer but why does Soundsplinter attempt to get is Drivers manufacuted in the United States? Wouldnt it be more profitable to shift to Chinese manufacturing? Although i understand the difficulties with shipping but surely it would be cheaper to ship containerloads at a time from China? Of course this assumes there a build houses that can produce what you demand but im sure their are who will manufacture at a reasonable price, i have no dount TC were good to you... But obviously not to themselves

[SoundSplinter]

Overseas production would be the least expensive way to go if I were to scale up the business. However I am quite content operating the company on low volume and zero distribution, where all drivers are personally shipped by me. This small scale won't let the business take over my life and leaves me time to spend on other intrigues. It would just take way too much time, money, and effort for me to personally deal with an overseas vendor in seeing a new product line come to fruition successfully. Frankly, I lack the expertise to reasonably tackle that task, which is why I have been fortunate to have such a close relationship with the engineers at TC Sounds. I would bet that once TC gets back on their feet, an increasingly greater proportion of their work will be sourced from overseas.

[a1161979]

SoundSplinter wrote:

Overseas production would be the least expensive way to go if I were to scale up the business. However I am quite content operating the company on low volume and zero distribution, where all drivers are personally shipped by me. This small scale won't let the business take over my life and leaves me time to spend on other intrigues. It would just take way too much time, money, and effort for me to personally deal with an overseas vendor in seeing a new product line come to fruition successfully. Frankly, I lack the expertise to reasonably tackle that task, which is why I have been fortunate to have such a close relationship with the engineers at TC Sounds. I would bet that once TC gets back on their feet, an increasingly greater proportion of their work will be sourced from overseas.

Fair enough, thank you for the reply and all the best for the future

Oh and it sounds to me like you know something about TC future than we do... You sound fairly positive which leads me to ask why? Sounds to me like TC are planing on restarting and shifting production overseas

[Mike Cason]

a1161979 wrote:

Mike this may not be a question you want to answer but why does Soundsplinter attempt to get is Drivers manufacuted in the United States? Wouldnt it be more profitable to shift to Chinese manufacturing? Although i understand the difficulties with shipping but surely it would be cheaper to ship containerloads at a time from China? Of course this assumes there a build houses that can produce what you demand but im sure their are who will manufacture at a reasonable price, i have no dount TC were good to you... But obviously not to themselves

I have a friend that builds oem speakers and he has a source that builds much stronger and lighter cones here in the states than China will build for us. Yes they will be cheaper from China, but the product will be a cheaper product too. I'm not willing to compromise my dollars for a cheaper built driver after so many years of working to have a great sound system. I'll be happy to pay more money for my drivers knowing they are built with the best possible components.

I beleive TC Sounds has sourced many parts from China and maybe even the cones. But the build quality could easily change as we are getting more inferior products from China at an alarming rate.

When I heard about the problems with TC Sounds, I grabbed the checkbook and ordered two more drivers from Mike while they were still available to build my second sub so I know the drivers are the build quality I expect from the SoundSplinter driver.

Expecting prompt shipments from China to keep inventory on hand is pot luck at best.

If you watch the news, we've been having a lot of problems with many products built in China, from lead in our children's toys to spec grade bolts our industries and government use.

I'll pay Mike more for his drivers if they are built here and continue to be the quality he has provided for us for years. I wouldn't want to RMA a cheap China driver for another cheap China driver, just waiting for it to fail as well.

Just my .02

Mike

[Bent]

Good post Mr. Cason - I agree competely