Urgent update November 2023
I sent the following compromise offer to Tommy Hoerning this month, and copied Iain Bortwick at Willow Tree Audio (Horning UK agent) and Jeff Catalano at High Water Sound (Horning USA agent) for complete transparency. I am waiting on a response.
I also supplied the two agents Tommy Hoerning’s emails urging me to buy the turntable and phono stage, and also the prices Tommy proposed. Everything is fully transparent, nothing hidden, no anomolies. There has also been suggested a mechanism by which Tommy can compensate me purely by an exchange of goods without actually needing to find the money - should he so wish. I'll make it known later especially if there are delays. I want everyone to know that I have been beyond reproach with this man, and also offer his agents an excellent opportunity to grow their business.
I have given them a second chance to make the business honest so as to ensure reliable income from honest clients, but also to protecting the value of Horning goods on the used market. I want owners of Horning equipment to benefit from a brand which has done the right and proper thing.
Nobody, but nobody, want to buy from a dishonest business. This is their last chance to put their house in order, and establish what are excellent products in a wider market place of decent audiophiles.
Dear Tommy
Eleven years ago we started my order for a turntable and a phono stage of retail value around 27,000 Euro at an agree price with you (see your email below>. I paid 60% of the price in advance, and the balance just before delivery. All monies were paid into your company account of Horning Hybrid Systems v/Anne Mette Biehe at the registered address of your own home, at Lykkensdalvej 125.
However you did not deliver, as you know. Despite my years of chasing, you still have not delivered. And your agents in the UK are writing to me all week as if I was the bad and very evil man. I think they are very angry with you. Very angry. I can almost feel their anger now.
Let me finish this ordeal for you and your agents. I am willing to suggest a compromise, in the absence of any sensible conversation from you or your agents - and this can only be beneficial to you.
It is clear you cannot produce the two items I purchased and as you promised in the email below.
I will accept far cheaper replacement items and then we call the agreement settled.
The items are a Chinese made DAC, and a phono stage both supplied by your agents in the UK. You buy them and deliver them to me. Your agents may give you a discounted price if you are very polite with them. I would estimate it will cost you around 8-10K max.
That is far less then I paid you without considering the interest payments over these long years, and without considering the value of the turntable and phono stage from our agreement.The potential benefits of this simple solution is immeasurable to you and your agents.
It is pointless cutting off your own nose, and the noses of your agents, just to spite me. At our age we have surely out grown such juvenile behaviour and someday this game of yours has to end. Best to make the decision yourself rather than have your destiny decided for you.
What do you say?
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HORNING AGALME LOUDSPEAKERS
Part 1 - Selling Notes:
This is a serious and unique offer to sell an unused pair of the latest Agalme speakers. This is the only new and unused pair in the UK.
Quite possibly the finest, most true to life speakers ever made. Agalme are for those who know and love the Lowther sound and want it without limitations at the frequency extremes. Tommy Hoerning’s own exact words: “The Agalme is for me the crowning of my effort to make the best solution and is my statement. There will not come something after this; let alone the huge cost for me to make the Agalme cabinet which gives the best inside movement of sound waves in order to meet the new PM65 driver in the most perfect way.”
The special Horning designed Lowther PM65 drivers are removed from the cabinet for protection and also shipping that way makes it much easier to move the massive weight around as without that cavity there is nothing to hold onto at the front. They have stayed removed since I stored the speakers in my living room. Other than being tested in the factory these speakers have not been played. The magnetic grills are also set aside and wrapped up as they need to fit around the Lowther for support.
The isobarically loading of the Beyma woofers, six visible, six hidden, provide the necessary conditions for low frequency bass response and fast transients to keep up with the Lowther. These woofers are the original non-neodymium units for which the cabinet was designed. (More on the subsequent inferior modifications later.) The speakers are a complex quarter wave design where both the Beymas and the Lowthers combine in a backloaded horn/transmission line, and the tweeter completes the full range frequency response all previous Lowthers never could. Consequently the design of the folded horn and cabinet is crucial, as is the quality of the cabinet manufacture in such a large and complex structure. It goes without saying that the horn design is very specific to the drive units. All Agalme speaker cabinets are the same, and have been designed around these specific Beyma units. Subsequent replacements by the manufacturer for neodymnium units will automatically yield sub-optimal sound characteristics, as the cabinets were not changed in terms of horn design and length. Bottom line: there were very few of these original mkI Agalme speakers ever built, they are expensive to make and will never be available again at anywhere near this price.
Before placing a bid please call me to discuss payment and collection and to clarify any potential issues. The Speakers are located near Aberdeen. They stand 2m tall and weight over 110kg each and are not easy to handle for inexperienced people who do not have the right skill set. They are supplied with two heavy wooden crates. Total weight around 300kg. The basis of this offer is buyer collection and responsibility to build up the crates and arrange pick up and delivery. The most secure method is door to door specialist delivery. I am open to further discussion on any level of assistance depending on my workload and location at the time of purchase.
I have a solid reputation on eBay when it comes to
selling high end audio. Serious buyers should call with any questions. Tel
no is 077 9198 4561 (deleted as
requested) to discuss delivery details. All purchases to go through the
eBay system.
I will also consider an exchange of equipment to help you fund this expensive purchase, and would consider high end audio, car or motorcycle in p/ex. The buyer should consider these speakers as an end-point destination.
Note: Please contact me on the message service, as I travel a lot therefore I would need to sync any collection with my own schedule.
Part 2 - Additional Information and open letters to Tommy Horning:
Explanation and warning on dealing with Tommy Horning
I’m in an unfortunate position with these speakers, as my wife will not have these speakers in the house, and it has nothing to do with WAF. People have asked the question and I’ll be open and honest. This is a situation between me and Tommy Horning. I paid him in advance for the Agalme speakers + Sati turntable + Sati RIAA phono amp in order to help him with buying materials, cash flow and treated him as a friend. This involved a serious amount of money invested years in advance.
He only delivered the speakers - NOT the turntable and NOT the amp. He then claimed that the Danish tax authorities took all that he had. Even though he is now obviously successfully back in business and trading through the same Danish sole trader company Hørning Hybrid System v/Anne Mette Biehe CVR: 27163971 which he has in the name of his partner Anne Mette, he refuses to provide the goods I paid for on the grounds that he is not married to Anne Mette and feels that this is a perfectly acceptable and normal way of running a business. Anne Mette on the other hand knows nothing of the business or what her husband/partner is doing, and she certainly does to accept the orders or take any payments from clients even though he uses her name to hide behind.
Any normal and decent person would have either paid back the money owed with compound interest or delivered the expensive equipment that he was paid for. He knew full well that he was not going to deliver when I made that final payment. The fact that he is now making a decent profit and yet still does not make good on his debts does indeed make him a thief. A small-minded, lying, cheating thief without any honour, self-pride or shame who likes to hide behind his wife's skirt when it suits him.
Tommy was a good designer but is now dishonest in the extreme and has lost his way in life. He is in fact a thief who genuinely feels it is perfectly okay to offer any number of products based on an agreed large deposit then claim for years that, for example, the turntable and amp are not ready and then eventually only deliver half of what was paid for, and pocket the rest. He has been in this business for a long time and somewhere along the line has been corrupted into gaming the system and potential clients. I've had at least five messages from people on eBay attesting to similar experiences with him. Even past dealers have shunned him for his complete dishonesty and inability to offer a genuine service eventually recognizing that Tommy is only interested in lining his own pockets.
The Eufrodite/ Agalme mk1 line of speakers are probably the last great Horning speakers. The new products are all about cost cutting, removing bass drivers, installing blanking plates and generally trying to recover badly executed modifications - and not being afraid to palm off the costs of the distributors and buyers who eventually dump him as happened in the Netherlands for example.. The cabinets are no longer built to the same standard as his original Danish quality supplier who dumped him due to unpaid bills. Tommy lack of personal integrity has now filtered through all his work. Tommy is FUBAR.
The new Horning importer in the UK, Willow Tree Audio, is aware of the situation, as is High Water Sound in New York. Lowther UK have also been advised and were shocked when I told them the truth. Tommy Horning doesn't seem to care about their opinion preferring to bury his head in the sand and hope I go away saying that I had a good deal on the speakers but fails to tell them about the turntable and amplifier I fully paid for which he did not deliver.
Just for the record, I would say High Water Sound are an excellent company beyond reproach. Lowther is a business that deserves to survive. My comments are in no way a reflection on these two companies.
If anyone needs to know more and I'll provide correspondence between me and Tommy going back some years.
Open Letter to Tommy Hoerning
Tommy,
I fully paid for a SATI turntable and SATI phono amplifier in 2013 – a full five years ago. They were never delivered to me.
I gave you the money in advance to buy the nanocrystal transformer cores.
I supported you when the Danish speaker cabinet company went into liquidation in 2014 (which you claimed but since have found out the reason was because you were not paying their bills). I paid for everything in full before taking any delivery – stupid but I tried to help you and trusted you.
I chased you through all of 2015 to deliver the items, until in 2016 you told me that you have lost everything to the Danish tax man. I gave you some time to get your business back together.
In 2017 I found out from Lowther and your international distributors that you were doing solid business with them. I have other communications which I will not revealed. Clearly you are making money from your business, you are active and you are in a position to send me a new turntable and phono stage as you are doing so to other clients. I have paid more for the turntable than others have - and then consider how much a loan would cost you for some many thousands of Euros. Why did you steal from me while sending my equipment to distributors?
So, when are you going to send me my goods? How long must I wait?
This eBay listing will one day be finished and will be deleted from digital history. So far - I have avoided telling my story on the audio forums where the history stays for ever. Where anyone who wants to know about Horning loudspeakers or Tommy Horning will have permanent access.
Is that the Horning Legacy you want to leave your son? How would he feel when he knows the internet is full of true stories about his father being a thief? Your company’s name is under your wife’s name. Does she know what you have done to me? Does the congregation in her church where she plays the piano know?
I’ve been good to you since I bought the Agathons from you in 2008 (photo attached just to remind you.) My expensive AudioTruth Dragon+ silver cables were badly connected, but that is a separate story. In fact I have since learned that the tweeters in those Agathons were also marked as faulty which you must have known about, but still used.
All you have done is ruin what once was a great hobby of mine, and in fact have affected my marriage and family for years. Think about it Tommy – don’t feel for one minute that because I don’t pester you every month that this theft has been forgotten or is over.
Will your family have to suffer humiliation due to your weakness? Are you man enough to face up to the responsibility yourself? You have my contact details.
Oct 2019 - Tommy, if we do not get this situation cleared I am very close to printing all this on the forums where it will stay for ever. That will be your written legacy left for your family. Think on it and if that is worth those few thousands you have taken from me? It's bad enough for you on this platform and certainly does not win you any new distributors or new sales. Imagine what it would be like on the major forums. I've protected you for years Tommy, but my patience is wearing thin …
Jan 2020 - Word has reached me that some of the Horning dealers have been bad mouthing me. All I can say to them is if they don't have any evidence or knowledge of the private deal between Horning and myself, then they had better show some evidence instead of lying to their clients. I have years of emails and bank statements to support the facts above. I understand that you're losing good business year after year as a result, as I have lost money. The solution is easy - either cease business with Horning or better still, put pressure on him to sends the turntable and phono amp which I paid for. Bite him instead of being his lapdogs. His premeditated taking of my money days before a failure to deliver and with no intention of supplying the goods is theft - simple logic. If your business relies on a thief, and lying to cover up for him then you need to take a better look at yourselves as life has a habit of teaching karmic lessons which should have been learned long ago.
Mar 2021 - Despite an excellent call with a Horning dealer to come to a fair solution, which I was happy to consider, Tommy Horning seems to have refused to negotiate as he wallows in his own private Hades. He must still be under the delusion that being dishonest is not a barrier to selling expensive products – and so all must suffer from a tainted brand name. This is a Putinesque level of arrogance which has resulted in a lose-lose situation for all concerned.
Sept 2022 – Quick update. Two pictures have been added to the back of the listing - one of the turntable, and the other of the RIAA phono preamp that I paid Tommy Hoerning for but which he failed to deliver. I have added these as I had a recent question asking me if these were expensive iterms, and if its worth making a big deal of it. The answer is a clear and definite yes. The 50+ kg turntable speaks for itself. The valve driven RIAA is based on expensive nanocrytalline core transformers which Horning bought with the money I gave him, and used to deliver amps to his distributers.
Explanation on pricing – the basis of my offer is 66% percent based on retail price of the latest Agalme (or Agalma whatever they want to call it this week). This is currently set at £42,000. My speakers have never been assembled, are stored in my dry warm house, the Lowthers are boxed with the magnet assemblies at the bottom so the voice coils remains vertical just as in the store room at Lowther. Any future issues with the drivers will be supported by Lowther or Beyma. There is essentially nothing to go wrong in the future.
Truth be told if the present speaker are £42k, then mine should be at least £50k. They are far superior regardless of what the dealers may tell you.
The price of my speakers will rise if the retail rises, or if GBP is devalued by present govt activities.
This month I had a dealer guy try to exchange his expensive speakers for mine. No doubt he was genuine, but unfortunately a wee bit greedy in the end. His speakers were ex-shop demo and used for shows by two dealers over the four years prior to lockdown. They were also obsoleted by an improved new model which is amongst other things 30% heavier. The guy was a dreamer as many are, valuing his own at 66%, and wanting me to give mine away. Guess what? No deal.
Bottom line is this - I will accept a part exchange or even a full exchange, but I will not waste time on sales patter and time wasters. I’m not a difficult guy to deal with but I’m an engineer and deal in facts and not sales speak. Therefore from now on, I insist on an up-front priced proposal with clear photographs, and accurate information. Tell me exactly what you want and I’ll give you a quick answer, with a thorough explanation. I don’t mind negotiations, but from a realistic start point. Likewise, if you need more information from me, just ask. Treat folk like you want to be treated and all will be good.