This Ice House Ain’t For Melting

I like durable stuff. I drive a Volvo. I also wear stuff out really fast, which is why my choices are carefully made. Especially in audio. If I am going to spend money and invest in a brand and consider an upgrade path, then I want to be bloody certain the company who sells and distributes it will still be there and happy to help, if and when I stamp my big fat foot later on, long after purchase. (I was going to say ‘little’ but I’m a Euro 48/UK12 and it’s fat.) I have even chosen products based on a company’s HQ location and thus my ability to ‘pop in’ at the UK head office for help!
(Serious aside here, I did exactly that uncivilised end-user-popping-in-on-distributor to Sansui HiFi in Watford, many years ago. I now know the Japanese engineer who helped me that day was the father of one of Alpine’s trusty crew of executives today and a top bloke in Talk Audio TV videos. Look for Atsuhiro Takeda’s name in the Alpine videos on TATV)
All of which is preamble to saying how bloody brilliant it is that a name you don’t really know – Celsus ICE – is the UK distributor for some really cool and durable utterly-top-end-brands like JL Audio and Dynamat. For the big deal is that they really cherish the shops you go to, to get their kit. If you are a Celsus dealer, well, you get access to a world of shizzle that’s vital to running an installation bay, let alone all the glacially cool ice and more than that, you get an outfit with lurve involved in their virtual world.
They beaver like nutters so a dealer can blunder into the trade website to order stuff and find it all simple and even with a little Tesco-esque Loyalty Scheme that gives them a point a quid they can use against more product. Kinda like them getting it a tiny bit cheaper which means they are less likely to need to stripe the end buyer!
(Personally, I feel JL Audio tread the tightrope of affordable quality better than anyone and I know for a fact that major competing manufacturers look to them as a standard-setter these days)
But Celsus are here to stay and with the pukka care their huge bucket of Give-A-Damn gives to the dealers, with a bit of luck and your shopping, they will still be there if you manage to screw up and pop a tweeter or wanna go bigger, badder or even more refined. It happens, I see it. It’s called growing up&;
So anyway, there’s this dealer, a good sort, one who has been there doing it to it since before I was a journalist. The Audio File In Car in Bishop’s Stortford. Bloke called Gary Hallwood is doing a quick order on the PC and a HUGE window pops up. YOU ARE OUR 10,000th CUSTOMER ON LINE!! YOU WINNN!
Gary backs up a window or two, closes down his PC and calls Celsus to ask what bloody malware has infected their system to try to sell them a time share in Mauritius.
Well, no, that’s piffle actually, Mark Baker of Celsus went through their system after noticing it happen and called them&;
Mark Baker with a very happy Gary Hallwood of top end installers Audio File.

What they got was 5000 ‘Celsus Points’ on their online trade account and they were swagged with a free JL Audio XD200/2 amplifier and a pair of JL Audio C3-650 speakers to do with as they wish.
All a bit biz-to-bizz as far as Talk Audio news is concerned but it is heart warming to know that JL, Dynamat and all their brands are in a secure home. As long as the factories make the stuff we love that makes cars sound so cool, Celsus will be there to make sure you’re looked after..
The Audio File Bishops Stortford Tel: 01279 757 218 or visit link

 

A few of you may even know the blood, sweat and tears the accreditation below takes, and what it meansCelsus have this.