Author Archive for: darren

Name: Providing better service
Rating: 5

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Entries by K&W Audio

2022 K&W Christmas Newsletter

November 25, 2022/in Interesting News & Technology, PDF - Newsletters

2021 K&W Christmas Newsletter

December 6, 2021/in Interesting News & Technology, PDF - Newsletters

20 Dreamy Home Theatres

October 25, 2021/in Home Theatre, Interesting News & Technology, PDF - Newsletters

20 Dreamy Home Theatres, Big & Small

Shopping Tips for a New Reality

October 15, 2021/in Audio Tips, Interesting News & Technology, PDF - Newsletters

Shopping Tips for a New Reality – perspective from our shop floor Written by Geoff Woods, a consultant and programmer here for over 20 years. I’ve just got used to writing “2021” and we’re already talking about Christmas shopping. Well. . . Okay, to be fair, my wife is already doing her Christmas shopping. […]

2020 K&W Christmas Newsletter

November 23, 2020/in Interesting News & Technology, PDF - Newsletters

Announcing the McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor

October 9, 2019/in Interesting News & Technology

Uncompromising McIntosh sound quality with the latest home theater technologies. McIntosh is proud to announce the new MX123 A/V Processor. The new McIntosh MX123 A/V Processor marries a long tradition of uncompromising McIntosh sound quality with the latest home theater technologies to produce an unsurpassed luxury home entertainment experience. It is compatible with all the […]

Not Your Typical Review

September 12, 2019/in Interesting News & Technology

One person at a time. That’s what Buddhists refer to as the best approach for spreading harmony and setting people on the right path. The same approach should be taken when spreading the word of higher end audio, one person at a time. Good music provides enjoyment. Great sounding music stimulates the imagination. That’s what […]

Your Home Simplified

July 12, 2019/in Automation & Integration, Interesting News & Technology, PDF - Newsletters

INTRODUCING CONTROL4 SMART HOME OS 3 Your Control4 system just got better. Bring more to your Smart Home experience by updating your Control4 system to OS 3. It has a clean fresh look, great new features and incredible performance. OS 3 boasts more than a thousand enhancements, and the user interface is where […]

Sonos Architectural Audio

February 23, 2019/in Interesting News & Technology

The architectural category is a new arena for Sonos, but it makes sense that when they decided to enter it, they would do it right. They are looking to build on their historically strong Connect and Connect:Amp products – which powered other manufacturers speakers up ’till now, to now offer a truly complete acoustic solution […]

70th Anniversary McIntosh Vacuum Tube Combo Is Stunning!

January 10, 2019/in Interesting News & Technology

Positive Feedback

Thank you. I am very happy with the system. I have never had a bad experience dealing with K&W Audio. However, your efforts established a new high in the area of customer service. I consider myself fortunate in that I was lucky enough to work with you. No one would have been able to provide better service, or be more helpful than you were.

I have had several people comment on the system and I continue to refer people to you. I wish you the best and hope to keep in touch.

I was renovating my home, and decided to call around for advice on a theater in my basement. Talked to lots of shops who couldn't be bothered, then I called K&W Automation.
I talked to a very helpful person (James and later Trevor) who seemed to really understand what was what. Long story short, they came out, recommended about 50 things I didn't even think of, and took over and completed a home theater and home audio system that just blows my mind!
Just a cool company with really good people. Highly recommended!

I would like to sincerely thank you and your staff for bailing me out of a jam with regards to my installation. To explain the situation accurately I should back up two years ago, when K&W Audio supplied equipment and installed this equipment in my house. I couldn’t have been happier with the job that was done RIGHT with this renovation. You were on time, very professional in your work, and kept to the agreed price. When you were done, everything worked perfectly.

Two years later is when the trouble started. When we began construction on our new home, I obviously needed a good company for audio/visual installations. I naturally thought of K&W Audio first. Like any frugal shopper I got 3 estimates on the job. In my ignorance I hired a company that came in 15% lower than your quote. The company sent young and inexperienced installers to do the job (a different one almost every time). Only one of these installers had worked with this company for any length of time.

Unfortunately, what I paid for is what I received. Below is a list of some of the problems that occurred with this other company:

Wires hanging 3 feet from where they were to be

Security keypad not installed (I had to cut drywall to wire for this later)

3 doors were not wired for security (later when this was done they hit water lines in the floor and over $2000.00 worth of water damage occurred. This also slowed finishers and painters, costing more money).

Couch was broken when stood on by one of their installers and my vehicle backed into (damaged bumper)

They forgot to wire a/b switch in the family room (a big mistake that can’t be corrected with out cutting up a built in entertainment center).

The speakers I purchased through them were not even close to the same quality that K&W Audio had provided in their quote.

In the end THEIR programmers ended up hiring K&W AUDIO to program the system and make it work, as they did not have the experience.

These problems and others ended up costing me much more than the 15% I thought I could save and made the whole ordeal a nightmare. In addition I am left with inferior sound and function because of this other company.

I would like to thank you, for coming in after they were gone, and fixing things up. Again, your professionalism, experienced installers, and extensive knowledge were greatly appreciated.

Please let other potential clients read this letter. I found out you can’t go wrong using K&W Audio and would like others to know this as well.

I wish to commend you for service beyond the call of duty. I purchased my system some three years ago and had moved to London, England two years ago. Upon my return I planned a surprise birthday party for my wife on a Friday evening. You came to our house on short notice, set up the system and were very thorough and professional. You are truly fortunate to have an employee such as the gentleman who came to my home, and I would recommend you wholeheartedly to my friends and associates.

I wanted to drop you a note to thank you and your team at K&W for the exceptional job they did providing us with the "right projector" for our specific requirements.

We contacted four leading audio-visual vendors with our scenario. A need for high end, high definition capable projector with the ability to fill a 106 inch screen from a custom built bulkhead which enclosed our projector, rear speakers and pot lights, fixed at 18 feet 5 inches back from the screen.

You and your team at K&W went to work in researching several options, coming to our home to take measurements, then test running the actual projector. The end result was a seamless, hassle free installation of our new Sharp XV-Z 10000 DLP projector with unbelievable black level performance, contrast ratio and color fidelity thanks to Darren and yourself calibrating and tweaking the projector to our room set up.

In summary, you were the most customer focused, relationship oriented, solution driven consultant of all the firms we spoke with.

I without hesitation would gladly recommend K&W and yourself to anyone looking for audio-visual solutions.

We would like to commend your installers for such efficient and high quality workmanship… The Final products are incredible!

We also appreciate your timely call backs to fine tune the systems and answer yet more of our countless questions. Thanks again and keep up the good service!

I would like to comment on the level of service I received from both your sales staff and your installers. After visiting various audio stores throughout Calgary, it was refreshing to find a group of easygoing professionals that worked through my equipment and install needs efficiently.

Thank you for your outstanding service.

I am very satisfied with the speakers I recently purchased and the service I received. Although I am not a "high-end" buyer, I was directed to a purchase that fit my needs and budget. Sometime in the near future (probably within the next 6 months) I would like to purchase a receiver or amplifier. I plan on purchasing one from you, as I appreciate the knowledge and help available as opposed to the large chain stores. Thanks very much!

Thanks very much, You've been extremely helpful, courteous and prompt. Kudos for your service ethos.

Thank you very much for the excellent service you provided to us. Friendly and knowledgeable service is rare, but we got it from you in spades! The system is fantastic; the sound we are getting is of such a high quality. I look forward to seeing you again. We'll be back!

Hi, everything is working great - thanks! We appreciate the work you guys did and look forward to using K&W again in the future!

The service was, as usual, excellent. Dave was incredibly helpful. Thank you!

I can't thank you enough. We have had a chance to really use the system and we absolutely love it! Thanks again.

Thanks, we are very pleased with your service. Great to work with a company that delivers on their commitments. We also really appreciated your ability to integrate what we already have. The layout is perfect…

I just wanted to send a quick note to express our happiness of our experience working with Paul. From the start he was more than accommodating to our schedule and definitely went the "extra mile" every chance he had. We are very impressed with the speed with which he responded to my various emails and phone calls. From the moment we spoke my mind was at ease that everything would run smoothly. He sent drawings to the contractor doing our granite so they were able to get things done quickly on their end and as a result, we were able to complete our renovation 2 weeks ahead of our original schedule. Almost unheard of!. The company we used (The Granite Guys) had nothing but incredible things to say about their dealings with Paul as well. Paul included Dave to assist in the installation process and he was also incredible to work with. All in all an excellent experience and I will be more than happy to recommend K & W Audio to any one needing any A/V installations/ upgrades to their home.Thanks again to Paul and Dave for all the work they did for us!

Born and bred in Calgary but had no idea the city had this caliber a hi-fi store until I went looking for one.I'm due back in the city in a month or so and I'm bringing money with me!

Thank you for driving out to my home today to help me. I know that is the type of service that you provide to every one, and that is why you are
still going strong as others come and go. I really appreciate it :-) The system had me baffled and I'm still not sure what was wrong but it is great now and that's good enough for me.

The students of Foothills Academy express their sincere thanks, for your kind support of our Fall Funtasia Fundraiser. It is estimated that the contribution from the evening including the car raffle will be approximately $220,000 towards our tuition reduction program to ensure that no child is turned away due to financial circumstances.

If you now of any family, friends, or co-workers whom you believe might have a learning disabled child who deserves the opportunity for a successful education program at the academy, please have them visit the web site at www.foothillsacademy.org or contact the school office directly at (403) 270-9400.

I purchased my RITA-880 on May 26, after testing her against five other tube amps. In fairness Rita was at the top end of my price range, but in no other way was there any comparison. Rita outperformed all the others. Their strengths were offset by various weakness. This amp is as tight as solid state but with tube warmth. Transparency, detail and tone balance are all excellent. However, I am most impressed that individual tonal characteristics of each particular instrument or voice is faithfully reproduced, giving true character and beauty to the performance. None of her competitors came even close! The warm wooden bodies of the string instruments, the metallic ring of the brass, the distinct sound of each drum type, and the specific character of individual voices are all extraordinary. I listen almost exclusively to classical music on vinyl. My turntable is an Oracle, and my speakers are the Silverline Bolero's. In my opinion Rita gives me a first class refined sound that would otherwise be well beyond my means. My first impression upon seeing Rita was the reservation that something must be missing here. How could they possibly supply so much at this price? There's got to be a catch. Four months of ownership have turned up nothing unwanted. Incredible value. Tony M - a VERY satisfied customer

I was meaning to e-mail you in the last month or so but never got to it (the usual excuses). No excuses today. I just wanted to say how well the theatre room is working. We enjoy it several times per week. The system is rock solid. What a piece of heaven! Thanks for all your hard work and time!!

Just wanted to say Thank You for all your help in getting everything sorted out. The new sub is all hooked up and working perfectly. Once again, thank you! You guys rock.

We just had to say a big THANX! for fixing our Totem speaker. It sounds perfect!! Thanks for helping with the iPod dilemma too!!

Thanks so much....honestly, I cant tell you how much I appreciate the work you have done for me on this house. To say I'm thrilled would be a huge understatement!!!!

The enjoyment we continue to receive from our theatre room is truly endless!

Thanks Darren. I appreciate the help all way round. Well there is a HUGE difference (when listening to my new components). Hell of a lot more gain and clarity across all frequencies with the CD. And of course lots of presence, which goes well with my Buddhist understanding, listening...

Thanks, once again for all your help.....you guys are the best! I still haven't heard back from XXX - it's been 3 weeks now since we spoke and I first asked them how to do this as I thought there was "some magic" because we had a XXX system! They promised to "look into it" and get back to me...Anyway, appreciate all you do for us.

Thanks James for all your help

I just wanted to convey my thanks for all the terrific support in advising us on, and then setting up our new theatre system. We were recommended to K&W by our realtor as we moved to Calgary and it was a real treat to deal with you as our one window into K&W through our many twists and turns updating the home theatre system in our new home, and also troubleshooting the various other electronic issues we encountered. I am absolutely thrilled with the result. You listened well to our needs (e.g. audio quality rules over video quality!, stay on budget but get me the best sound I possibly can for the money), made effective use of some equipment already in place (projector), and wowed us with the new equipment including a workable, simple remote that my wife and daughter can even maneuver - a far cry from the legacy system there which none of us could figure out before we called you.

All in all the new setup sounds and looks "better than Westhills Theatre" as you aptly mentioned once and which we totally agree. We also really appreciate your fixing the teledoor, cat 5 router, my old Arcam CD player and working to find resale homes for the old screen and gaming equipment. We were truly amazed at the high level of old fashioned service provided by yourself (and also frankly your technicians who were also all terrific to deal with) and appreciate the many calls for advice and trips to the house to ensure everything was in order. We are now also looking for a new high end TV and some other electronic equipment for other parts of the house early in the new year and will not hesitate to call you to help us out again, and have already recommended you to friends and colleagues Great job for us James and we look forward to working with K&W, you and your colleagues again. Thanks.

I cannot thank you enough for all your excellent customer service and for saving me approximately $1000. Is there anything I can do to repay you?.. I would offer you a pair of tickets to a Leafs game (if you are ever in town during next season – maybe when the Flames are here), or can I write a letter to your boss? Let me know.

On a serious note…I own a company with 5 sales people (project managers). I am always harping on their customer service, I have a 3^rd party company do Net Promoter Score surveys for us, I meet monthly to review the results, I bonus them on it. Your service level, response and follow up is what I am teaching them. I congratulate you on your success.

Thanks very much and best of luck.

Gents,

I brought a friend in on Friday and she left with her first pair of non-iphone headphones, which I believe were Grado something-80’s? I thought you’d appreciate hearing how they worked out for her:

“My head has been spinning ever since I started listening to the new Grados… I want to listen to EVERYTHING right NOW which of course is impossible so I started with a little Lucinda and went in alphabetical order for a while… wow to Mark Knopfler, Miles Davis – very nice, Morcheeba – entrancing… Muddy Waters – hit and miss!? Some of the recordings (remastered maybe?) sound great. Some sound like they were transferred from vinyl or just mono / flat – interesting. Natalie Merchant, New Order, Nickleback, Nina Simone.

Then I switched tactics – Clapton! – fingers on strings – so vivid... Hendrix – again not so good (should I look for some remastered stuff??) Then some salsa / vallenato music from Cuba & Colombia – I’ve never heard the accordion & horns like this!

Oh, then Strokes – much better on the Grados. Radiohead – haunting, wow. Eargasm after eargasm… and suddenly the weekend is over. L

I heard Leonard Cohen on the way in this morning so that’s next on the docket to try w/ the Grados… can’t wait to hear THAT voice - and some woman who reminded me of Joni Mitchell so Joni’s next on the list. Then Sea of Sin – Depeche Mode and I bet John Lee Hooker will be awesome… and then I have some guilty pleasures lined up too. So many tunes, so little time! How can I switch back to those little white earbuds?

I’m simply in heaven.

:-D <big dumb grin>”

Anyways thanks again for your top notch customer service, (Geoff was helping us out) and I suspect you’ll be seeing her again soon as she has her eye on a mini system next!

Our theatre room is such a perfect place to escape to – thank-you thank-you thank-you.

Hi Andrew
Just want to say thank you for setting me up with the Marantz amplifier and the Rainmaker speakers. I am extremely happy with them.
The sound is so clean, so pure so natural there's not much more to say. Also thanks for doing such a great job with the installation and spending time in explaining these products and instructing me how to break them in.
Cheers

Over the last ten years you guys at K and W Audio have consistently impressed me with your commitment to customer service. Most home theater retailers are more interested in selling new equipment or at the very least sending out a repairman when something goes wrong for a customer. Instead ,you guys attempted to walk me through my challenges and find a solution over the phone. And we were successful. This saved me an expensive service bill.

What a terrific team committed to building long term relationships with customers rather than just getting a quick sale.

I am most grateful and continue to be very impressed with K and W Audio’s service.

Thanks so much

You have been great to work with and we really appreciate the fast turnaround to get us in and settled. Also really appreciate the quality of everything you picked for the house. We will enjoy it for years to come.

Ken and Jane

Thanks for all of your hard work. You are a superstar. Let's stay in touch, at least I plan to. I love the system so much, it is so awesome and I plan on building on it at some future point. In fact, I am blasting it now!

Jane

I'm VERY happy! Thank you and your team so very much for the excellent service! Don't forget to bill me! I'll give you a shout next week to proceed with converting to Control4 and get the house fixed up, Thanks!

Mitch

Thanks very much for staying late at work last night to accommodate me. I really appreciate both that and the deal which you gave me.

Roger

This new setup kicks a#@! I actually fear for the structural integrity of my house. :) Thanks again!

Roger.

Just a note to say how much my wife and I are enjoying the results of the new (Torus) power conditioner. The sound is noticeably more spacious. The bass is firmer and the high treble is clearer and gentler. The speakers seem to be “comfortable” in their work. Of course, this is not just the properties of the speakers but even more the quality of the signal that they are receiving. As always, thanks for your help with my sound needs.

Ken

Thank you for this tremendous lesson in acoustics yesterday and sharing your contagious passion for sound, that kept you way after closing time. Incidentally, it made me feel so comfortable with the purchase...

Michel

Thanks once again for a very tidy and well built system. Something (for me) to be proud of.

S.V.H.

I wanted to tell you how happy we were with (Installer/ Programmer) Chris. He was a complete professional, incredibly efficient and dedicated to making sure we were happy with the install and product performance. He is a great ambassador for K&W.

K. Shumka

I must say, everyone who is privileged enough to lay eyes on your rack is awe struck!! Most of them have never seen anything like this before. And when they see me switching on the kitchen TV from the basement…Then even I am impressed, and again quite proud and thankful of your product.

Just wanted to say thanks so much for the chat last night ... and to also thank you for the advice with the Apple TV ... it works! Sure wish there were more people like you out there. I have posted a recommendation for you and your store on the classifieds at work. I figured I'd send some work your way or at least let people know about you guys.

I'm doing some housework today and had to stop to sit down and do some listening in our living room. Just thought I'd send a note to say how much we're enjoying the Marantz processor and Totem speaker combo in our place. The audio is awesome. Thanks again so much for the recommendation.

Thank you. I loved walking home last night and remotely turning on my porch and entry lights as well as unlocking my front door!

I wanted to take a moment to reach out to you and ensure two individuals that work for you get recognized, Geoff and Chris.

Geoff, from day one has treated me with such respect and kindness and has always given me a sense of confidence in K&W and their products and service.  Being a new customer to K&W and recently dropping around $25K for my theatre I was quite hesitant to switch from my previous home theatre company.

That all changed when I met with Geoff.  He gained my confidence and trust (enough to spend $25K) in your store and believe that I was receiving top of the line products and would not be let down when it came to service and support from K&W.

They say once in a while "life serves you lemons" so I'll presume the unfortunate early swap out of my Epson LS 10,000 projector under warranty was just that.....unfortunate and likely to not happen again. That said, it gave me the opportunity to really experience the amazing service from Geoff and Chris.

Geoff, was available at all times of the evening and weekend and did whatever he could to walk me through trouble shooting to try and get me up and running just before company came over for a movie night. When all else failed, he vowed to get me back up and running ASAP once I received my replacement projector. He contacted Chris and escalated my service call to Top Priority.  I was literally back up and running the same day as the projector arrived at my door.  That was so amazing and blew me away!

They understood how desperately my family wanted to enjoy the projector again and didn't leave us sitting around for several days waiting for someone to come and install it.  Geoff and Chris made it their mission to get it installed the same day, actually within an hour of it arriving at my house!  That is something one would normally be "speechless" about.

Chris, has also been an absolute pleasure to deal with from day one.  He comes in smiling and polite and professional. He just gave me a total sense of confidence from start to finish, which I cannot say about other techs from other theatre companies I've dealt with in the past.   He was instrumental in fishing some HDMI wire through my finished custom ceiling and got me the HD connection I was without for many years.  He's been very helpful in his suggestions and also showed patience while I needed to run to the store and buy some extra stuff to get installed and helped me with returning items back in their box when I bought a TV that turned out to be too big for my exercise room.

You have two really amazing guys and they are doing an incredible job earning K&W referrals and repeat business from likely many many happy customers just like me!

I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with K&W and hope you will take the time to recognize these guys as they truly deserve recognition for what I feel is "going above and beyond" the great service I was originally promised.

My only regret is not being a K&W customer 10 years ago when we first built our custom theatre!

Sincerely,
S. Hyder

Thanks for all your help sorting out the new projector and receiver this week, you guys are the best for a reason. Chris, the installer was awesome by the way. Very professional, called ahead of time to keep me posted, hugely knowledgeable, went out of his way to help out by picking up the receiver and coming back at the end of the day. Made sure it was all set up perfectly, educated me on all things technology let alone how to use what we purchased. ...And just one hell of a good guy.

Just finished listening to Roger Waters, The Wall and it is the happiest I've ever been with the playback of any system I have had or heard!

Everything went very well. I wasn't home but my wife said out of every service guy we have EVER had, he was absolutely amazing.

Just wanted to thank all of you for your great work. Just ask me how happy I am with the conversion to Control4 from Elan. Our system is working flawlessly.... we rock it out making dinner and then spend our evenings between “Suits” (completely addicted), the full series of Harry Potter, Star Wars and endless reruns of Cheers. I have no doubt that Elan would have blown up by now and my family would have declared Civil War!

I had a great experience with K&W. I would recommend K&W to anyone. - Frank

I was in need of help after moving and discovering that my Sub woofer volume was now a problem for neighbours.
My old Sony system was certainly not purchased at K&W but I was desperate for immediate help.
Customer service provided by James was beyond any expectations I could dream.
He found the manual online, reviewed the operations and gave a step by step instruction on the telephone. He was generous with his time and patience.
His was thoughtful and kind enough to teach me, so that I could understand exactly what to do next time.
Thank you for the high standard of customer service. I hope to be a future customer when the opportunity presents itself.

Annie

Thanks a lot for the custom built cable! It works perfectly. It's so cool to see the sub now be perfectly in sync to a receiver. I wish I had started using the trigger function years ago.

I truly apologize as I did forget your service tech’s name, but I just wanted to let you know that he was one of the most professional, kind, and helpful techs I have met to date. He was extremely knowledgeable and was a pleasure to work with yesterday. Just wanted to pass on that feedback as he was certainly the best home automation technician I have met. I have nothing but positive feedback for him. Please thank him again for me for all his efforts yesterday.

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