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New member Username: Joe139Post Number: 3 Registered: Apr-07 | im trying to get an entry-level setup: nad c325-bee and pair of psb image t45's the MSRP's are $400 and $800. when i emailed the local audio stores (in boston) they responded $350 for the nad (but no psb). then i found a store that carries both, and when i called, they said they can give me a discount only after i come in to their store. this is my first time buying a sound system outside of a place like best buy, so i was wondering is it possible to hack the price, and if so, can i get it down to $1000 or $1100 given im buying both from the same store? thanks a lot! |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 5360 Registered: Feb-05 | Go and talk to the dealer and pay them what they are worth. Remember your paying both a prodcut AND service! |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 8661 Registered: Dec-04 | http://www.mykindofmusic.com/index2.htm Here is a link I like. Not for the faint of heart(or wallet) but this is how I would run a shop. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 11279 Registered: May-04 | . Joe - If your reason for stepping into high end audio is to "hack the price", stay at Best Buy and the local flea market. High end audio dealers operate on a slim margin of profit made from low volume sales and high effort support. You go to a high end dealer for the knowledge and assistance they can provide. You hack the price from the jerk who doesn't know anything. If discount is your thing, Joe, save yourself and a high end dealer a headache and stay away. Stick with your Pioneer receiver and Klipsch speakers. As politely as I can make it, you're being a jerk yourself. And, by the way, we are not pricing experts. We answer questions about equipment, not price. Figure it out, Joe. . . |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 8666 Registered: Dec-04 | Uhh, yeah. Joe working with dealers in audio is a diffferent creature than other realms. These guys work in venues of personal pleasure, and not the ones that Sue deals by the hour. When you decide to go to one of these folks you are deciding that your music(whatever that may be) is very important. This might be how you spend your time on a Saturday afternoon, or how you entertain your guests. The latter may be very important, but your personal enjoyment is paramount. Your choice to see a dealer means that you are serious about the music and what it means to you. Listen a lot. Then listen sommore. You might be a casual listener, or you might get to be more hardcore. It is the music, beit Mozart or IggyPop and the stooges. Listen hard. |
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Silver Member Username: Rysa3Houston, Texas Post Number: 215 Registered: Nov-06 | I guess I'll take the counterpoint on this issue. If you really have decided on the PSB image T45, do an internet search for the best price that you can find from more than one source. If you are not comfortable ordering online for whatever reason, just print out the pricing and ask a local dealer what they can do. There is no harm in asking, and asking politely doesn't make you a jerk at all. Or buy used at a place like audiogon.com. Since the speaker you mention is routinely sold for 499 a pair, you can assume that there are some real margins out there. It is difficult for medium to high end audio store dealers to make it these days due to the cost of running a business, and frankly, trying to do it without display technologies to sell is almost impossible ( it is doable--just very hard). |
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Silver Member Username: StryvnPost Number: 474 Registered: Dec-06 | Keeping in mind that the New York City dollar spends differently than the Lost Springs, WY dollar. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 8673 Registered: Dec-04 | I had a coffee in Lost Springs WY. Nice folks. The hi-fi...not so much. These folks do not make a living from microwave ovens or ice-in-the-door refrigerators. Bear in mind that hi-fi is the only product in the store. This is a very special place that you are visiting. We do music, and only music. Pick your taste. There are very few shops that tailor to personal enjoyment, without the microwave ovens. Have fun! |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 2094 Registered: May-05 | "Since the speaker you mention is routinely sold for 499 a pair, you can assume that there are some real margins out there." That price is for reburbished/costemically damaged, not A-stock. There's nothing wrong with saving a few bucks and buying re-furbed gear. If you're hung up on saving a few bucks for whatever reason - good or bad - buy from a place that discounts their gear. Try DMC electronics for the speakers and Spearit Sound for the amp. In all honesty, its probably a waste of the dealer's time to sell gear like the 320BEE and T45's unless they're selling a big volume of them. I think the only reason that they'd carry them is that they're hoping that when you've got more money to buy more expensive gear, you'll come back to them. Or they carry them for customers setting up a second system. A good dealer will help you with setting up the gear. Placing the speakers and setting up the room for optimal performance. Some will even install it for free (built into the price). Good dealers won't give you a problem when something goes wrong. Best Buy will tell you to call the manufacturer when it breaks. Good luck with that. If you but their extended warantee, then they'll make things easier and take it back. But even that's not as easy as it seems. Keep in mind that you paid about 15% more for this piece of mind. The good local dealer does this and so much more for free. Its built into the price. Is 10% off really a make or break proposition? If it is, stay at Best Buy or the online dealers. The ones I listed are pretty reputable compared to the rest. If you want to know exactly what you're getting, have a person answer your questions, and help you out if something goes wrong, pay full price. If you're getting a very good product (which NAD and PSB are) from a very good dealer, and intend on keeping the products for a long time, is saving 10% really the most important thing here? If you can't afford the gear without the 10% off (not everyone can), look for something else. |
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New member Username: Joe139Post Number: 4 Registered: Apr-07 | thanks for everyone's feedback. i didnt think so many people would get offended or think that this is being a jerk. when i said 'hack' i meant negotiate, maybe hack is a bad choice of word because of its negative connotation. however, before this post, i didnt know about all the perks of the local dealer, since like i said, this is my first time. i was gonna drive up there with a friend, pick up the products, and leave. i didnt expect any shipping or setting up, or testing out equipment (because im already decided), and im leaving boston in a few months, so i also didnt think about 'future services' or being a 'returning customer'. but yeah, if i want to get all of these out of a local shop, i'd probably want to establish some sort of longer lasting type of relationship. but really i didnt think this was that big of a deal.. "If discount is your thing, Joe, save yourself and a high end dealer a headache and stay away." first of all, i dont know why there seems to be a lot of put down about whether i can afford something. im only in college but even if i was rich, i would still try to save whenever i can, so yes, discounts is my thing. andrew carnagie kept track of every penny he ever made and spent from youth to time of his death, so lets not look down on these good american virtues. |
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Gold Member Username: My_rantzAustralia Post Number: 1594 Registered: Nov-05 | Joe, regardless of what others think about negotiating a price, I do it and will continue to do so each and everytime I buy something. If the dealer doesn't think the offer is worth it, he'll tell you so. I have always negotiated a discount with every dealer I have purchased audio gear from and they have never let me down on their service - and that's what'll keep me and my friends going back to them. The recommended retail price is just that - a price recommended by the brands. And the price you can pay can differ from dealer to dealer. Negotiating a price with a trader goes back to the beginning of commerce. It's not holding a gun to anyone's head. |
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Silver Member Username: Nickelbut10Post Number: 408 Registered: Jun-07 | I agree with M.R. I have always been able to knock some money off the suggested price on almost every audio product I have ever purchased. If they would have said no, I would have bought it anyways because their my dealer, and I can't put a price on their service. But like M.R said, doesn't hurt to ask. I know the cost prices on some of the audio gear, and the mark up is quit high on most. They usually can budge a little. |
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Silver Member Username: Rysa3Houston, Texas Post Number: 217 Registered: Nov-06 | Just a few further notes: 1. AS much as I respect Stu Pitt, his comments about the T45 pricing are simply not correct. AS an example, you can go to audiogon.com right now and buy a brand new pair of t45s for 479. They come with a warranty. But lets say for a moment that these are somehow "refurbished" ( which I dont believe they are but ya never know I suppose). 499 is the street price new for these speakers and I found that everywhere I looked. I mean everywhere. 2. Best Buy takes returns and doesnt refer customers to manufacturers that often. Actually, smaller stores are MUCH less likely to take returns in general. 3. AS far as dealer value, while I dont disagree that those type of relationships are fun and useful at times, unless you are flipping expensive audio equipment on a frequent basis the utility there just isnt that great. While many will clamor to disagree in defense, lots of salespeople in very high end audio stores know one line of product well, but really can't integrate systems any better than I can. You see, there are no standards in reality. 5. The board here has many former and current audio dealers and thast a good thing. The trade off is very strong feeling on this type of issue. Obviously that link Nuck has up there of that high end audio place is a totally different deal than picking up a pair of T45s. Two different worlds! 6. If you are really into it, join an audio society in your area; read/listen/then listen some more--to speakers--to amplification---and to people. And go to CES!!!! You'll find your "audio center" at some point. The equipment and level of knowledge where you want to be. |