Quote Originally Posted by Barry View Post
I still have equipment that had a 'cradle to grave' support: it was made by Quad, who then claimed they would repair and service any product they had made as long as parts and materials were available. Now that Quad is now owned by a Taiwanese company, that ability is no longer available.

You say the same promise is still made by Accuphase, if so that is good to know, but given what you say about Madrigal for how much longer?
It's always possible that at some point Accuphase would sell out to some big corporation but there's no sign of that happening. They deliberately limit production and how much they export, it's all in the old Japanese family craftsman tradition.

By contrast, Levinson IMO was a bit of a chancer. I think he was just a marketing man, I don't think he actually designed any of the equipment himself, he got people in to do it. And when he had the chance to sell the brand and even the rights to his name, he did so. Then IIRC he was bringing in cheap China-made equipment and selling it as 'Madrigal' for top dollar. Had a demo of it in New York years ago now (2000) wasn't impressed. It was not bad, but IMO not remotely worth the money.

Have to say I thought QUAD still had a UK based service department that supported all their kit, maybe that has gone now, I don't know.