Where to purchase products??

thehalo8 · January 2003

I am looking for opinions on where to purchase speakers. I have bought speakers from http://www.brandnamez.com in the past, and have had no troubles with them. However, they don't uphold the Polk 5 year warranty.

I have noticed others suggested http://www.acousticsounddesign.com as a place to purchase home theater products. But they too do not mention upholding the Polk warranty. Both Acoustic Sound Design and Brandnamez offer extended warranties but you have to pay extra for them.

Another site I saw mentioned was http://www.sounddistributors.com The site states that they will uphold the manufacturer's warranty through their store. All you must do is keep the original box for shipping. I am planning on making my next purchases from here.

Sound Distributors sounds like the place with the best warranty offer. But Brandnamez is a little cheaper than the other sites. I just can't stand paying full retail for these products when there is so much mark-up on them. Please give me your thoughts and experiences with these sites, or any different sites you may have done business with. Thanks

TonyPTX · January 2003

Basic question here......assuming that you buy your Polk speakers from an authorized dealer, does it make any difference where you get them from? A 5 year warranty from Polk is a 5 year warranty from Polk not some other dealer. If your speakers malfunction, break, blow up, chances are you'll be calling Polk for help and not the original place of purchase. You can't expect one of these places to take back the speakers and give you a brand new pair just because Polk offers a 5 year warranty.

I picked mine up from Circuit City. I hear Crutchfield is another nice place to get gear.

wlrandall · January 2003

Agree with Tony, got mine at CC as well. Watch Crutchfield, they sell at retail until one of their big sales or closeout.

Wally

Zen Dragon · January 2003

Sounddistributors is a very competitively priced source, they also put a fair amount of their speakers on Ebay new, and if you look you can snatch them a few dollars cheaper than on their web-site sometimes, and they still come with the new warranty. I have a pair of LSI9's coming I just bought on Ebay Sunday from them.. 605.00 + 50.00 for shipping. Pretty good deal I think.
Give a look on ebay before you buy from the web-site.

thehalo8 · January 2003

What is Sound Distributors name on eBay? I can take a look. I would like to save the $100+ by buying online, but I do not know if its worth the hassle if the speaker ever has a problem.

Zen Dragon · January 2003

Here is a link showing their current Ebay auctions. You can get any other info about their profile off the link.
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=sounddistributor%40lvcm.com&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=25

They include a phone number on their auction site for any questions regarding warranty, give it a call and find out.

phuz · January 2003

If you buy from an authorized dealer then Polk will handle all warranty issues, and they will do it quite well.

If you buy from sound distributors or another place that is not an authorized dealer, then you have to work with *them* (not Polk) on warranty stuff. The items usually come with the mfgr. serial number removed, and a different serial number (for the seller) put on it.

There have been a couple of good threads about this. Check em out if you can.

scottvamp · January 2003

authorized dealer - www.crutchfield.com (awesome service)
black market - www.ebay.com (best prices but be careful)
all ya need to know!!!!!!;)

goingganzo · January 2003

abc warehouse matches priceses off the net that is how i got a deal on my speakers.

joepat · January 2003

Circuit City is where i got mine. My local store has a one year upgrade policy where they give you a full refund on a speaker upgrade, not sure if all CC's do this?

thehalo8 · January 2003

As bad as I may want to get my new center channel now, I have decided to wait on buying it. I am going to be purchasing it from CC, but I am going to wait until there is a sale. If I can get it for $50 cheaper than it is now, that will make me happier. I will just have wait, and check in on the store every week!!!!

TonyPTX · January 2003

Originally posted by thehalo8
As bad as I may want to get my new center channel now, I have decided to wait on buying it. I am going to be purchasing it from CC, but I am going to wait until there is a sale. If I can get it for $50 cheaper than it is now, that will make me happier. I will just have wait, and check in on the store every week!!!!

Don't forget that CC has a speaker trade in program. You have up to one year from original date of purchase to trade in the speakers you purchased (and get full credit for them) and use that credit for an "upgrade" to a new set of speakers. You can only do it one time though.

thehalo8 · January 2003

So if I buy this years model, and 6 months later a new model comes out, I can trade in mine for the full price I paid for it to get the newer model?!?!?!? If that's correct; that is a one hell of a deal. You say I can only trade in once. Is that once per person or per speaker? Guess I am getting a little greedy

TonyPTX · January 2003

Yeah read up in their Policies and Guidelines section under Help & Service. It's called Speaker Trade In. Here is a little snip:

One Year Home Speaker Trade-In Guarantee

If you buy a pair of home speakers from Circuit City, you have the option of upgrading to a more expensive pair within one year paying only the difference in price. This allows you to get the speakers you need now, while saving for the ones you WANT later! We only ask that you keep your original speakers in like new condition to qualify for the exchange. This speaker trade-in Guarantee is a one-time privilege and may not be repeated year after year. Also, the Guarantee does not apply to car speakers.

Commonly Asked Questions about our Speaker Trade In Guarantee

How can you do this?
Well, we buy and sell more home speakers than anyone else and we've discovered that many people would like better speakers but don't want to throw away the investment they have in their existing ones. We're happy to get repeat business, and when you decide to trade in the old speakers for newer, better models, you might want to upgrade to some better electronics down the road too.

What do you do with the speakers I turn in to you?
We discount them and sell them as open-box merchandise and someone else gets a bargain!

Where to purchase products??

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