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After enjoying the last generation of ATC SCM 11 speakers I decided to get the new floor standing SCM-40v.2. I checked out the U.S distributor's site, Lone Mountain Audio. They listed 4 home product dealers in the entire country. Emailed them to see if possibly that number increased since they have had the line for over a year...But no, the closest dealer is 6 hours away and most likely does not have a demo pair judging by a Google street view of the shop.I contacted Lone Mountain and told them I would just like to purchase a pair site unheard. They said no problem and had a dealer contact me. Here is the deal. They will drop ship a pair from Nevada, their location, to me in Connecticut. The price will be full list, $7000, plus a shipping charge of $350 to my home. The dealer is only taking my money, a pretty good profit for no work.
Is it me? Seems pricey. Paying list price for something I have to purchase direct because of a piss poor dealer network. Then to add insult to injury charging $350 to ship them, something they would include in the list price if I went direct to the dealer. I have seen pairs shipped from overseas for a lower shipping cost.
I may end up driving to Canada. The list price is lower and with the exchange rate the family can take a nice vacation and still have money left over. It is obvious why ATC cannot get more home dealers with this company handling the distribution. I purchased my SCM-11 from a great dealer the next town over but according to him he does not meet the new standards.
Thanks. Just had to vent ;>)
Edits: 04/18/15Follow Ups:
Buy some Aerial Acoustics and be done with it
Good call. Purchased a used set of Aerial model 6s. I recall John Marks review of the Aerial 5Bs which he compared favorably to the previous ATC SCM11s. Although a 3 way and not a sealed box design the model 6 incorporates the same tweeter and woofer of the 5b. Additionally, it's port is in the front which allows placement closer to the wall.
Still want to audition the scm40 v.2. Hopefully the distributor will get his act together and line up some more dealers. ATC speakers deserve a wider audience.
I have Aerial 8B internally wired with AQ Kilimanjaro Silver wire, CC5 center and SR3 surrounds. Aerials play very well with all kinds a music.
what is the other gear in your system?
Rogue Metis Magnum preamp
Rotel RB-1090 amp
Rotel RCD-1072 CD
Sonos
NAD D1050 DAC
Canare interconnects
Nordost Flatline gold speaker wire
If you can not get the same deal as customers who can buy through a dealer then I would move on or buy used. For the price there must be at least 4 or 5 other speakers that you would be just as satisfied if not even more. Why not have some fun and find a pair.
If you buy from Canada they more than likely will not be covered by the warranty and if they have no warranty then you certainly should pay less for them so depending on the discount you may or may not be getting a better deal.
"But no, the closest dealer is 6 hours away and most likely does not have a demo pair judging by a Google street view of the shop." Instead of guessing from a Google street view why wouldn't you call and see if they have or can get a pair? Since you are willing to buy unheard why would it matter if they do not have a demo pair?
I didn't read all the previous posts. But here's my two cents.
First, the newer model is NOT going to be what you expect. they will be different from your originals. Sound and parts!!!!!
Second, if you're going to be dropping $7+k you SHOULD be looking at a number of different speakers. There must be some boutiques with honking expensive speakers you can audition!!!!!
Take a step back and take your time to enjoy the hunt for new speakers.
good luck
charles
I agree in that $7k is a big chunk of cash not to bother to turn over other stones - if for no other reason than to be sure you spent your money wisely.
With the myriad of audio shows that seem to be everywhere every other week it might be worth going to one listen to 20 target speakers over audio show event to determine which might be worthwhile to investigate further. It may cost a grand to go to a show hotels etc but that grand spent may have the OP find a $5k speaker he likes better and so he may still come out ahead. Or he may just further cement his choice of the ATC. I bought one speaker in 2004 then became a reviewer - went to shows, dealers audiophile homes, brought things in to try - heard pretty much everything and then in 2014 bought the bigger brother model of the 2004 speaker. So part of me thinks if the OP loves the sound of ATC and just wants that sound but More of what it does then it's probably just easier to do what he is planning.
Still he should be able to get some discount - gotta negotiate - 10-20% is usual I have found from dealers.
Buy Murican and forget the borders , 7K can get you into a good Murican speaker without the NAFTA hassles :)
Went for for a listen today at a nearby establishment, well 40 minutes away. They carried B & W, Sonus Faber, McIntosh to name a few. I was really curious to hear the GoldenEar Triton 5 which is larger than the 7 but like the 7 lacks the powered subwoofer.. After listening for about 15 minutes they sounded pretty decent. Not jaw dropping fantastic like some reviewers would lead you to believe.
I know they list for $2000 a pair. After the listen I asked what they would sell them for. He told me $2000. Now I tried to negotiate! I said I am ready to buy and would like 10% off. He refused letting me know as a small shop they can't sell for less. He also questioned what other shop would sell them for less since they just came out. This guy was pretty snooty so I told him a few other shops I knew carried Goldenear, although I am not sure about a discount. He also was a Sandy Gross fanboy and may have been hurt when I assured him Sandy had another container load coming from China.
So anyways for 10% they passed on a sale. He had another customer which may have been the reason but I was still in surprised.
So much for buying Murican.
If you can, and I know this is a pain in the @ss, bring your own amp to audition speakers with. 99.9% of audio is matching. What may sound like crap in the show room, may be just what your amp needs. And visa versa!!!!
Take your time and enjoy the hunt. Ahhhh,the smell of the new car!!!!!
I may be wrong but if you buy the speaker in Canada you have to pay GST and PST - but you may be able to get one or both taxes reimbursed to you by filling out some forms. The strong US dollar (or weak Canadian dollar) should make it much more appealing to buy in Canada assuming US customs has no fees...the fact that some people bring things in doesn't mean you will so find out what you will get charged if they give you trouble.
You can also try Hit Audio in Hong Kong - The guy I deal with is named King and he can sell all the Classic series of ATC speakers. The 100 sounds pretty awesome. Hong Kong has no tarrifs or taxes so some (not all) products tend to be cheaper to considerably cheaper than what they sell for in the west. Not sure if ATC would be included and the HKD is strong as it is closely tied to the US dollar. Still might be worth a try if you are going to have it drop shipped to your door anyway.
I didn't pay any Canadian taxes on my speakers, but there were customs and brokerage fees. I did get nabbed later by my State Board of Equalization for State Use tax.
They had full copies of the UPS shipping paperwork showing declared value.
I would not recommend anyone buy 90lb speakers from Canada shipped in ordinary boxes by UPS. They will take a circuitous route to some Customs station first before being forwarded to you, and in my case, will arrive beat to hell despite 4" of foam packing, thanks to UPS.
If you really want large Canadian speakers, I'd seriously consider driving there and picking them up yourself.
I always thought people buying $7K speakers just sent one of the servants out with a credit card. No?
--------------------------
Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
Funny! My servant will only pick-up 50k Magicos.
Going to talk to the distributor tomorrow and offer 5000 complete or pass.
Another thought,
check all dealer/retailers for used/demo prices.
You can always buy a better speaker for 1/3 the cost and not need to negotiate with a distributor or dealer. Ask the inmate who traded his ATC150 Professional actives in for SL's Orion. I was there and heard how deficient the comparison was. I was actually ATC agnostic prior to the demonstration.
...Forget email, use the telephone and talk to people. Make yourself known to all the dealers via the telephone.
Be nice but blunt, you want to buy this speaker BUT somebody needs to accommodate you OR you will buy another product.
If you can't get 20% off list you are not trying hard enough.
Negotiate person to person via the phone!
Good luck.
Smile
Sox
Would you consider purchase of pre-owned ATC's?
These are passives...right?
Vbr,
Sam
Yes, they're the passive SCM 40 v2. This version came out about a year ago. The previous version also had the same model number I would consider pre-owned
Well, if you purchase on the secondary market -- I suspect you would enjoy a fair discount. With that said, it may be worthwhile to contact LMA and confirm what product/customer support should one expect with ATC's acquired on the secondary market.
Vbr,
Sam
If there are four dealers, contact all of them, find out which has the
best deal for you, buy from that one.
But, why pay +/- $7k for speakers you have not even heard? Why pay
ANY amount for speakers you have not heard?
Is the ATC midrange a great driver? Does ATC voice speakers well and offer quality construction? Yes, on both counts. Would I pay $7350 for a pair of SCM-40v.2s without an audition? No. There are alternatives to purchasing the new ATCs at list price, but all entail at least some risk. Search Hifi Shark and a number of similar used models are available, mostly in Europe, with a savings of about 50% over list price. Several sellers will ship to the US and have reasonably good customer feedback. It may also be worth calling some of the ATC dealers in Canada and England. Either way, there will probablly be no domestic warranty.
Give Acoustic Sounds a call,they sell that speaker!
I don't think they handle the home series but will give them a try, thanks. I will try emailing the distributor for a better deal because there is a different one in Canada.
Edits: 04/18/15
I would call the distributor back and explain the situation. Perhaps he will sell directly at a discount since there is no dealer in your area. I bought a turntable directly from the manufacturer at a 20% discount because there was no dealer in my area. Personally, I would never buy any piece of audio equipment for its suggested retail price because the profit margin involved in stereo equipment is quite large, especially with speakers. I bought my latest pair of speakers at half-price directly from the manufacturer because again there was no dealer in my area and the speakers had a little scratch on the front baffle of one of them. This was basically dealer's cost so the manufacturer lost absolutely nothing in the sale but he couldn't sell a scratched pair of speakers to a dealer without taking a loss. Anyway, I would attempt to renegotiate with the distributor and let him know you plan to buy them in Canada if he can't cut you a good deal. If he's not the distributor for Canada then he loses the sale completely.
Good luck,
John Elison
For 70 grand, delivery should be free. :^)
Yes, and they should throw in all the Shindo gear...Error corrected
Did you try to negotiate on the price? Are you paying sales tax? (since you're out of state) Since the US distributor referred you, they may not be able to move much on the price.
I've smuggled audio gear in and out of Canada in the past when the exchange rates were driving a lot of sales, the border patrol agents on both ends didn't seem to care.
No sales tax. I did not try to negotiate a better deal. I left it at contacting him Monday for payment.
Thanks! for sharing your story- TT.
it is imperative to post both positive & negative experiences when dealing w/ these retailers. I would most certainly shop-around for the best price. Nothing wrong w/ going into Canada (if this move will save you money).
If you want a better deal, negotiate it. If you know a shipper who will send them for less with insurance, specify that shipper. (They're over 50 lbs each, plus probably 20 pounds for the crate/packaging.) Good luck.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
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