Chase Home Theater closing?  

FYI, I raised the issue here earlier today.

Please remember when discussing Chase's proposed closure to keep political discussions off AVS. If you can't discuss the closing without bringing politics into the discussion...we'll then those comments shouldn't be posted.

^^^

might as well just close the thread rob, since his reason for closure was entirely politically motivated...

Blaming someone else for his mismanagement.

He opened his business under the current administration and seemed like it was doing just fine, now its someone elses fault that his business is going down the drain? Running a successful business takes more than just a part time effort, its tough and extremely stressful if you can't handle that then running a small business probably isn't a great idea.

Its sucks that another ID brand is done for but only the strong will survive. Half attempts at running a business won't end in a good result.

+1. Moreover, what business conditions changed between Monday and Wednesday? None. So politics had nothing to do with this. Well managed companies do well and poorly managed companies go under, no matter who the 'current occupant' happens to be.

The thread in its entirety other there is ridiculous and makes me glad I am so indecisive in choosing my speakers for my home theater. I read the comments on the threads here in AVS and thought maybe they were off-point. Boy was I wrong. Can anyone spell "scapegoating"?

as usual, to the point and correct bill...

i own a small business... amazingly enough, my doors are still open today...

Please remember when discussing Chase's proposed closure to keep political discussions off AVS. If you can't discuss the closing without bringing politics into the discussion...we'll then those comments shouldn't be posted. It maybe that members can't discuss the closing without diverging into politics....so this thread maybe closed. For the time being, we'll leave it open and those that continue to talk politics (including quoting other sites) will be restricted from posting in this thread. Sorry, but allowing that type of discussion here creates a "slippery slope".

So let me just say that there are laws on the books now that will take full effect over the next few years. Craig explains in credible details how it affects his business.

I agree, might as well close the thread because nothing constructive is going to be discussed.

It didn’t sound like politics was the deciding factor. It was the result of current regulation on his business and how he knows that’s not going to change now. I’m afraid this will happen to many of the small companies that make the ID products we discuss here.

As do I, and it's thriving.

I think if this was the case, it would have been more understandable if he just came out and said this election is going to decide if he keeps his business open. It would have at least basically told buyers to stay away, especially because this election was always close. One of the reasons I purchased subs from this company was his constant reminder he was in this as a hobby and not to maximize his profit. The products were very well priced compared to the competition. In hindsight, because this is not something that is his main focus, it would have been much smarter to just have bought HSU, SVS, or another well established company. I will not get into the fact that he sounds like Bill O'Reilly right now, but it seems like going ID has its issues, and in my case I weighed the pros and cons all wrong. Who wants to now go through the hassle if something breaks of trying to find a way to fix a product from a non-existent company? Not happy at all. For the record, the 2 18 inch subs are amazing in the setup I have.

Do you have more than 50 employees?

He started selling off his inventory in September, the state of the company was questionable to me when this started. He was claiming it was to make way for "new products" but clearly it was just him selling off the remainder of the inventory prior to announcing he was going under. And as some of you have already stated, it appears he is just blaming the gov't. Bill, I made the exact statement in his thread yesterday and he removed my ability to post or see threads when signed in, very immature. The title of his thread explains what kind of person he is, the products may have been good(?) but I'm glad I didn't end up owning them.

-Sean

Bwahahahaha love it.

I've made the mistake of entering an argument with Craig in the past with similar results... Except he deleted most of my posts, changed my member status to "Math makes my head hurt" or something like that (in reality my use of math to discredit his claims was making his head hurt lol), and wrote a post saying that he booted me because I was being insulting etc. It's just not worth the time or effort.
Edited by lennon_68 - 11/8/12 at 10:43am

it's always easier to blame others for your own failings... it would appear on the surface to be the case here... complete with an easy to blame target, creating sympathy for the business owner, making it even easier for him to sell whatever he has left...

cynical, i know...

Yeah he deleted the posts of mine where I explained facts that validated my statments. If he ever starts another company, I will stay far away from it no matter what the quality of the product is.

-Sean

not surprisingly, chu has a well thought out take on this... sounds about right to me...

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1321030/official-chase-home-theater-owners-thread/270#post_22568479

I think you make a very fair point. The whole thing seems knee-jerk and Craig seems pretty clear that this has been in the works for months and the outcome of the election pushed him to make this decision. He really should have been more forthcoming to folks about the state of his company and that, depending on who won in November, might be closing the doors.

Otherwise this whole thing has to be knee-jerk (or as others mentioned, Craig is using politics as an excuse). As for parts or issues, the good news is that these are passive subs, so if the amp fails it is most likely warranted through the manufacturer, and if not, is easier to replace. Same with the driver if it fails, you can find fairly inexpensive replacement drivers via Parts Express that should work.

That said, I was an eD customer and it really made me open my eyes to ID companies and ask more tough questions. I won't lie, I looked into Chase and passed for several reasons, but primarily, I was concerned about their customer service when it took me numerous attempts to just get some basic questions answered. I eventually spoke to Craig, and he was very helpful and professional over the phone, but I decided to go with Hsu or SVS (eventually deciding on Hsu). Same with Epik. Too many concerns for such a small ID company.

But to be fair, but companies can fail or be bought too. Look at Klipsch. IMHO, they are not the same company they used to be...

Hopefully you will not have any issues with your purchase..

Funny this comes to play. Not more than an hour ago I was thinking about moving into 7 SHO-10's for a 7:2 set up. I guess I better decided quick. Am I the only one that sits and thinks about speakers all day?

I was worried that I should have gone with Chase instead of JTR. Now I know that I made the correct choice. That being said, I had nothing but positive experiences when talking with Craig.

colleycol, sorry but I had to delete your post. I've read what's been happending on the Chase Forum and I don't want those caustic/attack posts to spill over into AVS. For those interested in viewing first hand how this is being handled, you can visit that companies forum.

Frankly, this topic is kind of dicey and we are trying to let everyone chat and catch up on the developments, but posts/conduct that we wouldn't allow on AVS shouldn't be quoted on AVS (within a post)...that includes such things as Name calling and political posts. Sorry, but we need to keep our focus, purpose and mission of our site.

Thanks for everyone's understanding and help

Ron

When I read that thread on the Chase website, I thought, "Is this dude really Mark Schifter?" He speaks of an IRS audit in one of the posts. Wouldn't be surprised if he did something illegal; hope that's not the case.

These ID companies are an interesting thing. I bought two MFW-15s four years ago. They crapped out but luckily a simple fix was out there and they are still running strong after the capacitor swaps. I lucked out.

Was it common knowldge that Craig was a car dealer? If so, then I would've stayed away based upon that fact alone.

I felt bad for him for a second until he went on a ridiculous unnecessary rant against the gov't. Maybe business isn't good? How was he able to survive the last 4 yrs?
Then some things stuck out in his posts. Why is the IRS auditing him on worker wages? Why are his drivers being help up by customs? Sounds to me like the buck stops with him since he is the owner. Blaming the gov't is a cop out and a lame excuse, even if it's partially true. Plus it seems like he has other businesses to worry about as well. I would think having a small business requires full time attention and commitment.

I don't like this 'poor me, the big bad gov't is after me' attitude he has. Man up and take some responsibilty for your business. I respect his decision to end it, but his way of explaining and blaming everyone else was in bad taste in IMO. Plus when he states it's not out of anger and bitterness, well sorry, to me it seems exactly the reason. His guy lost plain and simple and he is playing the victim.
He has banned a few people on his forum already for challenging him and the way he is talking down to them like they are idiots makes him look immature and bitter. Like colley said, if you don't agree with him you are a moron. Great way to be professional!

I just read Chu's post. Makes sense to me, and probably spot on. Never has Craig accepted responsibility for his failing company. That speaks volumes to me.
I'm sorry for those who bought stuff from him, and I truly hope he takes care of any issues you may have in the future. I for one am glad I never went that route. I will do and gladly support professional American businesses, but when the owner talks down to people who don't agree with them, basically calling them all idiots, well he deserves exactly what he gets.
I do feel bad for the people who worked for him, they will suffer the most.

Tax audits are way up for Americans making $200K a year and above, and for small businesses:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577144700500000514.html

They also created a special IRS division that targets higher wage earners called the "Global High Wealth Industry" IRS unit:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/27/irs-audits-richest-americans_n_840627.html

Does this sound American to you? Sounds like profiling and an attempt by the Govenrment to strong arm higher wage earners to pay more money. Face it, the US tax code is one of the most complicated tax codes in existence.

Since Craig owns a number of companies I have no doubt that he is not a target of the IRS.

The odds that one will be audited is very very slim. However, if you received a tax benefit for making false/misleading statements on your returns then I guarantee that would easily trigger an audit. His statements/rants are full of holes. The IRS does not care what you pay your employees unless you misrepresented your costs to reduce your tax burden. That would most likely trigger a visit from the State, not the Gov't. Makes no sense.

I'm still trying to find out what the frequency response is on the 1st sub they were selling.

Rboster,

Thanks for jumping in and keeping this clean and simple. Unfortunately, AVS lost some very good posters over the CHT M.O. Penngray, Lilgator and several others who were either banned or just left rather than defend themselves against being constantly reported by that group for refusing to back down when they were only stating the obvious are sorely missed.

I wish the good that might come out of all of this is that the new owners might consider an amnesty and bring those guys back.

Just another lowly opinion from a long time member who prefers the valuable input from those who were Chased away to caustic vapor.

Who else would it make sense for auditors to focus on? I'm also not sure how validating a business or individual paid the appropriate amount of tax is "strong arming"

The defense of Craig is becoming eerily similar to the early defense of Mark Schifter.