Apex - bankruptcy? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Woods]

Some one over at the Nerds - the Apex user site
http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/viewto...261&forum=10&2
has said that a court gas forced sale of Apex assets.
Does anyone know anything about this? As one reads the 7701 thread on that forum, it seems that the 7701 has had myriad faults and is going back to J&R for refunds in a steady stream.
Are there any other 'budget' players that handle SACD and DVDA? The 7701 tried to do this but seemingly had all kinds of problems.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Apex responded in another thread here. Here's what they had to say:
"Is it true that the assets of APEX digital are being sold at auction because it is being forced out of business? Is this why the 7701 was released before it was ready to function and why Customer Support has not done anything to help me with my four defective 7701 units that I have now returned to J&R?
Apex's Answer Is:
It is interesting how rumors start.
The Problem is a legal dispute between Apex and Hub.
A contract dispute involves Hub threatening to sell Apex Digital product unless resolved. This is not an Apex Digital auction.
Hub is only one of seven (7) warehouses with Apex Digital Product. Apex digital continues shipping DVD players to retailers and is definitely not going bankrupt or sanctioning any auctions.
Apex Digital is financially sound, continues to supply product to the marketplace, and will continue doing "business as usual" while resolution with Hub is agreed upon.
APEX DIGITAL:
Is second only to Sony in DVD player market share in the United States.
Completed a very successful Consumer Electronics Show January 8-11, 2002 in Las Vegas, where major retailers contracted for product exceeding last years success story.
Added 18 new model television sets and 7 new model DVD players to the Apex Digital line-up. Continues shipping to major retailers without interruption now.
Acquired a 60% controlling interest for $9 million in a major DVD manufacturing plant. Completed construction of a 300,000 square foot headquarters with 5 new production lines to complement the existing 350,000 square foot DVD manufacturing facility. Has over 75 engineers doing research and development and 2800 employees."
Colton Manley
Apex Digital Inc.
2919 E. Philadelphia St.
Ontario CA 91761
[email protected]
Second only to Sony? Where are the numbers to back up that claim?
Neil

 

[Kevin_W]

7 new model DVD players to the Apex Digital line-up

Sounds like they need more quality and less quantity.

 

[Rutledge]

Sony has the most market share with 15%. The rest is divided up among all the other manufactures. Apex could very well be second. It might be at 10% though or even less.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Notice they didn't answer the question about why the 7701 was such a steaming load.

Ryan

 

[JohnnyG]

2nd place behind Sony? I don't believe that for a split second.

Maybe as a manufacturer of DVD players, but certainly not the 'Apex' brand name.

 

[James David Walley]

Are there any other 'budget' players that handle SACD and DVDA? The 7701 tried to do this but seemingly had all kinds of problems.

Depends on what you mean by "budget." The only other player I know of that handles both is the Pioneer AX-10, which costs $5,000 and won't do multichannel SACD. The Abso!ute Sound is currently reporting that Pioneer will have a replacement model out this spring, the 747, that will play SACDs in multichannel mode, and will have a list price of $1,500 (which means a "street price" of somewhat less). Now, that might not be your idea of "budget," but compared to the AX-10, it's almost cheap!

 

[Charles J P]

Is the 7701 the player that is reviewed in the current issue of S&V magazine? I know S&V reviewed an APEX 'universal' player, and said that on both DVD-A and SACD, the level of background noise was no better then an average CD player. That is not a good test result considering the theoretical capabilities of the two formats. I have never thought of APEX as high end, but as far as being the number DVD player seller... I saw Nebraska Furniture Mart (the biggest furniture store in all of north america, and one of the biggest electronics retailers in the midwest) move over 600 of a single APEX unit in less than 3 hours on the day after Thanksgiving, and I myself bought 2 (a bedroom player and one for my parents who arent exactly videophiles, and dont have surround sound). Both players have worked flawlessly. I think what you have to realize is, it is what it is. I think for $65 each, I couldnt really expect much. I dont think the universal player from APEX was much over $200-$300, and considering all other universal players on the market now are $1700- $5000 and up, what do you expect. I also dont know about them going bankrupt, but I heard K-mart declared bankrupcy today.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

move over 600 of a single APEX unit in less than 3 hours

Wow, it got returned that many times?
Seriously, there are major problems with the 7701 beyond the overall cheapness factor. The message boards referenced above contain many long threads detailing the woes of this unit. Audio dropouts on SACD and DVD-A, signifcant picture distortion on DVDs, inability to play many DVD-A titles, crackles and pops in the audio, and plain old dead boxes are apparently common.
The saving grace here is that that 7701 is priced well above the budget of the typical Apex buyer, so the PR fallout won't be that great. But they do seem much more concerned with pushing boxes out the door than whether what's in the boxes actually works.
And the MSRP on the Pioneer universal is going to be $1200, street probably around $1000. Not small change, but getting better.
If you want to play both formats, get the Sony NS500V ($300) and the forthcoming Panasonic RP82 ($279). Between the two you get Multichannel SACD (with bass management), DVD-A, and progessive DVD with the Faroudja/Sage chip for half the price of the Pioneer. If you want to stretch the budget a little more, get the forthcoming Denon 1600 instead of the Panny for $549 -- comes with the same progressive chip, plus bass management for DVD-A and still significantly less than the Pioneer.
Of course, you'll have a serious rat's nest of cables and switch boxes to run both into the only set of analog 5.1 inputs you probably have, but there's no free lunch...
Ryan

 

[Charles J P]

Wow, it got returned that many times?

Dang, busted I meant single model, but oh well. To be perfectly honest Ryan, your suggestions are spot on, except for that whole two 5.1 output, 1 5.1 input deal.:frowning: I think I will wait for a good universal under $500, even if that takes a while