I write this post with difficulty. I am a believer in supporting high quality, boutique manufacturers. I also understand there are many people looking to spend hard earned/saved money to buy equipment who want a variety of opinions/experiences to help them decide whether to buy a piece of equipment.
Below is my experience purchasing speaker cabinet from Jorg Schroeder.
I called Jorg to order a 115+L. Without asking for a discount, Jorg offered to sell me the cabinet for $35 less than list. I thought that was great. After getting off the phone with him, I sent him a check.
Two weeks later, I contacted him for the delivery date and he said they were spraying the cabinet. I contacted him again a week later for an eta and he gave me the Fedex tracking number. He claimed to have sent me an email with the information and I "..obviously didn't get it." The cabinet arrived that day.
I didn't get a chance to really inspect the cabinet immediately as I had a business planned trip. When I got home, I really looked over the cabinet and had some issues with it.
My exact comments were:
"One of the first things I noticed was that all four rubber feet did not touch the floor. I thought this was due to the floor. On further inspection, I noticed the cabinet was not square.
The inclusion of a 1/4" input as well as a speakon input is a good feature. However, the plastic input jack popped the nut with the slightest sideway pressure from the amp output cable jack.
I would expect a high-end, boutique cabinet to be square and to use quality parts like a metal Switchcraft type input jack. These issues, chiefly the non-square nature of the cabinet cause me concern on what could have been a top rated product."
When I say it was not square, I mean it looked as if the panels were cut by hand without using a straight edge. It was visible to the naked eye. I took a speed square and some measurements to confirm what I saw. It looked like the cabinet was made in High School carpentry shop.
His response was:
"I am sorry to hear that and understand your concern;*due to the fact that my facility was flooded, was forced to move to a new facility and
back orders this might have slipped through the cracks;*if you want I will build you a new 15+L, will ship it to you when ready*and you can return the other one*please let me know if that works for you and my apologies"
His story of a flood didn't jive with what I observed with the cabinet but I let it go.
I contacted him 3 weeks later, asking when I might expect the new cabinet, he responded:
"obviously you didn't receive my last email; your cabinet went out Wednesday Fedex tracking no.XXXXXXX and is scheduled for delivery MM/DDt;*let me know if that works thanks"
There was a pattern emerging.
I received the second cabinet. I took my time to look it over and contacted him saying:
"I received the replacement cabinet. I'd like to relay a few observations.
The first thing I noticed when I placed the cabinet on the floor was it didn't wobble. I inspected the cabinet and noticed that the rubber feet used were different from the original cabinet. One of the feet had an additional 1/4" spacer that made it longer than the others. I guess this solves the problem of wobble but also masks the fact that the box may not be square. I checked cabinet with a square and noticed gaps between
I also noticed the handles were cut in close to the top of the cabinet. It makes me wonder if jigs are used when constructing the cabinets. I question whether I am nitpicking but when I compare the
cabinet construction to others in the same price range, these issues stand out."
In reality, the cabinet was as out of square as the other cabinet. The handles were located no where near the location as the other cabinet.
To which he replied:
"I had to let a couple of my employees go who kept slacking off over and over again and nobody can afford that;*please as part of my apology keep both cabinets if you like"
Now the pattern was clear.
I subsequently sold the first cabinet to another bass player. He contacted me after the sale, saying he spoke to Jorg and Jorg said the cabinet was a factory 2nd.
You will notice he never refers to the cabinets as factory seconds. I did not pay for factory seconds. What I
received was cabinets of the quality Jorg Schoreder sells. Why he told the other guy it was a factory second and not me at the time of sale is beyond me.
I recently heard from the new owner who said he blew the 15" speaker in a week. The guy is a touring professional and owns a lot of equipment.
I played the cabinet at a rehearsal. The cabinet has a sound I would describe as hollow and sterile. It is indeed light.
I will not be purchasing or recommending Schroeder cabinets in the future.
Caveat Emptor!
Below is my experience purchasing speaker cabinet from Jorg Schroeder.
I called Jorg to order a 115+L. Without asking for a discount, Jorg offered to sell me the cabinet for $35 less than list. I thought that was great. After getting off the phone with him, I sent him a check.
Two weeks later, I contacted him for the delivery date and he said they were spraying the cabinet. I contacted him again a week later for an eta and he gave me the Fedex tracking number. He claimed to have sent me an email with the information and I "..obviously didn't get it." The cabinet arrived that day.
I didn't get a chance to really inspect the cabinet immediately as I had a business planned trip. When I got home, I really looked over the cabinet and had some issues with it.
My exact comments were:
"One of the first things I noticed was that all four rubber feet did not touch the floor. I thought this was due to the floor. On further inspection, I noticed the cabinet was not square.
The inclusion of a 1/4" input as well as a speakon input is a good feature. However, the plastic input jack popped the nut with the slightest sideway pressure from the amp output cable jack.
I would expect a high-end, boutique cabinet to be square and to use quality parts like a metal Switchcraft type input jack. These issues, chiefly the non-square nature of the cabinet cause me concern on what could have been a top rated product."
When I say it was not square, I mean it looked as if the panels were cut by hand without using a straight edge. It was visible to the naked eye. I took a speed square and some measurements to confirm what I saw. It looked like the cabinet was made in High School carpentry shop.
His response was:
"I am sorry to hear that and understand your concern;*due to the fact that my facility was flooded, was forced to move to a new facility and
back orders this might have slipped through the cracks;*if you want I will build you a new 15+L, will ship it to you when ready*and you can return the other one*please let me know if that works for you and my apologies"
His story of a flood didn't jive with what I observed with the cabinet but I let it go.
I contacted him 3 weeks later, asking when I might expect the new cabinet, he responded:
"obviously you didn't receive my last email; your cabinet went out Wednesday Fedex tracking no.XXXXXXX and is scheduled for delivery MM/DDt;*let me know if that works thanks"
There was a pattern emerging.
I received the second cabinet. I took my time to look it over and contacted him saying:
"I received the replacement cabinet. I'd like to relay a few observations.
The first thing I noticed when I placed the cabinet on the floor was it didn't wobble. I inspected the cabinet and noticed that the rubber feet used were different from the original cabinet. One of the feet had an additional 1/4" spacer that made it longer than the others. I guess this solves the problem of wobble but also masks the fact that the box may not be square. I checked cabinet with a square and noticed gaps between
I also noticed the handles were cut in close to the top of the cabinet. It makes me wonder if jigs are used when constructing the cabinets. I question whether I am nitpicking but when I compare the
cabinet construction to others in the same price range, these issues stand out."
In reality, the cabinet was as out of square as the other cabinet. The handles were located no where near the location as the other cabinet.
To which he replied:
"I had to let a couple of my employees go who kept slacking off over and over again and nobody can afford that;*please as part of my apology keep both cabinets if you like"
Now the pattern was clear.
I subsequently sold the first cabinet to another bass player. He contacted me after the sale, saying he spoke to Jorg and Jorg said the cabinet was a factory 2nd.
You will notice he never refers to the cabinets as factory seconds. I did not pay for factory seconds. What I
received was cabinets of the quality Jorg Schoreder sells. Why he told the other guy it was a factory second and not me at the time of sale is beyond me.
I recently heard from the new owner who said he blew the 15" speaker in a week. The guy is a touring professional and owns a lot of equipment.
I played the cabinet at a rehearsal. The cabinet has a sound I would describe as hollow and sterile. It is indeed light.
I will not be purchasing or recommending Schroeder cabinets in the future.
Caveat Emptor!
