Struggling to spend 13k with three dealers

agreed!

Seriously, just checked a site that does only pre owned and they say they need two weeks to respond to provide a trade in quote...ridiculous- you can trade car in and drive out in two hours; you can buy a house in a day but our audio dealers can't return calls, can't develop quotes and need weeks to respond.

I never the less find it bizarre that when asking a dealer of Harbeth what they'd take a pair of mint rosewood HL5 super plus in for it's as if they've never heard of the model, ask for the description several times and stumble and hesitate as if they have no idea what they might sell for- meanwhile they've been a Harbeth dealer for years and are in fact a distributor too..."we'll call you in a few days after doing research'"...

So, yes, I've been calling and talking with the dealers not just emailing. I'm not lowballing- they seem to be inflexible on their price- and I'm taking their lowball offers on my trades, and, in some instances being charged 400-600 to deliver their speakers to me and pick mine up- not cheap. Despite this there's still way too much time between returned phone calls and emails, half answered questions etc. And I'm actually trying to buy a new pair of Sabrina X at full retail while trading in my speakers at 40% less than they sell for on Audiogon (yes, I know the dealer needs to make a profit on my trade and that's ok).  I can call Wilson and find out that the color Sabrina X I want is a 60 day wait- and I did that today, it took 5 minutes. Somehow it takes the Wilson dealer I'm working with days to get get the same information. There's simply no urgency from any of these dealers to make a deal. I'm getting worn out by it all frankly and losing interest. It should be a pleasant, simple and fast transaction. I'm not a difficult customer and am not asking for unreasonable prices or service. I really don't get it. Too painful. Every call I make seems to result in the same convoluted, slow, hesitant responses that takes days, weeks even to get to a price and a possible transaction point.

hah ! I rode for 40 years, many Harleys and BMW's loved them all !

I guess but I'm just not up to the struggle to spend my money. I was just quoted $800 to deliver a pair of Wilson Sabrina- new- no set up and to have the delivery people take back my Klipsch and Harbeth- a round trip of 200 miles - I could literally send an Uber for the equipment for half that price. 

Exhausting process. I cancelled it all and will continue enjoying my current system and keep 12k in the bank (the difference in the trade prices vs the new, full list price Wilson I would have bought- with no set up). 

Infuriating for sure. 

Hey thanks for the advice, yeah, I'm familiar with the internet and buy and sell on Audiogon and US Audiomart. The klipsch are Cornwall 4 so big and not likely to sell easily and ship hence my intent to do a trade. And not complaining about price, complaining about lack of responsiveness from dealers. And not complaining about trade in prices either- I recognize the dealer needs to make a profit on the trade. Thanks everyone, I'll keep my gear and sell it locally if and when I can. I'm thinking Rosewood Harbeth HLF5 Super Plus, Bel Canto REF 600 m should be no issue to sell quickly. The Klipsch I can continue to use as big end tables and speakers ! 

@ghasley We will soon find out! I'll be posting them in a day or two! 

thanks 

Yah, weird though. The Chicago dealer constantly posts Wilsons on Audiogon- today he must have 8 ads at least for various models. Call him and try to buy a pair and he denigrates them immediately making you feel like an idiot for wanting to buy them. I really wonder if he has any in stock at all or it's a bait and switch move. Same thing when I then asked if a JL woofer would integrate well- "why would you want JL, it's too boomy" (def not the case with an F113 V2), have you tried REL? I'll never shop with him again (I did buy a couple of things from him a couple years ago). 

@metaphacts 

Thanks for your note- I talked with Trent at Wilson last week in fact for advice on Sabrina X vs pre owned Sasha 1 or Sasha 2 and you're right the Chicago dealer is of course only selling pre-owned. Happy to call you this week regarding the new dealer experience. All I really want to do is secure a pair of Wilson, and if new, get the full Wilson set up experience which the dealers I was talking with were not committing to do.

thanks  

@metaphacts 

I bought a pair of Sabrina (new in box), leftovers of the original version today from Larry Marcus at Paragon, fast, easy transaction, great price and completed in 30 mins. Looking forward to breaking them in...

A pass 250.8, Pass xp10 pre amp, PS Audio DSD Jr set up. 

I bought and received a pair of Wilson Sabrina from Larry Marcus at Paragon and hooked them up yesterday. Fantastic ! The right combo of musical and detailed with tons of new micro detail in music I've listened to for years - great soundstage and imaging - everything I'd read about. I've sold  all the trade equip privately with exception of the Klipsch Cornwall 4 and have someone interested in them and will probably sell them too. 

Thanks Larry for a great experience, thanks Wilson for some great speakers.