The discussion of direct sales vs manufactuers selling via dealers has two sides.
Yes the direct sales model does sometimes mean that you may be paying less for a pair of speakers and sometimes it does not mean you are getting a better engineered product. Most of the small direct sellers are not building their drivers, crossover and box is what they are offering.
Their are huge advantages of looking at products sold by the larger speaker manufacturers: Dynaudio, Focal, Kef, B&W etc.
Take for example the new Kef R series and the new B&W 700 series, both of these loudspeakers use trickle down technology from their higher up models and use all propretry drivers that are designed from the ground up
Kef has spent $4 million dollars developing first the Kef Blades then the Reference series, then the original R and then the Q and then a bunch more money refreshing these lines.
We are not B&W dealers so we can't quote numbers their, but we can guarantee that they have also spent millions on the refereshing their speakers.
The point is that small companies do not have the financial resources to develop, really radical new drivers nor the ability to test and hire some of the best acoustical designers in the industry.
We sell the Quad Z2 and again like the KEF and B&W these are fantastic speakers that use all proprietary drivers a fantastic damped ribbon tweeter and an advanced carbon fiber midrange/woofer they sound amazing and are starting to find their way into more dealers accross the country, they are very impressive so if you like the sound of the Raal ribbons in some ways the damped Quad tweeters you may like even more.
The other thing you have with some of the larger speaker manufacturers is the ability to hear them and compare their products in a store without having to order from each one of these small companies with then having to compare each one your are interested in without having to purchase them first and then having to ship them back and forth.
Then you also have the stability of a large manufacturer, and the servicablity of service stations throught the country as well as the ability to more easily sell the product because people at large have heard and know about the brand.
Last point the large companies have economies of scale which may mean that you are actually getting a more sophisticated loudspeaker for the price even if it costs a bit more.
So in your quest for great $2k loudspeakers you should also look at what mainstream offerings are in your area and go visit some stores and see what you may find.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
