Do not buy any Sonus Faber used

Distributors can refuse a full paid repair job if they wish. Sumiko used this tactic to try to cut down on gray market product sales back when Tweeter was selling SF. There was one "dealer" in particular who was selling gray market speakers very openly on this site. There was other gray market product being sold from Europe. From what I can tell, the gray market for SF in the US has disappeared or been greatly reduced.

People may not agree with the practice, but there is no requirement for a distributor to sell parts or do repairs on gray market product.

I have inquired about replacement grills for a pair of Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors and have not had any problems in talking to Sumiko. I am not sure what the problem is. I think the information in this thread is pretty outdated.

I agree that a company should not honor warranty repairs on grey market product. They should however provide support out of warranty as they produced the product. Many of us afford higher quality audio gear by purchasing used. It only does harm to their reputation to refuse service to any owner of their product. I purchased some B&W's last year from this site which arrived badly damaged. The people at B&W North America helped me determine what parts were needed and I installed them myself without shipping them across country again. Thankfully they were willing to deal with me. Still fighting with UPS. They claim the original boxes and packing were insufficient. Actually in their hands that turned out to be true.

Big Turkeys Gobble gobble!!

Listen to Apdoc2004 - if in doubt, call Sumiko and ask. Most of what is on this thread is hearsay.