^ I don't think it's all that complicated, to be honest. Personally, I don't think the mics are all that great (there are other options that are better, in my opinion) and the customer service is atrocious. I feel much more confident buying from a company that will communicate, honor time frames, and provide service in a timely manner (and I am willing to pay more for those things). He doesn't even have any decent specs for his stuff ("Frequency response: 20hz to 20khz +/- 10db"; seriously?). The guy had his heyday here on ts.com, but I am surprised that any member would take the plunge at this point...
All of this and the recommendation for AT853/AT943 from SoundPros.
I live in a great place for small businesses - New Orleans. When I was new here, I read pretty much every thread that I had even a modicum of interest in. I was always taken by the fact that these mics were very similar to other mics in their size/range/etc, but people were having some of the worst support/delivery time with Chris. At no point in time did I think buying from him would be a viable option based upon read history. I thought of all the little cafes and lunch spots here and figured Sound Pros had what I wanted and actually got back to its customers (as evidenced still today). Seemed like if I was going to get a great lunch from a place other locals were going to perhaps I should be paying attention to the reviews and what other diners were saying after. Why would I go get a po-boy from a shop that takes forever and sometimes forgets the order entirely? The sandwich itself is pretty similar to other sandwiches in its class - its not fine dining at that price.
Recently, a fairly well known taper I am friends with decided to switch to stealth as his baseline. We talked a lot about different setups before he bought one. I was really surprised when he chose CA-14s. Even though he bought a used pair on this site, I simply can't cross that bridge. Its full of holes and a fraying rope is holding it up one side. Sure, I can get to the other side without falling, but there are a lot of better options within the scope of my needs that will get the job done. What we do is stressful enough. Why make it more so?
