This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below
07 November 2011 06:06: "Two complete Arch-3 sets and two T-1 racks in solid white were
shipped out from our factory last week so they should arrive very soon. Sorry for the late shipment. Several original Arch racks were
seriously damaged while DHL and FedEx expedited them overseas to our
distributors. We thus had to spend some extra time to redesign for a
tougher Arch structure with more reinforced packing cartons.
"The modified Arch system has reinforced legs and added
horizontal slats for the T-3 and T-4 modules. While the latter reinforcements may be seen on the
two sides there is little change to the front/rear views and overall
sizes. But as a result
some specifications were changed (higher load capacities and rack weights) and the pricing had to be adjusted by $150 due to the extra materiel and
overbuilt packaging. I'm quite sure that the new packing is good enough for regular ocean freight. Yet I do not know if there will still be a problem while shipping
by rough DHL or not. Best regards, Daniel Lee"
November 09, 2011 16:07 - "Hello Daniel, I'm sorry to be the bearer of such bad news but your shipment arrived seriously damaged. Of course I couldn't ask the delivery guy to wait for me to unpack. It takes a long time to open your packaging. Frankly, from that perspective it is a practical nightmare to get into what with all those taped-on cardboard impact rails.
"I
opened up one T3 box and both the top plate of the tallest and the top plate of the second tier had irregularly broken off their legs. Mind you the outside packaging was a-okay. But I don't think that bolting all three tiers together at the bottom through the spike receptacles helps in case of physical shock impact when the shippers drop a box a few feet due to weight. The two amp stands were fine of course. I didn't bother opening up the second T3 box as I honestly cannot review this product. I don't think it's ready for prime time yet. If shipping impact without obvious damage to the packing material can break what is supposed to be a functionally inert structure of mechanical integrity, there is something very wrong with the concept and/or execution.
I'm very sorry you went through the trouble of shipping this heavy merchandise all the way to Europe only to get these news but you will understand my position. I have to cancel the review and give as reason catastrophic shipping damage." Srajan
14 November 2011 06:07: "Hi Srajan, sorry for the late reply. I just came back from a short trip. It's a nightmare for me too just to ship these racks! Being made from CAM means they are very strong for placing equipment on them but much too fragile for shipping. That has become clear to me now. I could redesign the racks with bolted connections which would allow flat-packing and solve the shipping issues but would go against my intentions for a mono-material structure for best sound. Anyway, this indeed is not a fully finalized product. It needs further improvement or it shall be limited to local sales. About those damaged racks let me check with my Germany distributor who shall contact you later. Sincerely, Daniel Lee"
Mark+Daniel's snythetic marble speakers don't want to be dropped either. While this artificial stone is very hard and inert, it's prone to cracking upon impact...
