A recent notice from Decware:
“Our amplifier waiting list is over 1900 people. Estimated wait time is between 1.5 and 2 years.”
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I thought you were talking about AirLens.
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Well, LOTS of time for the tweak industry to gear up!
Really really big growing pains for Decware! I have been a Decware user for 25 years! Bought the 27th amp he built in '97. Wow, so much changes. . . I am encouraged that Steve is still following his muse and psyche and developing new projects.
By the way here is a Black Friday coupon for 10 percent off a complete online order on Black Friday ONLY: BLACKFRIDAY22
Who wants a wait time of 1.5 to 2 years, though? I’ve thought about Decware a dozen times, especially since the company is in the neighborhood (sort of, Peoria). Then I’ve looked at the order database to assess the backlog and it’s been a turnoff every time. Perhaps some are attracted to the mystique, if that’s what it is, and are willing to don the audiophile hair shirt for a product that doesn’t materialize for upwards of 2 years. Not me. Steve needs to get the message the company should expand its production. There are a lot of others out there like me interested in the product, but not enamored with sitting on a deposit receipt for that long. My two cents.
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I’ve looked at these for a while also. Not really in the market, but they’re certainly lovely components.
I’m on the site now just for the heck of it… If you wanted one, is the deposit a percentage of the price, or are you paying the full monty and still waiting 2 years?
(not clear from the site, but I didn’t go through the checkout process to find out)
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The deposit is 10 percent. That is clear in the shopping cart and on the bottom of the product page on most pages I think.
I understand the hesitance. It’s hard to wait that long for anything. (In the last two decades of this century the average wait was about 3 months–that seemed long!) I have put myself into the waitlist because I KNOW how amazing these product are as I have been using them more than two decades. I’m about six months away from the 300B amp because I have always wanted a 300B amp and I know his will be different, have the clarity and presence his amps have.
Steve has been working to increase his production some but he is (I believe) NOT going to change it much. He doesn’t want to become Sony or Marantz or even Peachtree. He wants to be the size company he has now, with his and his family’s (his wife, daughter and son-in-law are all part of the company) hands on all aspects, and free to follow his ideas and instincts and develop and refine products. So I think they are worth waiting for, I know it, but understand why others hesitate. . . and why the waiting list isn’t longer than it is.
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Very often, awful things happen to companies when they try to expand significantly or when they sell the company.
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Yes. I honestly think Steve is wise enough to do what he needs to keep things as he wants them to be.
Apparently, 1900 customers agree with us.
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Yes, or they are deadly curious. I have a feeling the waitlist will remain about this big for a long time. People will drop off, not willing to wait, seduced by another’s larger inventory, and some will just accept the wait for what it is: the necessary evil.
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If I were to jump into this, the hesitation I’d have is not really knowing which of those amps I might want in 2 years. Times change, listening spaces change, etc…
I’d assume there’d be some flexibility in your decision, ya?
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I’m on their customer list still, despite waiting 7 months for an amp (and I thought THAT was something!), not liking it, retubing it with much better stuff - better - but still not liking it (with about 4 different sets of speakers including efficient open-baffle) and selling it.
Not saying they suck, just saying I’m one of the 1900. Not sure you can really turn a 2 year wait list into a positive in this day and age.
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You can change your order at any time up to the point where parts are pulled, and I think you are asked about that before the parts are pulled.
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well that could be something then
I was looking at a Decware amp when there was about a six month wait. I procrastinated and by the time I got serious, it was over year wait. I decided to move on to something else.
I think there are people already profiting from the long wait. I have seen a number of new Decware amps for sale with a big markup for those who just have to have it now.
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Selling my Decware SE84UFO. It’s in perfect condition and sounds dreamy.
Taking bids starting at $50,000.
Available immediately. Why wait???
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I see there’s a new line on the Order Forms for listing your Next of Kin.
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“I have four spots reserved on the Wait List: Half a year, a year, a year and a half, and one for two years where they’re now asking me how I want my amp configured. Taking bids. PM me.”
Thanks for adding me to your order! Unfortunately you’ll probably outlive me by many years!
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