My Chase Home Theater 18.T Experience - Page 7  

I must say I love the "end of the world" drama mentality that goes on here. It provides entertainment at the very least.

I've bought two 18.2s and one 18.1 and they've been some of the best purchases I've ever made. In all cases Craig has personally gone above and beyond to make sure I've been happy.

It is a shame that there are so many people that have to tear everything down without consideration. Heck...there were two full pages of responses condemning CHT before anyone from their company even had a chance to reply. Unfortunately, I have seen the same type of thing when any company on here has had something happen.

I agree that it is good for people to talk about problems with products. This is an excellent place to find out if there is a pattern that we, as customers, should be concerned about. Random, hateful...and I'd go as far as to say rude comments from people that haven't even heard or seen a particular product in person seem counterproductive though.

Kudos to Craig for refunding the money and bravo for the donation to those that defend our country. Congrats to Josh for getting a full refund. As far as I can tell at this point you aren't out anything...which is always nice when you have a problem as a consumer.

It's not the condition of the products that is the "real" problem here, it's the way in which the people in charge handled it. I mean, the sad part is Josh having to bring up these issues in a public forum to get action. Then, after being hammered unmercifully for three pages and many failed attempts at discrediting the customer, Craig finally decides to credit back the 400. You know, out of the goodness of his heart, and from his own pocket noless. Am I the only one who sees a problem with this type of business practice? I have never had a problem with CHT's products, only the way in which they conduct business. Although, I must admit, those pics did take me by surprise.

And folks, just because YOU had a positive CHT experience, it doesn't mean everyone else has. The "brand loyalty" mentality is what causes these sorts of debacles here at the forum. It's just plain silly to think that folks have nothing better to do than sit around and devise plans to destroy CHT's credibility, or any other company for that matter. People always want to downplay, but just imagine if the shoe was on the other foot...

budget sub is a BIC sub and not any sub over $300!

Small issues? Give me a break! Either a sub works or it does not. If it does not work properly then 100% refund (including shipping) is required by law, holes and leaking = does not work. This is not one of those I do not like what I ordered discussions. That was simple a horrible sub build.

Best bang for the buck going?? I will bet you $$$ on that one Personally I would never spend $1000 on a product that looks like its built in a Garage by a DIYer (I should know Im one of those )

LTD02, if its 1 out of 200 and CHT has control over its production process then there is nothing to worry about. I do think there are control issues in the manufacturing process because its not the first product I have seen shipped. Is it manageable? Of course.


There are no sharks in the water, either. Elemental Designs had the same type of thread a long time ago and if ANY other company did the same thing there would be the SAME thread.

If anyone thinks Craig is right and everyone else is just attacking him unfairly so be it. Its not the first company to have some who serious questions about it and its products and it won't be the last. To date there has never been a questioned company vindicated so I wonder how this will turn out

Yup.

Laff! I think you're seriously mistaken, mature individuals will see through your attempt to discredit your own unsatisfied customer and trying to put the blame on him and shipping damage...

Magnified images... lmao! So what, you're saying that this feet has a 1 feet diameter? It's called a close-up, used when you want to show clearly a subject. Obviously, if he used a wide angle lens and stood 10 feet away, that would not do the job...


It's easy to see that the images aren't 'magnified', or macro images as some of the more photography oriented people tend to call it, the proportional size of the defects is easy to determine given the size of one of the feet, and again the relative size of all the defects are easy to see given that those nail holes are all the same size on the different pictures...




For my first DIY projet (sub), I used a couple of screws because at the time I didn't have clamps, using a bit of wood putty and sanding, the nails are not visible under the paint. Hell, I think it looks much better than the sub with all the defects you sent to the guy... And yeah, real budget subs (300$, even <200$!!!) don't have these sort of blemishes and imperfections... How much is this one, 900$?

If I had bought a brand sub and it came looking like it did on the pics, I'd be pissed off as well. What was it, D-Stock??? Do they all come like that? Man, that's really amateur... And then the customer is out shipping because you don't refund shipping whey the get a sub that looks like it's been put together by uncle bob in his garage? And they're just supposed to take the hit? Don't like how it looks or how it works, too bad for you just lost 400$ in shipping? Ridiculous...

I also can't find the thread on the CHT forum... Weird! Maybe the interwebs ate it...

Dead Horse

-noun
1. something that has ceased to be useful or relevant.
Idiom
2. beat / floga dead horse, to persist in pursuing or trying to revive interest in a project or subject that has lost its usefulness or relevance.
Use dead horse in a Sentence
See images of dead horse
Search dead horse on the Web

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1820-30, Americanism

Alright, so we all agree that:
were not, as claimed by Craig Chase, caused by shipping damage and are not a dishonest attempt by the original poster to present 'magnified' images, but that they're simply indicative of the end quality of the product? Alright, I'll take that...

If I remember correctly, there were also similar complaints on the PRO-10 or SHO-10 which showed similar defects... These were also blamed on shipping damage or whatnot...

Customer beware...

Those are just pores in the wood right Craig? The OP magnified the picture.

This is an interesting thread. I wouldn't buy a CHT sub or speaker, not because of performance, but simply because looking at the pictures on the CHT website and posted by members, whether of the PRO10's or any of the subs, they look relatively unfinished. I.e., not enough coats of paint as Ransac mentioned, feet not perfectly aligned, white weird looking stuff in the ports of the Pro10's (may have been an older model pic), the drivers look inexpensive from the outside, etc. That may not impact performance though, which is what some people buy the product for. I can't think of anyone who purchased a CHT product due to aesthetics.

So it's pretty obvious that as many corners are cut as possible, and I thought the claim was that this was to "offer as much bang for the buck" to the consumer as possible while keeping costs down. I think this was a relatively known fact when they started, but due to all the glowing reviews many customers may have forgotten that the subs may not be built to an SVS or say HSU standard fit/finish.

So whether someone considers $775 or whatever a "budget" sub for an 18" sealed sub with an external amp is irrelevant. Personally, I'd spend more for a quality finish and maybe less performance as I use my HT in a personal family room so aesthetics is important to me. But obviously others don't care as much. E.g., it's quicker to use brad nails vs glue and clamps and cheaper that way (less labour, and I guess some may argue brad nails keep the box together stronger). Sure, one could then fill the nails and sand it down, but again, added cost. If it's not too bad, paint it and send it out. Supposedly most customers have brad nail indentations and didn't notice them (likely because of the black paint covering them up except when you get close). Same for certain types of fill, cheaper than other types of fill. Inexpensive brown feet vs other types of feet. It's fairly evident to me that a round foot for instance won't be "flush" on a square box unless you simply position them inwards a bit. To be frank, admittedly I'm not sure why anyone would want a brown foot on a black box, but to each his own. If all of the above were fixed and CHT wanted to maintain the same profit margin (extra coats of paint, better feet, better fill, puddied and sanded brad nail holes, the price of labour for added QA and the cost of actually scrapping more finished product due to this, etc) the cost would likely go up $300 to $500 or more per box. Then suddenly you'd have people (those looking for a huge deal anyhow) saying they charge too much and why not get the HSU or eD or Epik or whatever. Suddenly the performance to dollar ratio doesn't look as good.

As for leaks, other damage, that's another issue altogether and obviously not acceptable IMO.

I'm not defending CHT, as I think it's clear there were too many production issues with that sub and this whole thing was handled horribly and, unfortunately, there is nothing that can be said now to fix it or the damage done to their reputation (I'm leaving this run on sentence in here for others to fix). It's customer service IMO that makes or breaks an ID company and creates customer loyalty.

Further, I do think they would be better served to put up some decent pictures on their own website for the products so the consumer understands exactly what they are getting. I find it frustrating having to go into a forum to look for customer pics vs seeing professional pics of a product.

But it's humorous how people constantly wonder why some branded subs cost much more than others and are "killed" in a performance to dollar ratio, or for that matter from a customer service perspective.

I find with ID brands in particular, you get what you pay for. In CHT's case, if the user reports are true, you're getting a product that performs quite well at a reasonable price. At least in the short term (as depending on what corners are cut to get to a specific price point who knows how that product will fair longer term in the sense of defects - again, not saying this will happen but who knows).

In any event, I've typed a lot, and can't remember the reason I was typing this, other than, well, I'm bored watching crappy cartoons with my 4 year old. Plus, when I see a dead horse ...

Well said.

Are you referring to the dead horse cartoons....or?

Budget is a relative term, a turbo Subaru WRX is a budget sports car because it has near the performance of cars costing much more money. That does not make it inexpensive. It makes it a good value for the performance provided.

Atta' boy Craig.....blame the customer. This is like ordering a new Corvette that arrives with obvious problems and the dealer says - but you haven't even driven it yet. I ruled out buying a sub from you after asking a few simple questions about the planned construction of your subs and then being ridiculed by you on your forums for doing so instead of being awestruck by your preliminary performance specs. I've noticed you never miss an opportunity to plug your stuff or belittle, argue with and lay blame on forum members and customers. I'm amazed that you put more value on the $400.00 shipping charge your trying to keep over the losses you're going to suffer from handling this in this manner.

I am a dentist and I take macro photo of teeth regularly. If I use my Nikon with macro len and ring flash, those defects would look like Grand Canon Anyway, joke aside, it is Christmas and no more bickering until Monday.

John

http://www.flayme.com/troll/

Wow, it's morning and I see this thing was going on all night! Hey Craig, in reference to one of your previous posts, I own two Outlaw LFM-1ex subs, one purchased as B-stock. Both were delivered in beautiful condition, and look terrific with the plexi tops. Funny, the b-stock sub DID have the amp mounted upside down! They both still work great and look great!

No way man. "Budget" to our insane HT demographic is performance that nears or equals a Gotham / Fathom, Paradigm 25, etc etc.

If I can spend ~$1k and get a 15"-18" driver, approach 20hz with clean, tight, non-Civic ka-boom-boom robust SPLs, then damn spiffy I'm going to give it a shot.

A BIC buyer is moving up from a HTIB, doesn't want to shop at Best Buy, and fer damn sure has never heard of "room compression", "double subs for flat response" and doesn't take into account his room's cubic foot volume!

We are the crazy legion of boom, and $1k is really the starting point to our sub hobby.

I was just going to post but what you posted is what I feel I have had many subs and did not have to put on the feet to plug holes. Craig come on man you have had many subs from what I read did you have to put the feet on to plug holes just be honest. Think HSU,SVS,eD look at the finish product dude if you are going to continue in the bussiness that is not an excuse even AV123 had a great finish.

[quote=HuskerOmaha;19701637]http://www.flayme.com/troll/



http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Toadie

The ACI Maestro had an integral base plate. If one wanted to use it as a front firing subwoofer, one took the base plate off, and then one would insert the screws back into the unit in order to seal up those holes.

[quote=trolly;19701693]
http://www.thedummyshoppe.com/catego...=6&c_sp_id=7#2

Hmm, subs work well but look like hell? Maybe this is the answer...http://www.parts-express.com/wizards...AT&srchCat=535

Ok I see where this is going I am but ONE customer that you will never have to worry about I will not bash your company but also will not recommend it one way or the other you may not care either, good luck at your continued success.

I really don't get the hostility. The SVS PB-12 Plus/2 had the same issue with the baseplates. If you removed them, you needed to replace the screws, or there would be holes in the bottoms of the subwoofers.

You asked a question, and I answered it without rancor.

Always good to see people who don't like the OP's thread, like HuskerOmaha, are hard at working trying to get it locked.

I wish I had the time I did when I was a full-time college student.

I miss those days.

You can define "Budget" to anything you want but it does not make it true.

Budget subs are not the subs discussed daily here. Do you want to know the percentage of the population that owns a $1K sub???? That defines what a budget sub is

I agree that you get what you pay for. I consider $898.00 for the 18.1 or $1396.00 for the 18.2 Series 2 to be fairly expensive and not a bargain IMO. But looking at some of the photos of CHT subs I do not believe the below quotes from the CHT website to be very accurate.

:Flat black with clear coat finish

:Custom designed and manufactured in the USA, to CraigSUB specifications, exclusively for Chase Home Theater

Doesn't appear to be a clear coat finish on the subs pictured. Also I see nothing custom about the design or manufacturing of the cabinents shown.

:Think increased WAF as the products all blend together for the eye.

From the pictures posted I would not think the WAF would be very high.

:Based on user feedback, we have also eliminated the grilles for the CS-18.2 Series 2.

No grilles?

Not trying to pile on here but reading the text of the CHT site one would believe that they would be getting a nicely finished cabinent. But looking at the pictures of the CHT subs that does not appear to be true. So IMO then CHT would be 100% accountable for sub standard (pardon the pun) build quality. Has anyone done comparisons (non biased) of CHT subs to other ID company subs in a similar price range?

Bill