Do not buy any Sonus Faber used

I guess if you lived and bought them overseas, you have a problem bringing them to the US with you. No parts? Maybe you have to buy them (parts) from the country where you bought them? I can see the warranty not paying for parts problem. Paying for you own parts? Why not be able to buy your own parts, is what I say.

I use to be a Sumiko dealer in the 1980s and early 90s and they were great to deal with; that was then, this is now. When I called them to get the thread size for spikes for a REL sub the told me to call a dealer; not only are they the importers BUT THEY OWN THE COMPANY! A couple of years ago I ask about being a dealer again as they have a lot of good lines; they gave me the name of their west coast rep [ I had dealt direct in the old days]. I called him but I never heard from him; I told them this and they just said call again. I will tell you one secret I have learned the hard way; if they won't call you back when they want your business FORGET about them calling you back when you need help.

If I had to guess, I would say that this is aimed at both the gray market and the re-sale market. If just gray market, then no warranty service would have been sufficient. I think it's brand suicide, or at least distributor suicide, but what do I know?

The way I read it, it is talking about warranty issues, as a couple of others pointed out. I am sure you can still get replacement parts, they just won't be covered under warranty.

You also don't necessarily have to go through the American distributor, either. A friend of mine just bought a replacement part for a foreign make CD player on ebay, and installed it himself. He got the part much more inexpensively, and the international shipping costs would have been passed on to him by the distributor, anyway.

Peterayer,
I see it totally different way. US distributors for Sonus Faber are probably substantially more greedy than ones from other countries so that it makes more sense to purchase from overseas+ expensive shipping! INSANE.
I've seen on ebay lots of smashing deals on new Grand Piano for low $2k ranges from overseas that saves at least $1k vs. buying new from US dealers/distributors.

Nevertheless, I'd like to encourage owners('goners) of US purchased models share necessary purchase information with ones that need to order parts for their used models so this nonsence is at some magnitude newtralized.

The moral behind it should state: A cork shouldn't help S-holes from being 'penitrated'-).

I agree it is probably due to grey-market competition for US based dealers and distributers There is a big mark-up on some of these products by the distributer which makes buying overseas for expensive items seem attractive. I ran into this when I bought a used Japanese cartridge and the US distributer would not even answer a question I had about a specification (stylus tip to mounting hole distance) when I read him the serial number. He basically hung up the phone on me. I ended up calling Japan at 2:00AM EST and found someone who spoke English and could answer my question.

It's a tough issue. The US dealers and distributers loose out when we buy overseas. I don't really blame this policy, but it does force the buyers to think very carefully before buying items of unknown origin. I guess it's "Buyer Beware" or pay up.

Great Business model. Welcome behind the iron curtain..ahem I mean ...free world :-)

Here's more of the note posted by Sonus Faber:

WARNING

IF A SONUS FABER PRODUCT IS:
1. Directly imported by you from another country, OR
2. Purchased directly from a dealer OVERSEAS, OR
3. Acquired by you from an UNAUTHORIZED North American based re-seller,
ALL SONUS FABER PRODUCT WARRANTIES ARE NULL AND VOID

In other words, you will only be provided a North American warranty on Sonus faber product purchased from a SUMIKO authorized Sonus faber dealer.

IN ADDITION, SUMIKO WILL NOT SUPPLY PARTS AND/OR SERVICE FOR ANY SONUS FABER PRODUCT WITHOUT PROOF OF PURCHASE FROM A SUMIKO AUTHORIZED DEALER IN NORTH AMERICA.

PLEASE CONTACT SUMIKO FOR A SONUS FABER DEALER IN YOUR AREA,
OR TO DETERMINE IF A DEALER OFFERING SONUS FABER IS AUTHORIZED.

Note in the third to last paragraph they say that it has to have been purchased from an authorized dealer not that YOU have to have purchased from an authorized dealer. This is most likely aimed at the grey-market but I would check with them to be sure if I was about to buy used. After all, you don't really know where the seller originally purchased the product.

Must be a trans-shipment incident. Dealers from other countries selling out of their area?

I haven't paid a lot of attention to Sonus Faber since the mid 1990's, just curious, do they now make their own drivers? As far as I knew, they use drivers made by other manufacturers.

I remember a friend in the 1990's who owned Extremas and needed new drivers. He knew which drivers they used and saved 50% buying them elsewhere.

.

It is and excerpt from yesterdays "important notice" posted by Sumiko on Audiogon. It caught my attention because I was looking to buy some Sonus Faber monitors. I'm not sure how closely they're going to enforce the policy (the part about a proof of purchase from authorised dealer)but to refuse to sell parts for a product no matter the origin makes little sense to me. They usualy have hefty markup on parts and can order from manufacturer if needed. Anyway , maybe I've read too much into it but to me manufacturer has an obligation to support its product for a reasonable period of time.

Not sure if this applies to SF, but I once read that of one US distributor that would not service products that were not imported into the US by themselves. He argued that he has invested in the US distribution and set up a dealer network, provides warranty service etc., and if someone wants to buy from a non domestic source, they can also use that source for service and parts.

Only products that were not intended for the US market were precluded from support. The distributor did not abandon the used US imported market.

The issue for Sumiko and Sonus Faber is grey market stuff. There are people who bring it in for Europe and sell it in the US. It used to be a bigger problem than it is today. They have had that notice up for years. If I remember correctly they put that notice up when someone was selling a pair of Strads from Poland that the seller claimed were gifts from the founder Franco Serblin, which was not true. As long as your speakers have real serial numbers and came from an authorized US distributor you are fine. If you want to buy a used pair, just check where it was purchased, get the serial number and check with Sumiko.

If true, Sumiko IS committing marketing suicide. I just hope they realize it while they are still in business. They may wake up and realize that they are not the only game in town. It's just another example of the tail trying to wag the dog.

I bought a McIntosh MVP871, as a discontinued model, after the MVP881 was introduced. I was told it would include full manufacturer warranty. I sent in the warranty card and Mcintosh sent back a letter denying coverage because the dealer had exceeded the grace period allowed for discontinued products. I wasn't asking for service, just the warranty coverage. I don't expect to have a problem with a new component, let alone a McIntosh. It leaves a bad taste with me and I'll have to think twice before I buy, or recommend one of their products in the future.

BTW, I own Sonus Fabers and have never had any problems with them.

Are you sure they aren't referring to warranty issues? That would make sense and be in line with everyone else. Surely they understand that some people sell their current speakers in order to buy new Sonus Fabers. I would want to hear it from them before I beleive it. Also the holding company that owns SF now owns Audio Research as well. Imagine telling Audio Reserach owners that they can't get parts for their components. A move like this would be marketing suicide.

If you read it on the internet it must be true. No?

Just checked their web site and did not see anything under their general home page tabs or under the Sonus Faber tabs.

Nonsense. I just bought some replacement drivers last week. No issues, no problems.

Did you try & make a purchase or did you just happen to read this today on their website?