On the Audiogon web site they are adv. a Sherwood newcastle R972 "Asking $1299.00" "Retail $1800.00". Does this mean the outlaw cannot be far behind. Plus I was surprised that "American Theater" would be discounting it so soon.

I don't know how much I trust an Audiogon ad as an indicator of when the R-972 may be shipping in volume. We've seen sites trying to sell the R-972 under similar pretenses for quite a few months now. If Axiom's site said it, I might feel differently...

Gammonall:

I was reminded of a message thread on AVS regarding buyer's experiences with American Theater with several people having voiced displeasure with doing business with them. But what really sticks out is someone who contacted them around the 3rd of June regarding the listing on Audiogone of the 972 for sale and was told that the unit had just been sold. After a debate between the caller and business owner on if the receiver had even been released yet, the person at American Theater said the 972 had been out for two-and-a-half months, and when the caller continued to question the truth of the information the person at American Theater became belligerent and hug up the phone. Impressive customer service, if ya ask me!


But, since you're apparently not interested in the 972, I'll guess that chances are that American Theater's claims are probably hogwash, sad to say.

Reminds me of sellers on Amazon's Market Place where a product that's not released yet someone is "selling". Sure, you can buy it from them, but you probably won't see it any earlier, if on time, and pay more than what Amazon is willing to.

I didn't pick up on the "American Theater" bit last night (guess that's what happens when you post from a cell phone). I've also heard a lot of horror stories about American Theater - enough so that I think the recommended approach is to assume anything they tell you is a lie.

Which contrasts sharply with the Outlaws, whom I trust explicitly to tell me nothing but the truth. Don't know that I can say that about anyone else I've ever bought anything from.

Very true. When I think about the manufacturers I deal with regularly, both in this hobby and in my job, the list of ones that I trust to be truly honest with me (whether the truth is good or bad) is very short.

Thanks for the headsup, must admit was not familiar with the American Theater and was no so much in purchasing the Sherwood but rather if that was for sale, that was a indicator of the Outlaw. Guess, just continue to wait, oh well.

I used American Theater a couple of times 3 or 4 years ago and had a couple of problems, a sorround speaker that didn't work, but they quickly replaced , and a Sony ES CD mega changer
that ended up taking a couple of months to get, but by far and large, they treated me well and their prices were great.
I really didn't know that they were still around. Their website fell into neglect, so I assumed that they had folded their tent.