This is an excellent question. Personally, I think quality control on the 950 is quite good. I also think that it is worth keeping in mind just how much of a factor this forum is. Every user who receives a defective unit has the option of posting here when the unit arrives, or mentioning it at any time afterward. And since every user has almost certainly been to the web site, the likelihood of them being aware of this forum is high. In contrast, people buying Rotel or Adcom or Sherbourn or Atlantic Tech or (fill in the blank) don't have a manufacturer-based forum, and many of them will never know about the third-party forums like HTF or HTT or HTSpot because they did some or all of their shopping through brick & mortar outlets. Defective units or warranty repairs for those products are significantly less likely to be commented on in an online forum. In addition to the heightened likelihood of problems being reported on the forum, consider this: I started a "
post here when you receive your 950 " thread back when they started shipping pre-orders out. At the time, Outlaw was using air freight to bring shipments over from the factory to fill preorders as well as bring additional shipments over by freighter. Between April and September, I counted a grand total of 55 posts reporting people receiving 950's. We will never know how many pre-ordes there were, but I think it's safe to say that there were likely a few thousand. That means that out of the most eager buyers (those who pre-ordered, many of whom gravitated to this forum while waiting for their 950's to arrive), we saw only a handful -- likely under 5%, possibly closer to 1% -- come to the forum to say, "Got it! Works great!" Expand that for the 18 months or so since then, and it seems almost irrefutable that a large majority of satisfied 950 buyers never set foot in this forum, or come here to read the posts but never actually say anything. The regular posters in this forum who are also 950 owners likely account for a fraction of a percent of the total 950 ownership. A much higher percent of users experiencing problems are going to appear here -- it's an extension of the concept of the squeaky wheel getting the grease.
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gonk -- Saloon Links |
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950 Review [This message has been edited by gonk (edited February 08, 2004).]