I note (again with regret) that even in the European sites Allen maintains the strategy of hitting competitors with often false information.

Here I read: https://www.allenorgan.ch/blogs/news/etu...ton-de-fribourg

"An Allen organ has an average life of 50 years (compared to 5 or 10 years for other manufacturers)."
The competitor organs honestly last for more than 5 or 10 years on average.
And their organs, on average, last less than 50 years.
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Allen organ, their flagship installation from 1989 (5 manuals, 154 speaker cabinets, 134 tone generation boards,) has become a great media case.
Well after only 25 years, this installation has failed miserably. In just a few years, 50 boards were replaced (possibly damaged by poor heat dissipation design) and another 50 needed replacement, when the Church committee ran out of patience and decided to sell everything, to buy a new Walker digital organ. And we are talking about their flagship installation, installed with all the necessary precautions, and not a small domestic organ.


"It has no maintenance costs"
Allen also uses Fatar keyboards, and foam surround speakers.
And anyone who uses Fatar keyboards knows that at some point the rubber contacts will need to be replaced.
For the same reason, foam surrounds will need to be replaced after years, as they will tend to crumble. American forums are overflowing with requests for advice on replacing surround foam for Allen loudspeakers, which in many cases began to crumble before the age of 20.
Just to name two examples, but I could do many more.

Really, I don't want to create a controversy, but when I read these hyperbole, I am forced to reply. I find it disconcerting that in 2022 there is still this type of advertising that reminds me of the hyperbole of 1980s telesales.

I don't like it when Allen does it, nor when Viscount does it.

Diese Art von Propaganda hat mich schon vor Jahren sehr abgestoßen. Das Theater um eine ganz spezielle Orgel in Rom passte für mich leider ins Bild. Ebenso erscheint mir die günstigste Orgelserie dieses Herstellers nur wenig ansprechend. Dass die deutlich mehr kosten würde als eine Studio kann ich mir auch ohne Preisangaben im Netz denken.

Vor vielen Jahren gab es auch in Europa mal Firmen, die zumindest im Beratungsgespräch gezielt mit negativen Aussagen die Mitbewerber auszustechen versuchten. Keine dieser Firmen existiert noch bzw. spielt heute noch eine Rolle...

Die Endpreise für Orgeln auf dem US-Markt sind deutlich höher als in Europa. Wer eine Mittelklasse-Orgel kaufen will, muss dafür richtig viel Geld ausgeben. Und genau da setzte Hauptwerk als US-Firma an, denn selbst eine hochwertige HW-Installation ist dort günstiger als eine neue Digitalorgel. Das dürfte die Nachfrage entsprechend beeinflusst haben.

Zitat von DigitalPipes im Beitrag #38

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The organ that Allen donated to St. Peter was an epic fail for the reason that no European manufacturer would have dared to violate the doors of that place with a permanent installation. The reaction of the public opinion was istantaneous and tranchant! And I still remember the funny video from Cologne Cathedral which mocked the digital organ in St. Peter (not so funny for us Italian organists who all felt ashamed).

Digital Organ in Cologne Cathedral

We often hear (horribly) sounding digital organs during various papal masses, but normally this happens when they take place in a stadium, a park, or wherever there is not a pipe organ available (basically everywhere but in a church).

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I have investigated a lot about this story, also contacting some peolpe for precise information: also because I had a very heated debate on another forum, and therefore I searched all the possible details of this story.
Allen offered to repair the remaining 50 cards free of charge when they heard that the Church was about to dispose of the Allen organ and it would be a serious damage to their image; only then did they offer to repair it for free.
But the first many cards that have started failing since 2012 have been repaired for a fee, and Allen repair prices aren't exactly cheap (especially when it comes to many cards).
Sure, a strategic move but one that came late.
And yes, the reasons why the church committee/organist may have decided to change the organ are various, but of course there was also the question that a organ that has exhibited so many problems after 25 years, could manifest others in the future even if it is repaired (in part) for free.
But the point of this whole story is that even Allen organs can fail, well before 50 years of operation. This myth that Allen's are indestructible and engineering perfect is just publicity.
That said, anyone can buy an Allen and be happy, there are many companies out there and many organists with different opinions, and there can be people who are as satisfied with Allen as with any other company.
With that, I don't add anything else to this Allen story, I have said enough already and anyone can investigate on their own and form their own opinion. I don't really want to create any hot threads or controversy.


Yes, I agree on the Italian organ building situation, and Ruffatti works well; personally I have never appreciated their Pitman windchests, but now they build windchests of any kind, with very high reliability.
And yes, they are not great voicers unfortunately, but certainly better than many improvised organ builders who would have to change jobs (someone still tunes "a squarcio"!!!)

Hallo Paolo,
die "digitale Orgel für St. Peter in Köln" wo der Domorganist höchst persönlich eine mindestens 40 Jahre alte DEREUX - Orgel durch den Dom schob, war ein klassischer APRILSCHERZ.....