Your msg is a bit puzzling. On one hand you agree that LH are some of the worst crooks in hifi ever and on the other hand you still advise prople to buy their hyped (sometimes even nonexisting) devices.
How do those things go together for you? Is the v2 that otherwordly good? Cause there are tens of other similar devices that one could recommend: cowoy, hrt microstreamer (using it), meridian, that iphone skyn thing coming soon, various iFi devices, etc...
Not otherworldy good, no. But, in the category of dongle DACs - and small form factor DACs period - LH's products are a standout performer. I haven't tried *every* product in the category, but I have tried a fair number of them (dongle DACs* I've either purchased or had for long demo periods: Schiit Fulla, Dragonfly v1 and v2, Audioengine D3, HRT microStreamer, Meridian Explorer, Centrance DACPort LX, and LH GO450). To my ears, when paired with my Leckerton UHA.6S MKII, the GO450 was far better than most of the rest by a not-small margin. (The DACport LX was my second choice, I liked it's tonal balance, instrument timbre, and the lack of Sabre treble sheen that is still slightly present on the GO450.)
I think that's really the crux of the problem: Light Harmonic makes very, very good products - especially when price is taken into consideration. But they really
suck when organizing the sale of their products and engineering their purchase experience. They also have a problem with extremely long product delivery delays.
They have a habit of turning what should be fairly basic transactions into a long game of Calvinball, with frequently moving targets for product names, delivery due dates, product features and performance tiers, and now even purchase location and preorder priority.
I bought a V2+ for myself because, based solely on my experience with the GO450 and the anecdotal reports on the V2 from people whose ears and upstream gear I trust, I think it's going to be a killer price-to-performance value. I almost didn't buy it though because of the preorder debacle. I was more than a little pissed off by the sudden acceleration of the payment date because I had budgeted the purchase for a future paycheck believing that I had a full 60 day Indiegogo campaign as a buffer. My preorder is an early Batch 1 preorder and I almost bought an AK Jr instead, for almost twice the price, because their purchase experience was just that alienating. For example, with regards to Indiegogo buyers complaining about LH preorder reservations getting shipping priority: "
It's a valid concern, especially when you consider that a few folks reserved more than needed spots in the queue by throwing in just a few dollars. It’s just created all kinds of issues for everyone." I don't have enough time this morning to even begin to write out all the ways that these two sentences insult and dismiss the customers that preordered on the LH site.
There are two reasons I still went through with the preorder despite knowing all of this. First, I expect to the greatest amount of audio quality/value for my money by buying it. My purchase isn't a charitable donation intended to do some sort of ethical good. I'm buying a device in this category because I want it to sound great and I expect that my best audio-to-cost outcome is going to be forwarded by buying the Geek Out V2+. Second, I don't think that LH are "some of the worst crooks in hifi ever." In an industry as filled with dubious claims, outright snake oil, absurd product pricing, and
highly questionable product manufacturing practices as this one, I suspect that in order to be one of the worst crooks in audio ever LH would have to begin manufacturing a fashion-forward leather Geek Wave case made entirely from the bodies of Qatari stadium laborers and poached white rhino semen.
I really don't think they're crooks: I think they're bumbling and I'm not sure that they realize the extent to which their transactional and rhetorical klutziness is flagging off would-be customers. Making solid products only goes so far. The "five-year old company growing pains" apologia also only goes so far. We can all complain in this thread about it (and others) but I don't think that will do as much good as this suggesting:
I think that any person that reviews a LH product should include their own purchase experience in the review of the product itself. Casual consumers generally mine enthusiast forums...but they do read the reviews.
* I really want to try out Apogee's new entry into the market, the Groove. I'll probably pick one up once I've had some time with my V2+ for a comparo. Now that it's aftermarket price is dropping a bit, I'd also like to try out the Resonessence Herus. Yay Canada!
