PS Audio Trade-Up Program

scubalab

This is certainly an interesting offer and had me thinking.

I tried a couple different products/trades and there appears to be some caveats. Looks like the new piece has to be over $1000, and the trade in discount is capped at either 90% of the trade in gear's original MSRP or approximately 25-35% of the price of the new gear (whichever is less).

mrbiron

scubalab wrote: »

This is certainly an interesting offer and had me thinking.

I tried a couple different products/trades and there appears to be some caveats. Looks like the new piece has to be over $1000, and the trade in discount is capped at either 90% of the trade in gear's original MSRP or approximately 25-35% of the price of the new gear (whichever is less).

Hmmm....where did you find the 25-35% info. Must have missed that.

EndersShadow

Mark:

What MRX is collecting dust, I thought you just had the 500?

jdjohn

mrbiron wrote: »

scubalab wrote: »

This is certainly an interesting offer and had me thinking.

I tried a couple different products/trades and there appears to be some caveats. Looks like the new piece has to be over $1000, and the trade in discount is capped at either 90% of the trade in gear's original MSRP or approximately 25-35% of the price of the new gear (whichever is less).

Hmmm....where did you find the 25-35% info. Must have missed that.

I don't think the formula is disclosed anywhere. You just kinda play around with different prices and trade-ins to see results. And as some folks may have noticed, the trade-in program does not apply to cables or accessories.

mrbiron

EndersShadow wrote: »

Mark:

What MRX is collecting dust, I thought you just had the 500?

300...no 500 in my hacienda.
This guy.

EndersShadow

Dude, find a use for that bad boy...

Its too nice a piece to be not used...

Hook the kido's up with a system in their bedroom or something..... Garage, work.....

mrbiron

jdjohn wrote: »

I don't think the formula is disclosed anywhere. You just kinda play around with different prices and trade-ins to see results. And as some folks may have noticed, the trade-in program does not apply to cables or accessories.

I would but i can't get to the screen where you input trade-in info...

mrbiron

EndersShadow wrote: »

Dude, find a use for that bad boy...

Its too nice a piece to be not used...

Hook the kido's up with a system in their bedroom or something..... Garage, work.....

Bahhhh....
It's a 2011 model, which in receiver age, makes it a Smithsonian piece.
We all know it's hard to unload old receivers on the used market and this might be the way out.
Also, my oldest's room is too small for speakers and a receiver.

sgmsmg

I am not sure if it has been mentioned or if anyone noticed but they have a maximum allowable trade in allowance for each piece of gear. When you click the " trade in and save button" on the individual product page another window pops up like below:

jdjohn

Doh! If it were a snake, it woulda bit me. Yeah, looks like 90% of original trade-in MSRP, up to 30% of new PSA item price.

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

Dude, find a use for that bad boy...

Its too nice a piece to be not used...

Hook the kido's up with a system in their bedroom or something..... Garage, work.....

Bahhhh....
It's a 2011 model, which in receiver age, makes it a Smithsonian piece.
We all know it's hard to unload old receivers on the used market and this might be the way out.
Also, my oldest's room is too small for speakers and a receiver.

So your saying you'd ship it to me just to get rid of it huh

mrbiron

EndersShadow wrote: »

mrbiron wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

Dude, find a use for that bad boy...

Its too nice a piece to be not used...

Hook the kido's up with a system in their bedroom or something..... Garage, work.....

Bahhhh....
It's a 2011 model, which in receiver age, makes it a Smithsonian piece.
We all know it's hard to unload old receivers on the used market and this might be the way out.
Also, my oldest's room is too small for speakers and a receiver.

So your saying you'd ship it to me just to get rid of it huh

For the right price, id ship it anywhere

This PS Audio gig is still a decent deal if you're looking specifically for one of their items, new. Since I'm just trying to clear out old tech, I will pass this time around.

scubalab

mrbiron wrote: »

Hmmm....where did you find the 25-35% info. Must have missed that.

I found it by trial and error Mark... But it looks like it tells you up to how much you can save on each item at the top of the "trade in and save" window that pops up as sgmsmg mentioned. I'm just not that observant, LOL.

And I agree with Dan... Find a use for that MRX-300. I miss my 500 that Dan has now. And, there's not much of a difference between the 300 and the 500!

EndersShadow

mrbiron wrote: »

For the right price, id ship it anywhere

12.58 and a couple hours of Halo 5.

Let me know if you still need my address

pitdogg2

EndersShadow wrote: »

mrbiron wrote: »

For the right price, id ship it anywhere

12.58 and a couple hours of Halo 5.

Let me know if you still need my address

I see Russ has not instilled the art of the deal in you YET....


1.00 and you pay shipping

GlennDog

[/quote]

FWIW, I have purchased 2 - 2 meter PS Audio AC-12 power cords through a cat that goes by the name WesternWoods. Brand NIB, never been used ....
I was suspicious at his low prices, so I boxed one up and sent it to the PSA factory and they confirmed it was legit! They sent it back with paperwork confirming it’s authenticity
I’m very pleased with their performance vs $$ spent
[/quote]

Edit: I failed to mention that the WesternWoods seller of the PSA AC-12 power cords is on Audiogon just about every week

(He's got a connection that works at/with PSA)

hochpt21

Funny how they list “tobacco” smoke.

jdjohn

I guess other types of smoke are okay

Moose68Bash

DSkip wrote: »

jdjohn wrote: »

Doh! If it were a snake, it woulda bit me. Yeah, looks like 90% of original trade-in MSRP, up to 30% of new PSA item price.

So that means you get the lesser of 90% of MSRP or 30% of the new item price.

Heck, I'll match that offer on any products I carry and any (2 channel) products you want to trade.

@DSkip, as a dealer himself, knows whereof he speaks.

His comment appears to corroborate my experience, which has been that if you are patient and find the right dealer, you can get a NIB PS Audio item for AT LEAST 30% off MSRP without trading anything in.

Hence, nobody loses anything by offering a trade-in/trade-up program with a maximum trade-in value of 30% off MSRP as compensation for the equipment traded in.

I think dealers can give you 30% off MSRP and still make good money without trade-ins.

kharp1

Quit yer whining...give it to me for the price of "on the house" or I'll get Tony to send his guys over and burn it down. Or, Russ could just come over, not sure which one is worse.

Moose68Bash

DSkip wrote: »

Our margins aren't that great Moose, but the trade-in helps cover what we lose. Margins vary from product to product. I've actually had arguments with clients who thought I could do 30% off a product and were offended when I said I would be losing money.

As an aside to that story, people often get caught up in the 'deal' mentality so much these days that they don't take into account operating costs and such. Some clients think that since I'm a distributor then I should be able to give them spectacular deals on gear without considering the marketing that goes into the product. It sounds cliché, but that stuff adds up quick and if you can't offset it, the product won't be available for purchase anymore.

@DSkip,

I know you are correct, especially in saying that "margins vary from product to product." They also vary dramatically from manufacturer to manufacturer. And, you are also correct that you and your fellow dealer/distributors are in business, and you should make money on every transaction. Manufacturers are similarly in business.

By "make money" I mean take a profit after all fixed and variable costs are accounted for.

With that said I believe it is generally true that the more expensive the item, the larger the margin in dollars, and when you get up into the $10,000+ range, margins allow for negotiation, often in the 25%+ range.

If I'm off base, please let me know. My opinion derives from my limited experience, especially compared with yours. Perhaps, I have just been lucky either with dealers I've worked with or timing of my purchases.

Moose68Bash

DSkip wrote: »

My margins don't fluctuate - both those that I deal and distribute. I haven't seen too many models (or any thus far) that work on a growing margin based on MSRP.

I didn't mean to suggest that the percentage varies, but the dollar amount does. I've never heard of a fixed margin in terms of dollars.

50%, say, of $10,000 gives $5,000 to negotiate on.

kharp1

In the words of Billy Ray Valentine, "sounds to me like you guys are a couple a bookies."

Moose68Bash

Having participated in this thread, I got interested in further exploring PS Audio's trade-up program.

I've been tempted to purchase PS Audio's second generation network bridge -- fondly called PS Audio Bridge II. I have three first generation bridges, all of which have the characteristic problems of this product -- no gapless rendering, dropped or skipping tracks, random requirement of resetting.

While I lived with these problems for several months, I have grow increasingly curious about whether the Bridge II not only fixes these problems, but also improves sound quality.

My plan was to go back to one of the vendors who had given me a 30% discount on a PS Audio DAC and transport two or three years ago.

The PS Audio trade-up program for the Bridge II offers a 33% discount for a traded in Bridge I. Furthermore, PS Audio allows you to audition the new bridge for 30 days before you have to send them the trade-in or return the Bridge II. If you don't want the new bridge, you send it back and pay nothing -- not even shipping. So, I took the bait.

I installed the new bridge in about 15 minutes today and have been listening for about 4.5 hours.

All I can say is that I'm really pleased with the Bridge II. So far, the technical problems appear to have been remedied. A couple of gapless recordings have played flawlessly, no tracks have skipped or "stalled," and no resetting has been required.

Most important, the sound quality is appreciably improved. Instruments are more clearly defined and precisely located on the soundstage. Timbres are more realistic for instruments. In familiar recordings I'm hearing details I've not heard before. Some remastered issues of older recordings sound much better -- less veiled, fuller, richer.

While I may not have gotten the best deal I could have, largely because I won't have the old bridge to offer for sale on this forum, eBay or Audiogon, I don't have the hassle of selling it, and I minimized my risk of disappointment in the new bridge. To me it was well worth the $100.00 greater cost for the Bridge II.

Best of all, my wife immediately remarked on the improved sound quality!

kharp1

Great, thanks for the follow up.

Moose68Bash

@kharp1,

You are very welcome.

We don't seem to have many PS Audio users on this forum.

GlennDog

Hey Moose,
PSA fan boy here
I’ve got a P10 and a PerfectWave transport PWT.
I’m toying with the idea of getting a PWD (DAC), but I’m holding out for that PSA DSD DAC at a decent used price. I’m sure that’ll be a couple years down the road.
But that’s OK because I recently picked up a North Star Supremo from Skip that’s sounding better and better every day!

kharp1

After reading some of the rave reviews (grain of salt) on the Direct Stream DAC and Memory Player I'm really interested in getting my ears on them, though $12k is a chunk of change. They'd have to really blow me away for that much change.

Moose68Bash

kharp1 wrote: »

After reading some of the rave reviews (grain of salt) on the Direct Stream DAC and Memory Player I'm really interested in getting my ears on them, though $12k is a chunk of change. They'd have to really blow me away for that much change.

I've never heard the new PS Audio Memory Player, but I think the DirectStream DAC produces excellent sound quality, definitely in my system. I have two of the earlier models of the PS Audio PerfectWave DAC -- one MK I and one MK II. They also perform very well in my other two systems.

@DarqueKnight had a different experience and opinion of the DirectStream. He sold the one he bought within a few weeks of buying it.

Not expecting to rely that much on playing CDs in the future, I'm reluctant even to think about spending the money on the new Memory Player.

DarqueKnight

kharp1 wrote: »

After reading some of the rave reviews (grain of salt) on the Direct Stream DAC and Memory Player I'm really interested in getting my ears on them, though $12k is a chunk of change. They'd have to really blow me away for that much change.

It depends on what your starting point is and what your performance requirements and expectations are.

The buyer of my Direct Stream DAC raved about it. He was coming from a Calyx DAC 24/194 )$1,800). I was coming from a Cary Audio CD 306 Pro Version SACD player ($8,000), which had an EXCELLENT DAC section. I had to go considerably further upstream in price to beat the Cary.