Here is how Sound Foundations Opal Speaker Stand packed :-(

[swamytk]

I had ordered Solid Foundations Opal Speaker Stand from HiFiMart. It was delivered today. It was properly wrapped with synthetic gunny bag properly. But the internal packing from Solid Foundations is pathetic. This is how a Living room HiFi installation should not be packed. It has 6 pipes and 4 base plates. They were all scratched against each other like a hell. You may please look at the photos published here.





Here is the so called instruction manual (unedited):


Then I made up my mind and said to myself "OK, OK, OK, let me go ahead with installation". But where is installation document? There is no such printed document/sheet in package. OK, OK... let me find out from official website. When I download so called instruction manual PDF, it was just a single hand drawn (pen) sheet captured by a camera with time stamp, then converted to PDF. OK, OK, I am fine with all these. The best of is yet to come. The so called document said "scratched face for bottom and clean face for top facing" . So it is a known issue for Solid Foundations. Instead of fixing the problem they documented it in a scratchpad and called the same as document.

I am not going to send it back. I will try to manage to hide scratched portions from visibility in Living room. I don't have patience and time to track this company - seeing this manual and packing I don't expect any support. Regarding quality of Stand - it looks solid. Let me finish assembling and see the performance and come back here later. Moral of the story: I am sorry to say that if you are keen on aesthetic stand, please skip Solid Foundations. If any one wants to justify this with cost (₹9,250) I don't think any company will knowingly scratch a product and mention it in crappy document how ever be the cost of it.

I request HiFiMart to look into this and help Solid Foundations to improve their packing. It is good for both the companies. After all we learn every day, right?

 

[Deleted member 38504]

You mean soundfoundations. I had a similar experience with their base model stands. I think the top of the line stuff from them is good. But the lower lines, not so much. Heavy and good material but not great finishing.

I own the barracuda distribution box (from soundfoundations) and that is really well made and finished. I also have a few cables and power cables bought from them and they are good quality as well.

Have since switched to Tono stands. Now I have two pairs of tono. Excellent build and finishing.

 

[raghupb]

I have SF stands, though I bought them used.
The chrome on the center column showed some wear and tear.
But solidly built.
Document and ask for a replacement. I'm sure it'll work out.
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Ashenden]

Very unfortunate. As suggested above please do ask the dealer for a replacement.

 

[skroderider]

I have just bought these stands - yet to arrive. Fingers crossed.

 

[swamytk]

I have just bought these stands - yet to arrive. Fingers crossed.

Hope they take care and pack properly in your case and future. That's the idea of such a long post

 

[swamytk]

Hi all, I have assembled the stand hiding the scratches facing wall. My Wharfedale Diamond 220s neither had furniture or stand to sit for long time. So decided to fit the stand. It looks good. It is sturdy and has enough weight. Spikes are also useful. Top plate size perfectly matches with my speakers. It does give elegant look to my setup. I'll share photos once wiring done. Thanks for all your support!

 

[Naturelover]

This is the company. Mumbai based.

Home - SoundFoundations

soundfoundations.in

 

[magma]

The opals
Are the only stands made in the PRC

It's the only product in the portfolio that is not made by soundfoundations

It's possibe and evident that quality control on them is not tight since each stand is not opened from the OEM packing and checked

The scratches are very evident
You could have asked for a return

I'm sure
A call or an email would have found a satisfactory solution

About the manual mentioning the use of scratched part to be used on the bottom
There is an explanation for that ,however this is not the thread for it
( It applies mainly to the larger cast iron stands with thick cast bases whose bottoms can't be finished )

 

[swamytk]

( It applies mainly to the larger cast iron stands with thick cast bases whose bottoms can't be finished )

But this is not about manufacturing restrictions, it is all about poor QA and irresponsible customer support of simply asking customer to use clean side of plate instead of fixing the issue.

 

[rikhav]

But this is not about manufacturing restrictions, it is all about poor QA and irresponsible customer support of simply asking customer to use clean side of plate instead of fixing the issue.

The part which says use scratch side is not mentioning about the damage the stands you have got have
It's mentioning about the unfinished side of cast iron stands.

The owner clearly accepted the damage and also added that if you would have called or probably emailed pictures of damage stands a return would have been initiated.

 

[swamytk]

The part which says use scratch side is not mentioning about the damage the stands you have got have
It's mentioning about the unfinished side of cast iron stands.

It is not unfinished side. Both the sides were painted and finished.

The title and content of my post has typo of "Solid Foundations" instead of "Sound Foundations". Since I can't edit now, can some moderator do it for me? How it works here?

 

[swamytk]

Important Update: Today morning to my surprise, got call from Mr. Anil (HifiMart) knowing this thread. He is so kind and supportive to help me voluntarily and offered me replacement. He spoke to Sound Foundations on behalf of me and arranged for replacement. What a customer support! It is not monotonous customer support; he cares for his customer how ever small may be. Thanks, Mr. Anil! You have earned a friend and customer together

 

[Ashenden]

Important Update: Today morning to my surprise, got call from Mr. Anil (HifiMart) knowing this thread. He is so kind and supportive to help me voluntarily and offered me replacement. He spoke to Sound Foundations on behalf of me and arranged for replacement. What a customer support! It is not monotonous customer support; he cares for his customer how ever small may be. Thanks, Mr. Anil! You have earned a friend and customer together

Glad to hear you got it sorted out He's always been excellent with handling customer queries.

 

[sunilkm]

Congrats for the new stands and good to know about the great support from hifimart.
I am using the SF nexus stands with wharfedale 220. It fits perfectly.

 

[swamytk]

Congrats for the new stands and good to know about the great support from hifimart.
I am using the SF nexus stands with wharfedale 220. It fits perfectly.

Thanks for letting me know about Wharfedale 220's compatibility with SF Nexus.

Here is replacement Nexus stand received and installed. This is heavier than Opal stand. But painting and finishing is not as good as Opal. Packaging was very good. Thanks to Mr. Anil of Hifimart for great support.

 

[sunilkm]

This looks like Nexus stands. Wharfedale 220 base will fit correctly on this stand.

 

[hifitoaster]

In India, where manual labour is cheap compared to europe and us and shipping is cheap, 9k for that stand is already a high price. Apart from material, the labour charges are the ones which makes hand made stands expensive abroad. The price is still ok, if they are able to provide a service which is premium. My brother bought one, not the entry level, but don't remember which one. It came perfectly without any scratches.

What I would expect is on a scratched item would be a discount on price (20 % is reasonable I think) or a replacement.