Buyer Beware: Dennis Foley and Acoustic Fields

[dylan.smithe]

I personally went to visit his studio about 5-6 years ago. Dennis Foley does not own a studio at all. He does not have a business or home address. The first thing he does when you call him, will be about money. He will ask you what is your budget. From there, Dennis will lie and give you the same products he gives to his highest paying customer and his lowest paying customers. It is the same product and the price is the same whether your budget is $1,000 or $10,000. James is right. You can get a phone call appointment anytime because his calendar is wide open. When I spoke with him, he came across as being very rude and he brags about how highly ranked his products were. I did a Google search and he doesn’t even rank. Arrogant is exactly what Dennis Foley is. He will run circles around you to throw you off during your calls to him. He has potential customers call him instead if the business calling the customers to give the appearance of having a bysiness when he answers the calls with “Dennis, from Acoustic Fields”. He is the only employee for his business. If I’m going to spend $5k on acoustic panels and solely by phone calls, I will do a background check on the business and on the owners, that has no physical studio, no business address, no anything. He is a convicted felon. His products are made from carbon, a technology used by water filters. Anyone can call up the businesses he advertises on his website. I called the Salk Institute, which at the time was his latest customer. It turns out whatever he did for the Salk Institute, it was returned. He kept advertising as having work done for the Salk Institute. The Salk Institute informed me they had his acoustic platform boxes returned because it made no apparent improvement to the quality of the piano sounds. The lady I spoke with at the Salk Institute told me that his guarantee was not really what he advertises. Dennis Foley will find loopholes so he doesn’t have to return all the money that his guarantee promises. The Salk Institute did not appreciate their name being used without permission, especially as an unsatisfied customer. The Institute contacted Dennis Foley to remove the Salk Institute name from the Acoustic Fields testimonials website. That was all I needed to hear to exclude Dennis Foley/Acoustic Fields. I would bet there’s more businesses that Foley listed that weren’t satisfied with his products. I would highly recommend checking his past projects as he advertises on the Acoustic Fields website. Don’t take my word for it, call the businesses he has listed on the Acoustic Field’s website. Better yet, schedule a meeting to get a tour of his studio, he doesn’t have one and nor does he have an address. Would you spend your hard earned money without doing a background check first?

The testimonials listed in this thread are probably people who are fake buyers that Dennis Foley set up to defend himself in this forum. I like my privacy but when I read all about the people defending Acoustic Fields, I had to make my opinion noted as well. No one has to believe me, do your due diligenc when you deal with a business that has no physical address nor a sound studio to hear how his acoustic panels work.

 

[dylan.smithe]

It would be great if Dennis could respond with his side of the transaction. I am not saying this did not happened but there is always two sides of every story.

He won’t respond. His criminal history is a lot more than the court document.

 

[SeagoatLeo]

He won’t respond. His criminal history is a lot more than the court document.

I'm sure you read my critique of Acoustic Fields in this forum. I checked him out with a few local small studios and they were very satisfied with the results, price and service (plans and products). These guys had work done about 7 years ago. Also, the activated carbon filtering was highly recommended by J.Gordon Holt in a Stereophile article where he extolled their potential use in room construction. So, despite the horribleness of my construction time/specifics and cost, the end result is a superior sounding room (I added substantial wood baseplate). It's a high end system but with less than SOTA speakers but sounds great! As indicated, even the 17" thick doors are constructed the same as the walls and their are no other openings. A sound design and difficult execution (it should not have been). I cannot recommend him unless you want stress related ulcers.

 

[Hessec]

I promised I would reply back with my results/dealings with Acoustic Fields as I had originally commissioned him to do a 2 room showroom for Rhapsody.Audio DFW. I should have trusted my instincts from the very first phone call. "This is Dennis. Go ahead" is how he answered the phone every time I spoke with him. Never a Hello or Goodbye, he just hangs up like he's so busy he can't be bothered with you. Answers via his "assistant" over email were equally as short and always in a roundabout way. Long story short, I decided to just cut bait and run. My "deposit" was to be $3500 to do 2 rooms. The invoice came over at $4500. I called and paid him his 3500 as agreed upon verbally. After reading some of this thread I decided to do my own background check on him and it wasn't good. Shocking actually. I have a service at work we use to screen potential new hires.

Never once (6 mo period??) has he called to check my measurements or room status. I am not surprised. I consider myself lucky to escape as I did.....

That said, I'm sure he is (was maybe?) capable of the task. Not worth the risk or headache.

 

[dylan.smithe]

I promised I would reply back with my results/dealings with Acoustic Fields as I had originally commissioned him to do a 2 room showroom for Rhapsody.Audio DFW. I should have trusted my instincts from the very first phone call. "This is Dennis. Go ahead" is how he answered the phone every time I spoke with him. Never a Hello or Goodbye, he just hangs up like he's so busy he can't be bothered with you. Answers via his "assistant" over email were equally as short and always in a roundabout way. Long story short, I decided to just cut bait and run. My "deposit" was to be $3500 to do 2 rooms. The invoice came over at $4500. I called and paid him his 3500 as agreed upon verbally. After reading some of this thread I decided to do my own background check on him and it wasn't good. Shocking actually. I have a service at work we use to screen potential new hires.

Never once (6 mo period??) has he called to check my measurements or room status. I am not surprised. I consider myself lucky to escape as I did.....

That said, I'm sure he is (was maybe?) capable of the task. Not worth the risk or headache.

I’m sorry to hear of your troubles with him. He has a long history of criminal activities. I believe he is holed up in some seedy motel in seal beach, ca.

 

[Apk99 delete]

I’m sorry to hear of your troubles with him. He has a long history of criminal activities. I believe he is holed up in some seedy motel in seal beach, ca.

Dylan, you sent me a hostile PM claiming I was Denis for having shown support for removing this thread. Trust me I am not Denis. I suggest you give it a rest and get on with your life

 

[SeagoatLeo]

I promised I would reply back with my results/dealings with Acoustic Fields as I had originally commissioned him to do a 2 room showroom for Rhapsody.Audio DFW. I should have trusted my instincts from the very first phone call. "This is Dennis. Go ahead" is how he answered the phone every time I spoke with him. Never a Hello or Goodbye, he just hangs up like he's so busy he can't be bothered with you. Answers via his "assistant" over email were equally as short and always in a roundabout way. Long story short, I decided to just cut bait and run. My "deposit" was to be $3500 to do 2 rooms. The invoice came over at $4500. I called and paid him his 3500 as agreed upon verbally. After reading some of this thread I decided to do my own background check on him and it wasn't good. Shocking actually. I have a service at work we use to screen potential new hires.

Never once (6 mo period??) has he called to check my measurements or room status. I am not surprised. I consider myself lucky to escape as I did.....

That said, I'm sure he is (was maybe?) capable of the task. Not worth the risk or headache.

I can understand your desire to obtain an optimal sounding listening room for your high end equipment. I'm sorry that you had tried to deal with him unsuccessfully. Apparently his services have gone downhill about the time I worked with him in 2019 much to my chagrin. He can drive you nuts and you are a professional. I wouldn't let up trying to get my products delivered to my contractor. The contractor had a good relationship with him so he ate most of the mistakes (corrections) while I ate the extra costs.

 

[Steve williams]

This is like the never ending story. How can so many people be duped by this dude. And finally why have none of you hired an attorney to recoup your losses.

 

[Bobvin]

There are several acoustic professionals mentioned positively on the forum, but this fellow has a long list of negative comments and horror stories. Then there is someone like Hugh who seems to have come out on top. Go figure!

 

[SeagoatLeo]

This is like the never ending story. How can so many people be duped by this dude. And finally why have none of you hired an attorney to recoup your losses.

This is like the never ending story. How can so many people be duped by this dude. And finally why have none of you hired an attorney to recoup your losses.

I lost about time of construction (2 months), reconstruction of his bass filters and ceiling absorption panels, excess material purchases and already built-in bass filters of supposedly higher quality but half as many as contracted for. Difficult to assess damages, probably around $40K. Attorney's fees and out of state lawsuit deemed prohibitively expensive.

 

[Bobvin]

I lost about time of construction (2 months), reconstruction of his bass filters and ceiling absorption panels, excess material purchases and already built-in bass filters of supposedly higher quality but half as many as contracted for. Difficult to assess damages, probably around $40K. Attorney's fees and out of state lawsuit deemed prohibitively expensive.

You could probably get a judgement in your favor, but then there is still the issue of recovery and based on the reputation he has on this forum -- the old saying "you can't get blood from a turnip" is likely to apply. With that likely result, why subject yourself to the stress and anxiety of a lawsuit?

I sued and won a judgement once, even got triple damages, but it would my last course of action faced with doing it again. Pain in the ASS!

 

[Steve williams]

I lost about time of construction (2 months), reconstruction of his bass filters and ceiling absorption panels, excess material purchases and already built-in bass filters of supposedly higher quality but half as many as contracted for. Difficult to assess damages, probably around $40K. Attorney's fees and out of state lawsuit deemed prohibitively expensive.

all of you should message one another and hire an attorney in the state in which he resides. I can't believe all of you have bemoaned your outcast states but no one wants to put an end to this POS. There is strength in numbers so why can you mount an offense against this turd

 

[Rt66indierock]

This is like the never ending story. How can so many people be duped by this dude. And finaljy why have none of you hired an attorney to recoup your losses.

Steve these never-ending stories are caused by a lack of due diligence. In this case that would include reading Chris Connaker’s July 19th article “Objective and Subjective Review of my 7.1.4 Immersive Audiophile System” on Audiophile Style. People should be asking themselves some hard questions about room acoustics after that. And then think seriously about how they to achieve their goals.

 

[wil]

Steve these never-ending stories are caused by a lack of due diligence. In this case that would include reading Chris Connaker’s July 19th article “Objective and Subjective Review of my 7.1.4 Immersive Audiophile System” on Audiophile Style. People should be asking themselves some hard questions about room acoustics after that. And then think seriously about how they to achieve their goals.

Could you elaborate some? I’m not sure what you’re getting at — unless it’s advocating sophisticated convolution filters and DSP? (He has a lot of absorption and diffusion room treatments as well.)

 

[Rt66indierock]

Could you elaborate some? I’m not sure what you’re getting at — unless it’s advocating sophisticated convolution filters and DSP? (He has a lot of absorption and diffusion room treatments as well.)

My point is you need to seriously investigate using software like Audiolense and using some room treatments to reach your goals. The software is not expensive (no coma in the price) and if you need someone to calibrate it Mitch Barnett can do it remotely.

Remember Chris’s system has 12 Wilson speakers so far more complex than most systems.

Finally, you need to define your goals, do some research so you are shopping for a solution not being sold one.

 

[WineGuy]

all of you should message one another and hire an attorney in the state in which he resides. I can't believe all of you have bemoaned your outcast states but no one wants to put an end to this POS. There is strength in numbers so why can you mount an offense against this turd

Hi - I’m new here. The probable is pinning him down. Since his legal problems in AZ, I don’t think there’s an address for him that is verifiable. Then there’s coordinating and verifying all the data that would form the complaint, and the expense that would entail.

I have had my own problems in the last little while and while I will keep hounding him for the refund agreed upon, I’m not terribly hopeful. The amount is small compared to what others have encountered, but it’s large to me.

 

[SeagoatLeo]

You could probably get a judgement in your favor, but then there is still the issue of recovery and based on the reputation he has on this forum -- the old saying "you can't get blood from a turnip" is likely to apply. With that likely result, why subject yourself to the stress and anxiety of a lawsuit?

I sued and won a judgement once, even got triple damages, but it would my last course of action faced with doing it again. Pain in the ASS!

I was an attorney and know it's a lost cause. The excellent contractor received much work ($millions) and probably doesn't want to testify. I don't blame him although he lost money and time on my project. Class action and getting blood from a turnip are good answers.

As Gary of Hear This, Damon Von Schweikert and many others know/said, I have an excellent acoustic and vibration free listening room. Electrically, it could be better. The quad of Shakti Hallographs complete the acoustics of this room (no front or rear room treatments required).

 

[TooCool4]

I have been thinking of approaching Acoustic Fields to help sort out my room, I have just read through all the above posts. Now I have second thoughts.

Not long ago I was looking to buy something else, not audio related. I read a lot of reviews about the product / the reseller. Over 97% of the reviews were negative, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway. Big mistake, the reviews were correct, and I did lose money on it. If everyone is saying the same thing, there must be some truth in it.

Just a couple of questions for those people that dealt with Acoustic Fields, buying the DIY plans. Did you get to download the plans and were the plans any good?

TIA

 

[NC Lee]

People do change.a prior convection does not mean the person is still bad.

... and I wish them well, but it is info I'd want prior to dealings.

 

[SeagoatLeo]

I have been thinking of approaching Acoustic Fields to help sort out my room, I have just read through all the above posts. Now I have second thoughts.

Not long ago I was looking to buy something else, not audio related. I read a lot of reviews about the product / the reseller. Over 97% of the reviews were negative, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway. Big mistake, the reviews were correct, and I did lose money on it. If everyone is saying the same thing, there must be some truth in it.

Just a couple of questions for those people that dealt with Acoustic Fields, buying the DIY plans. Did you get to download the plans and were the plans any good?

TIA

I was promised a full set of building plans. I NEVER received ANY building plans. The contractor knew what the overall design parameters and construction materials were required. However, Acoustic Fields changed parts (50% of the number of contracted for filter boxes-claimed that the new ones were thicker), shipped incorrectly sized filter boxes and absorption foam boxes (too many) and continuously threatened after I sent the money postponing deliveries. My initial $97,000 cost escalated to about $145,000 and took an extra six or seven weeks to complete due to planning errors and reconstruction of boxes (4 or 5 days to disassemble, rebuild and reassemble) and finish unfinished cherry plywood panels instead of finished plywood panels (cheaper, more consistent finishing and NO HORRIBLE SMELL for a week). The latter took an additional week to complete.