Comparing the meerkat - the digital experience!

[JW]

The less said about Allen, the better. I think everyone agrees on that.

Not me! I'm very happy with the practice instrument I have at home and I suspect they may work very well in small chapels. Can't talk about proper churches because they would need more specialist voicing and amplification and perhaps this is where Southern Comfort has had some poor experiences?

[Southern Comfort]

The less said about Allen, the better. I think everyone agrees on that.

Not me! I'm very happy with the practice instrument I have at home and I suspect they may work very well in small chapels. Can't talk about proper churches because they would need more specialist voicing and amplification and perhaps this is where Southern Comfort has had some poor experiences?

Many poor experiences over a period of some 35 years in churches of all shapes and sizes on both sides of the Atlantic (but mainly in the UK) include:
* Poor to non-existent after-sales service
* Frequent electrical and even mechanical failures after only a matter of months from installation as new
* Tuning problems, mostly with divisions being out of tune with each other (exacerbated by humidity)
* Uncomfortable to play. Manual touch in particular is recognizable blindfolded!
and most crucially
* Tone colours which I personally find artificial and unpleasant, even in the most recent instruments (and yes, I find a lot of other manufacturers' instruments tonally unpleasant too; it's not just Allen, though they are among the ones I dislike most)

I suppose you can't really expect much else from a mass-produced off-the-peg production line.

There have been acres of comments along these lines by many correspondents on organ forums over the past 20 years, so I don't think it's just me.

[JW]

SC, please don't think I'm denigrating your experiences with Allen organs, but allow me to put the other side of the story (and I don't work for them ).
And I can only speak from my experience of purchasing the one organ.

1. Poor to non existent after sales service: I requested some changes to voicing 2 months after the organ had been installed and they visited within 10 days.
2. Frequent electrical and even mechanical failures after only a matter of months from installation as new. I have had my organ over a year and have had no issues to date - and it is used virtually every day
3. Tuning problems - again I have had none, but I don't live in a damp house! However, as these organs are now digitally voiced I would assume that any problems can be easily adjusted.
4. Uncomfortable to play, manual touch in particular is recognisable blindfolded. I think perhaps this may have been an issue in the past as I remember the very old installation at Christchurch College Chapel, Canterbury which had a horrible manual touch. However, their current range has a decently weighted touch which is rather better than the Walker extension organ in my parish church. This was something I tested at Allen's workshop before I bought the organ
5. Tone colours, I agree they're not the best but I don't find them unpleasant. Again, this is something that can be adjusted when the organ is voiced - e.g. my Crumhorn became an Hautbois and inconsistencies in the tone of the Gedackt were ironed out

I am aware of some of the comments of forums but these organs retain their popularity. Allen's UK website claims that they are installing one organ a week. I can confirm that they have exceeded that rate since my own installation, including organs at Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Llandudno, St George's Cathedral Chennai (hopefully a chamber organ!), and a 4 manual organ at the Royal Memorial Chapel at RMA Sandhurst.

I would be happy to invite you over to try my Allen out and have a glass of wine any time you're in Medway!