Atomic CLR long-term reliability

The cost / value of a product doesn't necessarily reflect the sum of its components.
It's not necessarily bad components but maybe an issue with cooling or bad PCB layout. The price is OK IMHO it's just that the after sales service is not accurate. A solution could be to engage a partnership with regional partners at least in US, EU, Asia. But that means sharing of information and access to suppliers he might not want to give, or have to deal with suppliers that won't send single parts and thus having to create "stock" locally.
They could consider this though because these cabs are pricewise/soundwise quite beyond what proposes the concurrence so there is a real market for them.
 
It's not necessarily bad components but maybe an issue with cooling or bad PCB layout. The price is OK IMHO it's just that the after sales service is not accurate. A solution could be to engage a partnership with regional partners at least in US, EU, Asia. But that means sharing of information and access to suppliers he might not want to give, or have to deal with suppliers that won't send single parts and thus having to create "stock" locally.
They could consider this though because these cabs are pricewise/soundwise quite beyond what proposes the concurrence so there is a real market for them.
No, but a $1K active speaker should be built to last. Sadly, the CLR is unreliable.
I'm not disagreeing with either statement. I was simply replying to the comment on "cheap" components.

This is a common music industry occurrence, not limited to Atomic.

I used to want to get CLRs but based solely on customer support I would never buy one at this point.

I've got Xitone passive wedges I bought back when they also hadn't gone belly up... They work great in conjunction with my Matrix amp (also very poor CS these days).

But a few years ago I bought a pair of EV PXM12-MP and I couldn't be happier - excellent sound, size, weight and a large company with good support.
 
No, but a $1K active speaker should be built to last. Sadly, the CLR is unreliable.
You have no real facts to base that statement on since no one knows how many CLRs have been sold & how many actually develop problems so there is no way to get an accurate failure rate. I bought 2 CLRs when they first came out & 2 more when the MKIIs first came out & have had zero issues. In comparison, I have had 5 Fractal products & have had problems with 3 of them. Can I say Fractal products are unreliable? No because I don't have the data to come up with an accurate failure rate. The BIG difference is Fractal stands behind their products & has great customer support. Atomic's support is at best spotty & pretty much non existent at this point. As much as I like the CLRs, I would be hard pressed to recommend them because of the lack of support only.
 
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If anyone here knows a reliable repair shop that could go through a CLR amplifier module, feel free to pass it on. Right now I’ve got two @jlynnb1 tables that need to get back to work as speakers! I’ve no plans to take them apart myself, but wouldn’t mind having them rebuilt if it wasn’t cost prohibitive.
 
Purchased two of them in 2013. One of them quit in 2015 just after the warranty expired but Tom sent me a new amp for it anyway. Fast forward to a couple months ago and another one quit....not sure if it was the same one or not TBH, but sold them off. All said, they are amazing sounding speakers.
 
If anyone here knows a reliable repair shop that could go through a CLR amplifier module, feel free to pass it on. Right now I’ve got two @jlynnb1 tables that need to get back to work as speakers! I’ve no plans to take them apart myself, but wouldn’t mind having them rebuilt if it wasn’t cost prohibitive.
exactly, I'd love to just take the amp somewhere and get it fixed. all I want is a functional CLR
 
But a few years ago I bought a pair of EV PXM12-MP and I couldn't be happier - excellent sound, size, weight and a large company with good support.

This is what I would recommend to anyone looking for a FRFR solution. Go with a well established company that can reliably supply warranty service if anything goes wrong. The EV PXM12-MP would be my first choice if I were shopping today.
 
I have one of the original non-wedge versions. Love it. Love that it looks like a 1x12 guitar cab too.

Service from Atomic over the years has been super hit or miss.

For that reason, I likely will not buy additional Atomic products, but I like the one I have (and I don't fear that it's going to fail).
I would take 2 Fender FR-10s (for the same cost), all day long.
 
So poor durability relatively high failure rate and zero customer service.
Not a list I want in anything.
Unless you know factual sales figures on how many CLRs have been sold & how many have developed problems, you have no clue whether they are inherently unreliable or not. Anecdotal complaints on an Internet forum don't even come close to giving you or anyone factual data on failure rates. Their support/customer service in not in question. It sucks these days!
 
Unless you know factual sales figures on how many CLRs have been sold & how many have developed problems, you have no clue whether they are inherently unreliable or not. Anecdotal complaints on an Internet forum don't even come close to giving you or anyone factual data on failure rates. Their support/customer service in not in question. It sucks these days!
I doubt you'll ever be able to determine actual failure rate. However, if there's no customer service any failure becomes a nightmare. PS, they do fail.
 
I doubt you'll ever be able to determine actual failure rate. However, if there's no customer service any failure becomes a nightmare. PS, they do fail.
I never said they don't fail & I did say their customer service sucks these days. The point is you can not say they are inherently unreliable based on a few forum posts and without factual data which is impossible to obtain. At this point I would not recommend them because of the lack of support. Too bad because they are an excellent FRFR. I wish someone would buy Tom out and take over the product!
 
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