Packing & Shipping Large/Heavy Speakers

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I will be contacting manufacturer for advice as well as various crating/freighting companies to get an idea of price and services, and if that fails I will try to (over)pack on my own. 

My speakers weigh 133 pounds and came in two cardboard boxes, strapped to a pallet. There was a cover and foam around them and then into the boxes.

All the best.

This is why I'd never buy very large, expensive, floor-standing loudspeakers that are not manufactured within a comfortable driving distance from home. 70 lbs per speaker is about my size limit.  A ~half-day drive away is about my distance limit. 

Other large products (like appliances) have in-home service networks. Back in the 50s or 60s, a TV repair guy would come to the house.  Never heard of that for HiFi. Good thing speakers usually last a long time.  

This all gets back to doing whatever you can to prevent shipping damage in the first place, because once it gets damaged you have lost, insurance or not.

There is a reason Vladimir Lamm packaged all of his electronics in wooden crates and would only ship by FedEx air.

Use the same people that ship PINBALL MACHINES across the USA Every single Day.  I use to use Bettman Logistics but their website no longer works. They would come to my house and blanket wrap/Clear wrap my machines and take them anywhere.  Not sure if these places have boxes to use but they definitely have pallets. I shipped 50+ machines with no incidents. The PINBALL hobby is pretty huge so shouldnt be too hard for you to see who everybody is using on the internet these days.  Just a thought.

I urge you to take them to a UPS store and let them package and ship them. It will likely cost more but if you want to ensure an undamaged shipment or at least an insured shipment that you can "collect" on that is the route to go. I had a nightmare shipping a pair of Spendor S100 to California from Rochester NY. A friend runs a registered Fedex shipping store. He packaged the speakers exactly the same way a speaker manufacturer packages speakers for shipping. Double boxed, 3" foam cushions in each corner and along all edges. Labeled correctly as "this end up", "heavy", with the total mass of each package. A week later the buyer in California sent me pictures of the speakers upon arrival. One box was destroyed as was the top front edge of the speaker in that box. Some internal damage along with the damage to the wood cost $600 to repair. I was assured if I would refund the buyer's cost of repairs I would receive those monies back after filing a claim with Fedex. The claim has been denied twice and there is no positive outlook for me getting my $600. The only other thing the shipper could have done was strap the boxes to a pallet with metal bands from both sides. In hindsight that would have been the best shot at getting those speakers to their destination without damage. Even then, there is risk. I assumed that is why one pays for insurance. If the shipping company deems you did not properly package the item(s) then you at fault, not them. Next time I go to UPS, or some other shipper, and let them do it all. 100% responsibility on them.

You can bring your speakers to a ups  shipping store,

pin somestates have FedEx stores also , they pack them with thick cardboard and foam .i had them pack my Big Spatial Audio open baffle speakers ,and other speakers.they pack them they guarantee for damages and you ask them to email you photos . For myself and others worked out great packing was much cheaper then building crates.

Just to add my experience here. Oddly from what has been said here, we used FedEx to pack and ship an amp. They did not pack it at all, just took the box we gave them and shipped it. The amp flew around inside the box and of course broke. It was covered by insurance paid for until FedEx said ’we don’t offer insurance anymore’. Claim ignored and denied. Stuck with a $1500 paper weight. No recourse.

My manufacturer has a similar experience with a pair of hand made horn speakers, he explained: "The speakers were returned badly damaged from shipping the crate was stacked and compressed. One cabinet was crushed and one of the horns damaged...plus internal damage on both speakers. The stands were unscathed."

Let me show you the original crate used...

Berlin Type R speakers packing

On the other hand, I have received large horn speakers in Kubox boxes, that were safe and sound.

Purchase proper foam and a roll of shrink wrap. The speakers will require 6” of foam all around and top and bottom. Heavy weight NOT the light wight garbage foam or it will crush. Purchase half inch plywood and 1” ferring stips and build a proper box exactly to the speakers size w/ the foam wrapped. You need to prevent wiggle. Find a used pallet and purchase some good straps to attach the boxes to the pallet. Your speaker size will require an extended pallet or if you want to pack them standing up you will need to also build a base for the boxes along with adding some extra support to the bottom of the pallet to bolt the boxes down and then strap and wrap them. Next you need to find a shipping co. I use FedEx freight regularly at work. If you are not shipping to a loading dock you may have issues at best they will drop off at the end of a driveway. Maybe…I usually have large items shipped to me at work where we have a forklift and loading dock to properly offload. Your best bet is to sell them local, not many folks are capable of properly packaging and shipping. Last piece of advice, if i receive something large and heavy that i just spent thousands on and it does not come packaged properly i will not accept the load and return at your cost. If it was damaged the first thing the shipper will claim is improper packaging and void any insurance. If that box can’t take a forklift jab it was bad packaging. I have had it happen multiple times. It’s cheaper in the end to have custom hard sided cases built which we also do often.  Sell local or find a company that will do the work properly. GLWS

I shipped a set of Kanta II to Florida from Missouri. I shipped them standing up on a pallet. We shrink wrapped them with Lots of wrap. They got there fine. If you do this use Lots & lots of wrap.

Many cities have professional resellers. They take audio gear from trade-ins from audio stores and evaluate and resell. They know how to pack and ship. Or look for local sellers. 

You may change your mind on shipping anywhere. I found buyers for a set of speakers only weighing 60 lbs and all told it would have been $500 or was it a $1,000… you need crates built… then what if there is no damage visible… but they don’t sound right? I finally gave up.

Admittedly, I don’t like dealing with this kind on nonsense.

You will not likely sell them to anyone outside the US.

Get a quote from ABF of cost from LA to NY.

That can be your baseline figure.

Never use PSPS or UPS. They roll boxes.

Fed Ex ground has been good for me for under 100 lbs.

I shipped some 250lb each speaker (Von Schweiker VSR) a month ago, after a lot of looking the best option i found was a moving company trucking section. i used Day and Ross (not sure if they are in the USA) it was 1/2 the cost of all the usual curriers that included insurance. the company showed up, took the speakers (in their box's) put them on a palette and tied them down and drove away. halfway across the country they arrived delivered to the door in about two weeks. total weight was just over 500lbs insurance was for $4k total from Victoria BC to Toronto (about 3500km) was $467 Canadian, take 30% off for USD comparison. 

cheapest currier like UPS, Fed X was over a $1000. 

Those speakers are huge.  Good suggestions here to use professional Craters and Freighters. 

Another option would be to draw a circle on a map corresponding to the miles away you are willing to travel to hand deliver them.  Double that circle and you would have the distance that you could meet a buyer half-way.  I am currently looking for a very heavy subwoofer and there are several that have been for sale for the past 3-6 months, but the sellers simply will not ship them and the distances to me are in the range of 12-30 hours by car, which is too far.  Based on this thread, I am going to get a quote from Craters and Freighters and, if I am ok with the amount, then I will reconnect the sellers to see if we can work it out.

Definitely use a freight company, not UPS or Fedex.

Currently in the process of filing a claim for damages from using UPS to ship a pair of speakers from Texas to Arizona. Both speakers were damaged.

Never again!

I agree  you need to hire a professional Craters and Freighters, They have a branch in Tulsa. They also may be able to make a recommendation on a company in OKC.

Learned this the hard way shipping carbon Kevlar fuel tanks to SOCAL many years ago. Not heavy but a bit more fragile that steel.

You might want to see if you have a local Craters and Freighters

They helped me with a pair of heavy and expensive ProAc speakers from NC to OR and they arrived perfect. The buyer was beyond pleased with the care they took to pack, crate, and palletize for a safe transit.

"simply crating" isn't so simple.  Still have to be protected and fastened right.  make sure to use softeners on the corners where you fasten it down unless you use clear wrap.

Can you contact the manufacturer or dealer to find how they were originally packed?  Or are there videos of an unpacking of them, or a similar size speakers?