Really excited to get the SQ Rack integrated into our systems here. Pre-ordered just a week or two after the announcement. At that point, they were anticipating shipments in May. Then it went to June. Now I’m hearing September. Has Allen and Heath given any indication as to why the delay? (I’ve not seen anything official anywhere.)
My latest expected delivery date from the UK distributor is listed as early July if that helps.
Thanks. I got a reply on another forum from an Allen and Heath rep who gave me some context.
… which was what?
Oh, right. I got a reply from someone who works at American Music and Sound / Allen and Heath USA. Here’s what he said:
"Typically companies in the Pro Audio industry don’t make public statements regarding delays unless it’s something outrageous, let’s call it 6 months to a year and even then probably not that common, and will be communicated through the sales channel > Independent Rep Force > Dealer and usually not directly to end user or posting on social media.
As others have hinted at, product shipping dates, pricing, and service are all country dependent as most companies are using an independent distributor whose costs, policies, and forward orders to their respective headquarters (in this case Allen and Heath) will vary.
In the United States, where it sounds lke you’re located, Allen and Heath is distributed by American Music and Sound AKA Allen and Heath USA. Where i can confirm the main cause of delays in SQ Rack shipments is due to tariffs. There has been an extraordinary amount of work and time put in to trying to figure out Plan B, Cs, Ds, only for them to be upended with abrupt shifts in our government’s policy.
As [another user] alluded to, at one point this meant stopping all inbound shipments as it would be financially disastrous to import with the duty and sell at the original price and equally the market likely wouldn’t bear the price we would have to charge for us to make a profit once the tariffs were factored in.
The temporary reduction in tariffs till early July has allowed us a window to bring some SQ Racks in. The initial shipments will likely not meet the demand but we should see improved filling of orders later this summer as production ramps up.
The new QU would have suffered a similar fate in the USA with shipments delayed until true ground was determined for the tariffs, again fortunately the temporary reduction in rates have allowed us to proceed with shipments."