LSi dissapear from Ebay completely?

polkatese

Interesting new development:
not a single online etailer advertise LSi anywhere on Ebay. The usual non autho. dealers have also removed LSi from their website. Cracking down of unautho. dealers in progress? hmmm

dorokusai

Well it would be about time IMO.

STOP BS'N POLK AUDIO!

THIS FORUM IS YOUR HARDCORE FANBASE!

HELP US LEGITIMIZE OUR STANCE IN YOUR COMPANY!

I don't think that you could find any more crazy Polk fans than in this forum. I would hope that at the very least, the EBAY auctions that have been displayed, will stop. The ones, that directly involve Polk Audio....you guys know what I mean, the "Made in the same factory" type shite.

Its insulting to me and I would presume, the forum.

When I talk to some of my friends about my Vintage Polk SDA 1C's, they say cool, but they don't REALLY get it....or know why its cool, and that makes me sad.

Ceruleance

Im kind of sad that the ebay-tailers are gone. I was thinking about picking up a pair of 15's. I personally don't think etailers are doing polk any harm at all. Im sure they pay polk the same wholesale price as any authorized dealer, and if polk doesnt honor the warranties that just makes less overhead for each speaker produced.

I'm dissapointed the LSi15's havent broken the 1000 dollar price point. deals can be found on the 9's in auctions that ended for around $500 shipped, but the 15's are still $1050 shipped and there hasnt been a sale below that. The 15's are not twice the speaker that the 9's are, IMO. Then again I heard them in a crappy demo room with just a denon receiver. Does anyone else feel intimidated evaluating a product in an open demo room? Circuit city demo rooms are at least fairly private during some hours of the day, and you can really push the speaker, Graffiti audio on the other hand (anyone familiar?) has the speakers and every other piece of gear they sell all hooked up in one large non-partitioned floorspace. I would ask to take a pair home to listen, but then I would feel obligated to buy from them, and I think the best they were willing to do was 1100-1200.

dorokusai

Cer - I am down with Internet sales. If they are authorized, who cares what name it it is.

I just get tired of defending my speakers sometimes. Why should I have to DEMO my HT to show that it sounds good? Polk has a rough reputation now, and this pains me. NOONE has left my house saying, "Well that sucked".......because I have killed them. Just kidding....or am I?

I might as well have Cerwin Vega speakers....it just gets frustrating sometimes. I have the same mantra with Sony....I own ES gear, which is mid-fi but I may as well own **** brand because noone know WTF I am talking about!

polkatese

doro, I hear your point, and with Great Indoors selling them at comparable price with etailer, I think that should be the way to go. What Polk need to do now, is to expand the dealer network and be stringent on the demo room setup. Just as so many members reported as far back as last year, most of the demo room out there are very inadequate to do justice in demoing LSis. Tweeter has lots of potential of being able to do it right. They tend to pay close attention of their demo room setup.

I wonder if the dissapearance of NIB LSis from etailers mean there is no supply, enforcement, or pushing them underground.

I am still waiting to be able to audition LSi25 round here...

Ceruleance

too bad great indoors is an hour from me, I would check for open box deals much more often. polka, once you get to hear the 25's I think you will be very pleased. The difference is huge between the 25's and the 15's with modest amplification. The 25's sound a lot fuller when the receiver was driving them. I imagine if you had a decent amp driving the speakers that the 15's would close the gap somewhat, but try telling that to graffiti audio.

polkatese

Cer, an hour drive is not bad...;) an hour is about the distance it will take me to get anywhere round here, most of them are 2 hours away. I doubt GI carry 25 in their demo room. I think Fireshoes is the few that had heard 25 regularly, and he likes it.

You may want to call Acoustic Sound Design to see if they have OB LSis, I know they were the last etailer list LSis on Ebay till those sold early this week. The other one that you might want to call is Sound Distributors (they are related, btw, Dad and Son, or something like that, based out of Vegas)

Turbota

I don't get the big picture!

Polk is having fits about "non-authorized" dealers selling Polk speakers. Well, where do you think all these "non-authorized" dealers are getting all there Polk speakers from in the first place?

And I don't believe for one minute that these "non-authorized" dealers are [all] selling fake Polk speakers.

Are they buying them from "authorized" dealers and then marking the price up higher (they have to make a profit)? They seem to be actually charging a lower price.

How could they be purchasing them from "authorized" dealers and making a profit while selling them so cheap? I don't think this is what is happening.

Well then, where are all these "non-authorized" dealers getting all these Polks speakers from anyway? ... Polk certainly knows who was the initial buyer for everyone of the speakers that leaves the factory. They are getting into the hands of the non-authorized dealers one way or another.

Seems to me the only way this can happen is if the "authorized" dealers are selling them to the "non-authorized" dealers for some reason or another.

I hardly doubt that all these speakers are all stolen off the side of some railroad track somewhere and then 'dumped' via a "non-authorized" dealers web site.

Maybe Polk needs to take a closer look at the charactor and business ethics of there so called "authorized dealers".

Maybe i'm wrong .....
_______________________________________

faster100

i thought those 2 were awfully similiar companies, product wise.. well those websites have gone through some changes lately.. not alot of speaker selections and now the BIC product line.. look cheap to me, These companies do indeed buy from auth dealers.. most likely a 'special deal relationship" between the e-tailer and the auth dealer, scratch my back and vice versa type deal.. so E-tailer gets the polks from a brick and mortor store at his cost most likely and in return the e-tailer gets the polks, makes a good proffit and most likely throws some $$$ to his contact.. pretty easy... you would be surprised at what volume buying and "at cost" gets you.. we all think its a great deal becuase of the inflated MSRP. that the manufacturer puts on them, why you think were getting $1600.00 rti150's for 70% off retail, not just becuase they wanna blow them out!! becuase they need what they paid back and on to the new models..

Acoustic sound design is where i bought a set of Rti28's that i ended up selling to my brother inlaw, anyways i have a e-mail he sent me explaining how online sellers get their product and why they cant include factory warranties.. i posted it awhile back...

ToddB

I agree that Polk needs to take a look at their authorized dealers. Here's my story...I went to have a listen to the LSi's at the only dealer within 100 miles of me and first off, when I asked to listen to the "Polk LSi's" they thought I was interested in seeing a digital camera! They finally tracked down someone who knew what I was asking for and at that point, I find the 25's mashed in a corner of a cabinet connected to an illequiped receiver. After waiting a fair amount of time, they finally figured out how to switch over to the Polks. What a farce. After I listened for a bit to the poor set up, they were ready to wheel and deal. I got an uncomfortable feeling and could barely even understand what they were saying. I'm convinced this is the type of dealer the unauthorized get their product from. These people were not interested in showcasing the speakers. They were willing to sell them out the back door at any reasonable profit margin. Perhaps I should have bought from them as I could have got a good deal, but I just didn't feel comfortable and refused to give them my business. It's really surprising that Polk would have them as an authorized dealer for the LSi line. Polk is losing out on a significant amount of business by not giving these speakers the showcase they deserve.

Turbota

QUOTE from ToddB: "Polk is losing out on a significant amount of business by not giving these speakers the showcase they deserve".
_________________________________________

And that is exactly why, I believe, Polk needs to really take a good look at there "Authorized Dealers" . . . .

ezc

Many companies are very strict about unauthorized dealers. I had a very hard time getting my Rotel here & had go to the states to get it. I think there is good & bad, buying from a company that says no to unauthorized dealers keeps prices up & most times quality is kept up. When you buy a item you know it is new not a refurb re packaged or repaired or not secconds. Bad is you almost always pay close to retail for the product. I heard of some polk authorized dealers selling to unauthoruzed dealers to get thier volume up & get free shipping! You can imagne how much it costs to ship heavy speakers. Gee get free shipping & make a few dollars on the sale to unauthorized dealers, what a deal! Heard one guyeven transshipped to an unauthorized dealer. When its dont that way I feel its bad. The consumer dosnt know where his items have been, how its been handled, & stored etc. I would hate to buy a pair of speakers that sat in a damp /humid basement or wharehouse for a while. It would suck if somthing went wrong with the speaker a few months after & I had to buy parts to repair or even worse, I couldnt register the speakers the warranty is void & Polk wouldnt sell replacement parts. ( Polk sells parts to anyone but if they did crack down) I have heard of some manufactures that wouldnt even look at or sell you parts if your item was purchased from a unauthorized dealer.

jim_r

I heard of some polk authorized dealers selling to unauthoruzed dealers to get thier volume up & get free shipping!

That's what I have heard also about where nonauthorized dealers get their products. The authorized dealers sell them to meet a quota set by the manufacturer. Although, I obviously don't know if that's true in Polk's case.

I also noticed that Crutchfield is selling the Polk LSi line. I would guess they are an authorized dealer. Does anyone know how long they have been doing that? I thought that the LSi line was for brick and mortor hi-fi shops only.

dorokusai

Crutchfield is an Authorized Retailer. I know they have sold Polk's for about 5 years, maybe longer.

paymontana

I had won a pair of lsi9's through ebay until the seller had contacted me. He said polk contacted him and he was not permited to sell them anymore and refunded my money. I thaught it was a scam at first til they all dissapeared

CJ

polkatese

Originally posted by paymontana
I had won a pair of lsi9's through ebay until the seller had contacted me. He said polk contacted him and he was not permited to sell them anymore and refunded my money. I thaught it was a scam at first til they all dissapeared

CJ

CJ, which online etailers did you order the 9 from? I am curious if Acoustic Sound Design or Sound Distributors will no longer carry LSi *officially*

paymontana

I got the last pair of 9's from sd and just ordered a lsic from acoustic. Imo polk gave them so much time to clear inventory. I don't know. Check out mazerouth on this site he claims to have a good deal.

paymontana

as for the ebay auction I think it was a front for one of them trying to sneak one in.

90% of all people in this world are good. It is that 10% that screw it up.

CJ

polkatese

thanks, CJ...I think this crack down will drive the price up from now on, which is not a bad deal for owners...

Turbota

.

paymontana

Any one want to buy a set of used 9's . Retail + 10% LOL

paymontana

I went into my local dealer to listen to a few sets. When i pointed out the 25's and asked to listen to them. The snobby, smug and arrogant salesman informed me they were out of my price range and if i heard them I wouldn't want any thing else. So there is a fine example of your local authorizes dealer. Boso is just the opposite. They make sure there demo's are front and center and tweeked perfectly and they pick media suitable for their speakers. That is why they are able to pedal so much of their crap IMO. I remember telling a friend of mine how much I loved my 301's. He never disagreed with me out of politeness. Now that i am older i understand what he was thinking.

90% of the people in this world are good. It is the 10% that screw it up.

VR3

There is a 9, C, FX on Ebay now. Followed by the newer line. Enjoy!

brettw22

Originally posted by polkatese
thanks, CJ...I think this crack down will drive the price up from now on, which is not a bad deal for owners...

To win over consumers, the LAST thing a company should want to do is to drive UP the prices....

If they want to justify it with **** the consumer out of a warranty, so be it.....but to say that you HAVE to pay retail is a bunch of **** IMO.....

paymontana

Polk is getting their money per pair unless their employees are shoving them out the back door to the online dealers. So why should they care, unless and hear me out on this one. The high end retailers are bitching they are losing business . Which would be the lsi series and not the rt's. I don't think polk would survive strictly off of esales. Maybe maybe not. That is my theory.

pwmcon1

I bought a pair last month for $515. They had a 1/2" slight discoloration on the side of one speaker.
They are great.
I think SD sold them.