I received my new microphone parts from Equinox systems yesterday.

http://equinoxsystems.net/store/equ47/




I had asked to be on a waiting list about a year ago and on Jan 19 2013, I was able to place an order and pay for my example.


The supplier wrote an email and stated that after a year of mis steps, delays, surprises, etc. that the final component for the assembly had arrived from the supplier with cosmetic blemishes. The email detailed the process that Equinox was going to use to try to rescue their parts supply so that they could fulfill everyone's orders.


I quickly wrote them and stated that I would prefer the factory finish and can live with a blemish.

They said they'd be happy to do that and they sent me out my kit when I came up on the list.




What I got yesterday was a kit of microphone parts that these guys commissioned from scratch and sourced from places they had to go out and discover.  Many of their vendors treated them badly and sent over parts that didn't meet spec... yet they persevered and kept working to get it right.

The result of their effort is that the quality is jaw dropping... it's fantastic. The "blemish" requires great lighting and holding the part at just the right angle to seem visible. What blemish???


The product is of finer quality than I had expected to encounter. I wrote to them and let them know it has exceeded my hopes.



I think it's remarkable that a small outfit of DIY guys would hold them selves to the highest standards while producing a product that will most likely be purchased as a one time sale by a relatively anonymous end user. There is little potential to build a brand in this category yet the guys have done everything as if their good reputation is something they value over profit.

Wow.


Retail credibility... It's still alive and well. 



I have an urge to buy more of them and yet I have no practical need...  I admire operations that can excite that sort of response.



best regards,
mike

Thanks for the good news story, Mike.  

I wonder how you'd fare if your software came as a set of component subroutines that you had to assemble to get working.
 
Would you be raving about your vendor supplying you with software in that form, as long as they seemed like good guys that just out-sourced some good chunks of code for the love of it I wonder?
 
McQ you are funny.
 
I wouldn't mind a wager you'd get an equally good sounding branded mic pre-assembled for less money albeit without the self-congratulatory satisfaction that you were able to skin a few good farts to some very fine tolerances along the way toward finally getting something serviceable together.
 
I think the idea of retail is much simpler, quality, service and price, sans the exotic excuses for a whole years delay in fulfilling an order that they didn't even manufacture.
 
Still, if you're satisfied I guess you got a good deal.  I don't see accomodating a single oddball as much of a pitch for integrity in the marketplace however.  It's certainly not much of a business model to aspire to if you were planning to stay in a worthwhile business.
 
 
Of course that's just my opinion based on what you've presented under this heading.
 
    
 

designed to acoustically emulate the quintessential tube microphone—the Neumann U47 3-layer wire mesh configuration and internal headbasket geometry faithful to the original for a signature sound  

 
LOL
 
I thought you were the guy that had the right to lambast others for using  room eq systems because the numbers couldn't be backed up on paper, yet a metal tube and some wire mesh has to have $300 worth of quantifiable mojo to make the grade for McQ.
 
Now THIS would have been a good case for using bicycle parts.
 
 
 
Good times.
 
 
;-)
 
 

Pardon my dunce-like question but is the total $299 assembly just the mic "body"???  What's missing?  The capsule?  And, if so, where do you get that?  Or is that a "complete" mic?  Sorry for my confusion and/or dumbassedness.

I get lost. Is this more obtuse posting? You ordered and paid for something a year ago, they then let you know there's a blemish on it but you're happy with that. This is credible retail?

yorolpal


Pardon my dunce-like question but is the total $299 assembly just the mic "body"???  What's missing?  The capsule?  And, if so, where do you get that?  Or is that a "complete" mic?  Sorry for my confusion and/or dumbassedness.

You still have to get your own capsule, a transformer if you want that sort of thing, a tube, some wire, 4 or 5 capacitors, 6 or 7 resistors, and a power supply... which I plan on building from scratch. Stuff like that.


This particular mic body metal work costs 1/3 to 1/2 of the exiting alternatives for this particular shape, dimensions, and material combination.

A lot of folks just buy a cheap mic and gut it for the metal works and then rebuild with all the parts... but this particular shape, dimensions, and material  combo isn't offered as a cheap mic any where so the shell kits are floating around at a few vendors.

It's less work that making a guitar amp... I'm gonna have some fun.

Thanks for clearing that up.  I know for some (my best bud, for instance) DIY is a true pleasure.  Unfortunately not for me.  Enjoy, ol pal. 

Integra is also alive in the marketplace. But I don't have to assemble them with blemished parts. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.

I'm gonna Google it.

BRB

mike_mccue

yorolpal


Pardon my dunce-like question but is the total $299 assembly just the mic "body"???  What's missing?  The capsule?  And, if so, where do you get that?  Or is that a "complete" mic?  Sorry for my confusion and/or dumbassedness.

You still have to get your own capsule, a transformer if you want that sort of thing, a tube, some wire, 4 or 5 capacitors, 6 or 7 resistors, and a power supply... which I plan on building from scratch. Stuff like that.


This particular mic body metal work costs 1/3 to 1/2 of the exiting alternatives for this particular shape, dimensions, and material combination.

A lot of folks just buy a cheap mic and gut it for the metal works and then rebuild with all the parts... but this particular shape, dimensions, and material  combo isn't offered as a cheap mic any where so the shell kits are floating around at a few vendors.

It's less work that making a guitar amp... I'm gonna have some fun.

Be sure to post some figures that prove it out-performs anything else because of its shape, dimensions and material combination.
 
I'll look forward to those. 
 
I can understand that a good business would want to bend over backwards to look after people like yourself, as unlike the popular myth, there doesn't seem to be one born every minute.  They are indeed quite rare and precious enough to look after REALLY well. 
 
Best regards.
 
 
:-)