New Toys!
- Thread starter jaxwired
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- Thread Author
- #22
Bought brand new but I bought a 200 first then a slave unit later. I only got the double box. And like I said, the outer box held the inner black box in place with styrofoam corner pieces that were in shreds when it reached me. Maybe they stopped doing that.
M
mauidan
Guest
I've unpacked two D200s and a companion, and like you was greeted with the styrofoam corner units in pieces.
Since I had to ship a D200 back to the mainland, I made replacement corner units out of some foam padding left over from a pool installation:
Makes you appreciate hiend companies that put some real effort into product packaging.
Best I've ever seen were the custom flight cases of the Technical Brain monos amps I got to try in my system.
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the professor
Well-known member
Mine was triple boxed and certainly no issues and everything was great, but the Styrofoam corner pieces between the last 2 boxes were broken into pieces. So i understand what you are saying but IMO after 2 other boxes etc they were not needed anyway.
I didn't misunderstand Mark, and you're welcome.
Please share what manufacturers you've encountered that ship in this manner: "packing gear inside of a trash bag inside a box that was never designed for the piece of gear that is 'laying' inside it that is filled with packing peanuts".
I've personally never experienced the kind of pack-job that you describe with new gear from any manufacturer. Used gear, yes that's a complete other story and is a total crap shoot how it will be packaged for delivery.
I stand by my original comment that "Those heavy corner angle-pieces pay dividends in carton strength and should be utilized more often in this industry"....and I'm not referring to adding the corner braces into a box that is full of peanuts and a trash bag with an amp in it. I'm referring to strengthening the corners as NAD has done it in the pictures shown.
mep
Well-known member
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- Dec 4, 2013
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- 5,105
I still think you misunderstood my point, but that's OK. If you buy gear from the established big boys in our industry, you probably won't see gear packed the way I described. If you buy gear from the cottage industry, you just may. I take pictures of all gear when it arrives at my house for review starting with the outside of the box in order to document the condition it arrived in and how it was packed. I'm not out to publicly shame anyone because I know some of these companies are either new or struggling to survive, although I did mention my displeasure at one manufacture's use of Styrofoam that shed tiny beads all over my house when I unpacked his D/A converter in my review . I also think there are some who think this is OK because they are saving money which I don't agree with. Here are a couple of pictures to show you an example of gear that has arrived here for review:
As I said before, when I reviewed the Manley Chinook phono stage, I spent some time to talk about how professional their packaging was in comparison to others who are charging far higher prices for the gear they are selling and weren't coming close to Manley standards. I do think that pride of ownership starts at the door when your package is delivered (or not). When UPS or FedEx shows up at your door with a plain brown cardboard box with no company logo printed on the sides and top and there is just something scribbled in black magic marker, it lets the air out of the balloon for me. I think I mentioned something about those type of deliveries could be mistaken by your neighbors as you receiving a large box of porn material. And then when you open the plain cardboard box and see no more thought was put into the inside of the box than the outside of the box, it's a bummer for me.
Back when Michael Elliott was still in business repairing and upgrading Counterpoint electronics, he warned everyone on his website not to ship any gear back to him packed in peanuts. He told everyone that if he opens a box and sees peanuts, the box will be taped shut and shipped back to you. I get it. Aside from their marginal support for heavy items, who the hell enjoys chasing them around your room?
At some point in time, you are either going to send this piece of gear back to the manufacturer for repair or upgrades. Or, there will come the time when you want to sell it and move on (and for some people we know that time comes very quickly
), and now you have to hope that your box and 'packing materials' will survive another trip at the brutal hands of the shipping industry.Attachments
Hi Mark,
I guess I just haven't ever received a new piece of gear packaged as you've described and shown here. Granted, you certainly DO see more new-boxed-gear than many of us due to your effort as a reviewer so I'll default to your experience if you see it as a more common occurrence. I believe you.
The peanuts with their static attraction or repel are most certainly an evil that I'd rather not have to deal with either.
All I was trying to explain with my first post in this thread is that with proper packaging from a given, reputable manufacturer (could be small time or big time company) that accounting for (dimensionally) and including the heavy pressed cardboard corner braces as NAD has provided in Tom's pictures are a welcome addition and more companies could learn from NAD. Adding these types of braces to an already top notch packaging-system shows that a company cares about their products' safe travels.
We agree more on this topic Mark than you may think....
eace:
I guess I just haven't ever received a new piece of gear packaged as you've described and shown here. Granted, you certainly DO see more new-boxed-gear than many of us due to your effort as a reviewer so I'll default to your experience if you see it as a more common occurrence. I believe you.
The peanuts with their static attraction or repel are most certainly an evil that I'd rather not have to deal with either.
All I was trying to explain with my first post in this thread is that with proper packaging from a given, reputable manufacturer (could be small time or big time company) that accounting for (dimensionally) and including the heavy pressed cardboard corner braces as NAD has provided in Tom's pictures are a welcome addition and more companies could learn from NAD. Adding these types of braces to an already top notch packaging-system shows that a company cares about their products' safe travels.
We agree more on this topic Mark than you may think....
eace:
audio.bill
Active member
Audioseduction
Active member
Good looking NADs. Tom, are your Devialet 400s lacking in SQ?
audio.bill
Active member
Hey Tom - I saw that you have these up for sale on AG. I guess that they didn't live up to your needs or expectations; would appreciate your impressions if you care to share without negatively impacting your pending sales. TIA!
Wait, Tom is already selling this stuff? Holy shiz. Barring a financial emergency, I can see it now: *hooks gear up* *flips it on* *listens for 10 seconds* "NOPE.exe" *proceed to put gear back into the box* *drop kicks it onto AG*.
CDLehner
New member
^^ LOL; no shame, in getting bested by the ~$18,000 Devialet 400.
- Thread Author
- #38
LOL! Not quite that fast, but close.
- Thread Author
- #39
Sure. The M22 sold last night so I just have the M12 still up on audiogon.
I bought the NAD pair for a few reasons. First, I love the look of them. IMO, sexier than even the Devialet. I'm not a huge fan of the mirror finish on the Devialet. And I love how the NAD has a BIG screen and I can see the volume from my listening spot. The second reason I bought the NAD was that I had previously owned a NAD M2 and loved that amp. The M2 is superb and I think never got the accolades it deserved. And lastly, I bought the NADs because the S/N specs put them in lock step with the Devialet. It's also very similar to a Devialet system in that it's got all the built in stuff, DAC, Streamer, and even Phono. So I thought, if I liked the sound as much as the Devialet, I could replace the D400s and pocket a serious wad of cash for my trouble.
So that was my motivation. While some people would probably give the NAD setup more time than I did (feel free to criticize me for lack of run-in and snap judgements), I did listen for many hours to the NAD and also did a lot of swapping back and forth with the Devialets. The NAD IS super quiet. The noise floor is every bit as low on the NAD pair as the Devialet. Music emerges from total blackness. So that was a "check". The NAD also provides the same clean clear presentation as the Devialet. However, the NADs top end is slightly more distant sounding. Like the Devialet is 3rd row and the NAD is 15th row. Some people I'm sure might prefer this as the NAD, I believe, still delivered the goods when it comes to resolution and detail, but it's not as vibrant as the Devialet. I prefer the Devialet's more vivid presentation. The second big difference with the NAD sound is flatter and less 3 dimensional. The Devialet has a more spacious sound with clear front to back depth. The NAD did not provide this illusion of space as well. I suspect this difference is due to the Class D vs Class A/D. So that's about it. I would only have replaced the Devialet with the NAD if I thought the sound was just as good or really damn close.
The good news is, it gave me a fresh appreciation for how incredible the Devialet D400 system really is. I believe if I had not had the Devialet to A/B with the NAD I would have been a happy camper with the NAD pair.