mike c said:
thanks for the info highfihoney. I agree. for "amateurs" the mcintosh is way too expensive. like me, I aim for Rotel and maybe Bryston
hi mike,most first time high end gear buyers are scared away by the prices listed as the MSRP of the gear & most msrp's are listed sky high to snag the WHALE type buyer who dont care about cost & will pay any price to have the best gear.
if you do your home work on the high end gear you want to buy you will save 50% off of listed msrp's on many brands like krell,mcintosh,classe,levinson ect.
the best way to buy is to use audiogon to its full potential,research all the prices of the newer gear your interested in then use the zip code search function to locate gear near you so you can buy in person world wide.
if you prefer new gear the research will not be wasted,now that you are fully aware of resale values you can politely approach dealers with your own offer to buy new gear & let them know in a polite way that you are not a rich man & that if they cant make the gear affordable to you then you cant buy from them,it works
most high end gear has a mark up of 40 % to 60% by the dealer & once you know that you have leverage with them,a good example is this,i went to my dealer last year & had a demo of a mcintosh mc2102 100 wpc tube amp which is priced at $6,500,i liked the amp but there was no way on earth i was paying 6.5k for that amp because i knew the resale was around $4,000,i offered him $3,500 & he counter offered $4,500,we settled on $3,800 plus tax & i took the amp home with me.
high end gear prices are nuts to begin with but if you can find a dealer that will work with you the cash you spend then becomes an investment in gear that will not cause you to hemorage cash should you choose to sell it all 10 years later.
food for thought.
