How are transformer lead times these days?

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john12ax7

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Oct 15, 2010
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Had anyone ordered from the usual suspects recently, Jensen, Cinemag, etc? How are the lead times looking? Stock still seems to be an issue at many places.
 
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Things still look grim. Since being taken over by Carnhill, Sowter has reduced its range to about 10 transformers and I have heard reports about product quality now production has physically moved. I can no longer get my custom Sowter transformer for my tube mixers.

Cheers

Ian
 
Thats an aweful shame they dumped most of the product line .
I remember Brian retiring due to ill health sometime back , hopefully he's not too heartbroken over what they did to his great company .
 
Most, if not all, of the well known manufacturers have volume customers who they will obviously supply before anyone else. Material and labour shortages mean the number they can make is less so the timescales go out and the small number buyers like us suffer the most.

Cheers

ian
 
Hi Ian ,
Just wondering if you had tried any of the UTM transformers yet ,they seem to be fast expanding the range of low level ,mu metal screened with pcb pinouts , I know you probably prefer to source closer to home when ever possible , but if its non obtanium and holding up production its not much good .

Im not sure how your affected by import duty and tax on purchases from outside the EU but I suspect you probably get clobbered , if theres anyway I can help keep costs down by redirecting a shipment via Ireland Im happy to help , Im finally a bit more organised logistically now as I have a rented storage space. Courier deliveries and dispatches are handled automatically at the front desk from 9-5pm , the main 'An Post' sorting office for the city is located in an adjacent building , there might be a creative way to do it so your package is of no concern to 'Er Indoors's' custom and excise . Choosing the right designation for the goods might be another way to get the stuff 'green channel' entry or maybe a lower rate of duty , I do know know that certain kinds of electrical goods avoid import duties in the EU , mainly were talking about consumer electronics such as mobile phones and their some of their accesories , Im not sure if the UK has similar systems in place or not.

Of course to maintain the full insurance coverage of the postal system you would need to quote a realistic value for the goods on the postal forms , no way around that . Couriers might be a different story , theres one co-op based courier here , each driver owns his delivery area and gets a set fee per package , I can tell some of these boys have come up the hard way and maybe cant apply for many standard jobs where a CV is required , a more effecient service you'll never see ,there like men on a misson , hungry for road, if you dont get out to the door fast enough to thank him and give him a tip he'll have spun wheels on you and on to the next job .
Fastway opperate multinationally yet the way the profit is shared ensures the responsabillity for delivery is on the individual driver in his local area ,it comes straight out of his take home pay if he doesnt . The Fed-EX or UPS guys dont give a crap if your stuff bounces around the county for days on end.
 
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Nope. I think this comes with all fees included! Not bad against the Edcor WSM15K/600 with shipping but more fun!

I've never received a separate customs bill before for my EU purchases and wouldn't expect it here.
Paypal transaction. Very smooth. The dollar is good against the Euro. $124.38 USD today.
FWIW both items were listed as available in 48 hours, but my expectation is merely that it will arrive here in about 3 weeks. If I get a tracking # i will note the fact here.
 
I have not tried the UTM transformers yet although I have participated in the discussion here. If they do a pin compatible equivalent to the Cinemag CMMI-10APC 1:10 mic input transformer I would be interested.

I have not had any customs problems at all when ordering from the EU. I have purchased tubes and switches in recent months and all I paid was the local VAT the same as before Brexit. In fact as far as purchasing things from around the world is concerned, nothing seems to have changed at all. Going the other way though is another matter. I have been asked to tick the 'gift' box in customs declarations to avoid punitive duty being applied at the EU end.

Cheers

Ian
 
Ian ,
Thats a surprise to me , I had assumed the charges were automatically applied when a package transited either direction unless for whatever reason its deemed exempt . At least it allows the smaller diy guys in the UK access to the Euro market , maybe the Chancelor of the Exchequer realises if he screws down too hard on imports he'll only mess up small enterprise , the loss from import revenue vs the harm to indiginous industries, its associated tax loss and damage to local economy was counterproductive ,
I have a friend who orders from the UK regularly , both by post and by courier I must check with him on what the charges end up at , I know he gets fleeced to the fullest possible extent for any stuff he gets delivered from the US , say Stew Mac for instance , its typically 25-30% more than his checkout price ,then the exchange rate factor . Of course Ebay Amazon has the convienience and takes cake of it all for you at the checkout but it still amounts to more or less the same in the end .

Zam,
We can argue over the nature of the charges their names and how their collected till the cows come home , its still seems like highway robbery if I want to order anything over a certain value from either UK or US .

Thats the pinout style on Igors new one ,
 

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There is no punitive duty in EU... only VAT and importation taxes which apply to all non Schengen origin. 🙃
I cannot say if that is true or not. All I can say is that the additional charges now made by EU countries when importing from the UK are seen by my customers as punitive. I can also say there are no such charges in the other direction.

Cheers

ian
 
Last fall a client elected to go with Sowter Ampex 351 repro's, took about 80 days, delivered to US in mid January of this year. I believe the list of 'priority' transformers was already up on the Sowter site, nothing is taken down.
 
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