Have you seen this, stetsom sale!!

[Grinder1989 5,000+ posts]

I'm not looking to go back and forth with anyone here but everything you've said on this post is entirely your opinion and only one thing has been fact. And opinions are fine but so far not one persons opinion on here is based on little to no truth. So yes the parts for repair cost a little more but that's due to the parts needed to run this much power in a small case. So in other words you verify that we don't use cheap parts in the product so thanks. You say that you don't like the lay out of the board and that's fine but that has absolutely nothing to do with build quality or anything else. It's nothing more then an opinion.
And end the end it's fine to have an opinion and there probably are better amps out there but they'll be hard pressed to come close to the price for power and size as Stetsom.

I said nothing bad about the part choices, and I'm glad you can respect an opinion without be a jackass, so props to you. I've done enough work on them to judge them though, so don't take it personal. Yes, Stetsoms use good parts. I will not argue that point because that is how Stetsoms make their power. Solder joints and what not are actually good and I would expect a part failure before a solder joint failure. However, after you burn up a Stetsom though, the solder joints are not that great, mainly because 2 of the 3 power supply fet joints are usually gone if the amp is toasted, so they're not much better than any other amp. Layout of board has a direct effect on build quality. The hold downs are extremely close to the part legs, making repairs a pain in the *** and also if someone repairing the amp or someone actually putting the amp together at Stetsom, doesn't pay close enough attention, will cause the amp to blow up the first time it's powered on. If I'm going to spend the kind of money on a Stetsom, I'd expect things like the way the parts are mounted to the case, to be the least of my worries. My $25 Profile California 400 has better hold downs for the parts than a 7KD! Stetsom needs to spend more time with those amps, to make them more powerful and build them better. Are Stetsoms garbage? Not at all. But for the cost of them, I would expect better quality and a much more reliable amplifier.

 

[dtbrown 10+ year member]

I said nothing bad about the part choices, and I'm glad you can respect an opinion without be a jackass, so props to you. I've done enough work on them to judge them though, so don't take it personal. Yes, Stetsoms use good parts. I will not argue that point because that is how Stetsoms make their power. Solder joints and what not are actually good and I would expect a part failure before a solder joint failure. However, after you burn up a Stetsom though, the solder joints are not that great, mainly because 2 of the 3 power supply fet joints are usually gone if the amp is toasted, so they're not much better than any other amp. Layout of board has a direct effect on build quality. The hold downs are extremely close to the part legs, making repairs a pain in the *** and also if someone repairing the amp or someone actually putting the amp together at Stetsom, doesn't pay close enough attention, will cause the amp to blow up the first time it's powered on. If I'm going to spend the kind of money on a Stetsom, I'd expect things like the way the parts are mounted to the case, to be the least of my worries. My $25 Profile California 400 has better hold downs for the parts than a 7KD! Stetsom needs to spend more time with those amps, to make them more powerful and build them better. Are Stetsoms garbage? Not at all. But for the cost of them, I would expect better quality and a much more reliable amplifier.

I know that most of your experience has been with the older 7kd and I do agree that there needed to be improvement on that amp no doubt. But I hope you get a chance to see the new 2k5d, 4k2d, 7k2d or anything new due to they are fully updated with different parts newer design. Stetsom wishes to get any feedback good or bad so that they can make improvement to product. They truly value all feed back. And that is reflected on the new product line.

Take a look at the pics and you can see that they have made quite a few changes. I've attached a pic of the older 2k6d (which is in the 7kd) compared to the new amps. Lay out is similar so I can't say much for that but they have improved a lot of parts.

older 2k6d

Newer 2k5d replaced 2k6d

Newer 4k2d

 

[Mike Troll 10+ year member]

I would never buy a stetsom amp after I heard Dante talk horrible on the phone to someone about Mike Bartels.....you know, Mike Bartels one of the Pioneers of this sport?

That mans attitude gives your company such a bad name.......

 

[dtbrown 10+ year member]

I would never buy a stetsom amp after I heard Dante talk horrible on the phone to someone about Mike Bartels.....you know, Mike Bartels one of the Pioneers of this sport?
That mans attitude gives your company such a bad name.......

Agreed and that's why he's no longer reping with the company. Alan is really a good guy and was always willing to help anyone but didn't know how to be professional when dealing with customers or on the forums. He's very emotional kind of guy that voices his opinion either it be positive or negative and that's what got him into trouble. No excuses but that's the past and hope that could be put behind Stetsom.

 

[Grinder1989 5,000+ posts]

The newer ones look a little better, however I still stress those hold downs.....I can guarantee you that if a customer receives an amp, and it cooks when they first power it up, that's why. I think the power supplies are pretty stout. Look, I'm not an amplifier engineer, but I can tell you right now, compared to the competition, if Stetsom really wants to dominate them, they need to re tool the amps and make them more reliable and possibly cheaper. Stetsom has the potential to build the more powerful size to power ratio amps, but reliability, and durability of the amplifier are the major selling points to a consumer. No one wants an amp that cooks right out of the box or an amp that has a risk of damage due to a piss poor design. I honestly have faith in Stetsom building superb amps, I really do. But I've seen nothing about them that screams "buy me".

 

[Mike Troll 10+ year member]

Agreed and that's why he's no longer reping with the company. Alan is really a good guy and was always willing to help anyone but didn't know how to be professional when dealing with customers or on the forums. He's very emotional kind of guy that voices his opinion either it be positive or negative and that's what got him into trouble. No excuses but that's the past and hope that could be put behind Stetsom.

That is great to hear, but I have to be honest, first impressions are usually lasting impressions. I understand that the guy is emotional and that he takes pride in what he has accomplished and no one should try and take that away from him. It just sucks that he tarnished a companies name the way he did.

 

[dtbrown 10+ year member]

The newer ones look a little better, however I still stress those hold downs.....I can guarantee you that if a customer receives an amp, and it cooks when they first power it up, that's why. I think the power supplies are pretty stout. Look, I'm not an amplifier engineer, but I can tell you right now, compared to the competition, if Stetsom really wants to dominate them, they need to re tool the amps and make them more reliable and possibly cheaper. Stetsom has the potential to build the more powerful size to power ratio amps, but reliability, and durability of the amplifier are the major selling points to a consumer. No one wants an amp that cooks right out of the box or an amp that has a risk of damage due to a piss poor design. I honestly have faith in Stetsom building superb amps, I really do. But I've seen nothing about them that screams "buy me".

Agreed. And just so you know not one of the newer designed amps that we've sold has burned upon power up or blow at all and that's been since we've been selling them since october of last year, knock on wood. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif I've personally never seen or had an older one burn up upon power up but I'll take your word on it.

As for making cheaper that would be nice but the taxes getting them to the states are what is keeping cost high. You'd be surprised that even with the sale price that's close to cost. But even at current price it's very competitive with similar power available. They've been in the works for a 1500w amp that will go for around $300 so I hope that still works out. We'll see.

 

[dtbrown 10+ year member]

That is great to hear, but I have to be honest, first impressions are usually lasting impressions. I understand that the guy is emotional and that he takes pride in what he has accomplished and no one should try and take that away from him. It just sucks that he tarnished a companies name the way he did.

And the reality is that you'll always hear the bad way more then you'll ever hear the good about anything and that goes for Stetsom to. There are a lot of people that don't go on the forums that have great experience with the product but you'll never hear about it. But a couple bad experience that people have with product or person then everyone that reads it will then say "I heard this or that" and that is spread like wild fire. But if someone has something good to say not much or little is every said about it. LOL But that's the reality of dealing with the forums and the web and it's to be expected.

 

[Grinder1989 5,000+ posts]

Agreed. And just so you know not one of the newer designed amps that we've sold has burned upon power up or blow at all and that's been since we've been selling them since october of last year, knock on wood. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif I've personally never seen or had an older one burn up upon power up but I'll take your word on it.
As for making cheaper that would be nice but the taxes getting them to the states are what is keeping cost high. You'd be surprised that even with the sale price that's close to cost. But even at current price it's very competitive with similar power available. They've been in the works for a 1500w amp that will go for around $300 so I hope that still works out. We'll see.

"I've personally never seen or had an older one burn up upon power up but I'll take your word on it."

Don't take my word for it, I've heard other say it.

Nothing is getting any cheaper, I understand that. But look at the competition. Besides the internet companies, people want the best price possible. If Stetsom can maintain their quality and manage their costs to bring the price down, I can promise you, sales will increase by a lot. There are many, proven, successful companies on this forum that have benefited from it.

 

[hazardous0388 10+ year member]

hmmm. i like tomaaters.