Tips on dealing with audio dealers

You should be able to work out with ARC who your supporting dealer should be and there will most probably be some latitude as you seem to be far from one.
for example when I lived in Charleston SC with no dealer in the state they told me pick from nearest three and build a relationship. two were in NC and one in Atlanta.
my REF5se went to my dealer and he installed tubes, listened to it and caught a few errors ( simple cosmetic stuff but errors none the less resolved them.
Ayre and Aesthetix suggested I do same so 
DAC and power amp business went to Atlanta dealer a five hour drive away.
to say that I have special relationship and enjoy phenomenal support from these two dealers is an understatement 

You can try to negotiate on all MSRP prices.  It never hurts to ask.  I recommend creating a relationship with a small audio specialty shop that deals with manufacturers that you are interested in.  I was able to get a substantial discount just by asking for one.  If you are looking to make additional purchases from that dealer in the future than you can even ask for a higher discount by just telling them that you are a repeat customer and that you respect the service that they have given you.  One has to be careful though - once I had the bait and switch line played on me.  They quoted me a price that was twice as high of the ball park that I was expecting and then they tried to direct me to a lower quality product.  One thing that helps it to try to figure out their sales volumes.  A home builder type boutique type of shop doesn't make much profit but a small to medium sized business even with low volumes but sells  world wide can have a huge markup in their products.  One thing for sure is that don't be afraid to call around to get pricing information and go ahead and ask about discounts up front.  If you are sure you want to purchase that product, then tell them that you are a serious buyer and not just window shopping (wasting their time).  Keep in mind that people need to earn a living as well so in all sense, be fair.

@wemfan , did you make any inquiries at Audio Connection?

Try Audio Classics, Vestal NY. I've recently bought amp, 2 sets of speakers and media server from them (all Mac) remotely and was extremely well served both in service and price. I'd go back to them. Mike Sastra was most accommodating and excellent to deal with.