CRL's Audition Policy

Listen before you buy. We'll gladly send you demo cables in our standard length to experience with your home audio system.

* Audition for up to 14 days
* Return cables by the return due date
* You pay a 10% deposit of the product's price
* Deposit charged to your credit card
* Returning borrowers pay a 5% deposit

It's your choice. We'll either refund your deposit or deduct the full amount of your deposit from your future purchase. Borrower pays for all UPS shipping expenses. Sorry, we can only make this offer to U.S. residents. Contact us to order demo cables.

CRL's Upgrade Policy

You may exchange your interconnects or speaker cables within 12 months and upgrade to the next level. Copper Series owners can trade-up to the Silver Series or Gold Series. Silver Series owners can trade-up to the Gold Series. Simply contact us to arrange for an upgrade.

Once we receive your returned cables, in their original condition, we'll apply 100% of your previous purchase price towards your choice of higher priced cables of equal length or longer. Buyer pays for all UPS shipping expenses. Policy excludes power cords.


CRL (cable research lab), a cable manufacturer from US, is offering audiophiles the ability to audition their products and upgrade their existing CRL cables through the above mentioned two new policies.

tell me if i am hallucinating. is this a marketing gimmick (to hard-sell the products and outdo the competitors) or a sincere gesture on the part of the manufacturer? also tell me if these policies can work in the malaysian context.

and i will use all my charm to persuade my dealers to offer the same service to you all ;-)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maggie,
It is common practise in the US to have home demo for most of Hi-Fi products.It is not just exclusive for cables.

It can only be a win -win situation.There will always be a few[dealers and consumer]who would spoil the equation but my experience has been very good.

Anonymous said...

You know what they say about selling hi fi?it is the demonstration of sonic superiority

What better way than to audition in the comfort of your own home.People tend to upgrade more too and they do not mind[at least I don't]the slight premieum to avert expensive mismatch disaster.

An aye from me Maggie.

Anonymous said...

An undesirable audio thought.

What happens you pay 10% deposit and say sayonara with the cable?

How is CRL going to collect the balance?

A further undesirable and most despi-"cable" audio thought.

10% can cover the cost of cable?

Sorry if I didn't read or misintepreted CRL's home audition policy properly.

If I'm in USA, I'll go for it (if I return the cable, I'll attach a thank you note and briefly tell why the cable didn't work in my system). After all, I've nothing to lose except for some small postage.

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

km,

exactly my thoughts, you take the words out of my mouth....

trust you to be so sharp and conclusive ;-)

Anonymous said...

Maggie and KM,

1]Firstly ,I thought only manufacturers that has products that works willbe brave enought to offer the servise.No snake oil manufacturers would dare to offer home audition.

2.the deposit is charged to the credit card,if you fail to return the cables the man are entitled to charge the full cost.

3.You are assuming a lot of audiophiles are cheats.The reason why the hobby thrive so well abroad is because of the maturity shown by both sellers and buyers,everybody benefits.

Nobody will win of you have selfish people[sellers/buyers]running the show.It would probably end up like Malaysian political scene,a few bad apples robbing the country dry and the rest of us just wash wide-eyes

Anonymous said...

I agree with what Lim said.

The cable manufacturer has your credit card number. They can obtain the balance from it once you have used/kept the cable for more than one month.

I have looked at their website. I would say the finishing of their top cable is so-so considering the cable cost USD2600.

Anyway, my usual hifi dealer offers me free loaners of the hardware and cables to test out on my system, which is even better because I do not fork out any money at all to try it out. But the problem is that I usually end up buying because the stuff I got usually sounds good in my system. Bummer!!

Anonymous said...

Ken,
you are prove that home audition is the way to go.

But then again the reason you have been accorded such privilige is becuse you are not a cheapskate

But the impression I get abt malaysian audiophiles are nothing but good,

surely the time has come for a further liberation of the market?

It can only be better...

Anonymous said...

Dear Lim,

1. Agreed. But businessmen always have their own little reasons for doing things.

2. Thanks for the clarification.

3. I made no such assumption. Why is abroad always better?

Anonymous said...

Dear Ken,

I think it's 14 days.

Yes, listen to the free loaners at your ears pleasure and the pockets peril. Sometimes, I think being happy and contented is better.

Out of the hi fi rat race and makes you enjoy the music more.

Anonymous said...

Dear Wang,

Same impression as you I get from M'sian audiophiles.

Goodness will be repaid in kindness and closeness.

Audio is an interactive hobby and the more sharing the better.

Anonymous said...

Maggielurva,

I hope you could lobby and really use your charm'

KM It is not that abroad is better but you do have more oppurtunities for audition.

that normally translate to better system synergy

Anonymous said...

Maggielurva,

I notice that the policy doesnt include power cord?

Whats do you think is the reason?

Anonymous said...

I like the home trial concept. I'd difinitely do it if they allow so in Malaysia.

So far, only 2 dealers have allowed me to do home trials (I wish more would allow me to do so) and on some occasions, the home trial ended up in a sale transaction, but other times I return the products because it didn't fit in to my room or system.

I'll always do a study of the product I intend to home trial, to be fair to the dealers, I would have made sure the product in question have the features I want, and would potentially be a purchase should it proved to win me over during the home trial period. Otherwise, I wouldn't even think about bringing a product home just for fun!

I also keep home trials short, 2 days if they don't impressed me at all, a week max, should I feel that the product home trial has won me over!

The point is, the dealers takes a risk by allowing home trials, what if I dissapear with the product? What if the product is broken during home trial?

So I just want to be fair to those who allows me to home trial. However, I would never buy big ticket items without a home trial.

Anonymous said...

anonymous,
I can vouch to what you say.

most of my audiophile friends are as honest.

It will be a win win situation

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

guys,

to be fair, most dealers are ok with home audition once you show the sincerity to buy.

i guess every hifi community has its fair share of audio cheapskates ;-)