Bowers & Wilkins - B&W

Go to your local big box store and buy whatever is on sale. it will be a ''deal'.
The audio specialty store may or may not offer a 'deal' on thier products. It depends on what the have, what is a problem to get rid of.. etc.
And by deal are you asking for 5% or 10%, maybe 15%?
Or do you dream big and expect 35%?
Depends on the dealer and the market.
Otherwise, if you have no confidence in working with a dealer. Buy used here on Audiogon. You will get a deal by buying used.
Some folks claim they can get spectacular deals anytime. well, those are far and few between. And mostly depend on the place and time, and not on the 'talent' of the buyer.
My best purchase from a local dealer was a warehouse blowout sale and was for Canton CD series speakers. Four $1,000. each Canton CD300 for $350. each in the box. Added in three Canton CD300 retail $750 each, For $200 each, in the box. They were quitting selling Canton, and just wanted to get rid of the entire stock.
I have bought stuff discounted like from that deal, up to just paying full retail. All depends on the situation.
So if you want a certain speaker from a particular company and no other, you are over a barrel. If you would buy any decent deal, and shop around, you can find a good deal, just not the one you expect. I did not go there expecting to buy the surround system speakers I will keep for the rest of my life. But I did buy them.

Blackmsport, Elizabeth is spot on. I think over the years I've put together an enjoyable system, but I haven't bought anything brand new at a hi-end audio store.

My concern about buying from hi-end audio stores is that they try to sell what they have or the brands they are authorized to sell. So the problem is, IMO, that if you are looking for a particular model and your favorite audio store doesn't carry it, what are you going to do; what do you think the store is going to try and sell you??

Suppose after doing research and/or listening to a couple of models at friends' houses, you've narrowed your choices down to two models, but your favoriate audio store only carries one model, how are you going to A/B the two models you're interested in??

OK . . . another problem I have is spending hours of time in a store listening to equipment. On principle, it's really a great way to listen to equipment. My concern is that if I spend a lot of time in a store, I feel uncomfortable because I've taken up a salesperson's time, I've picked their brains, and if their product is carried by other stores that are willing to discount, I might be compelled to buy for price.

So, given my personal buying biases, I read as much as I can on line and in places like A'gon. Then, as Elizabeth says, I'll buy a equipment used, generally on A'gon. As I said before on other posts, I'm pretty careful about what I buy and who I buy it from. So far, I've been lucky.

A real advantage of buying used is that if your dealing in top end equipment, there's generally a good resale market. So, in the case of preamps, I bought and sold 3 pre amps before I settled on my current model. In the case of my amp, I flipped only one model before settling on what I have now. Did I take a hit on the flips?? Yes . . . but not that much.

One other variation is that I will also buy either dealer or factory demos. My current line stage is a demo from a hi-end audio store. I paid $5800 for the unit 2 years ago. Guess what -- I can sell it on A'gon for the same money today. My amp is a factory demo unit that was refurbished and sold as new. I bought the amp about two years ago and it works great, and I can sell it for maybe $500 less than I paid for it. Not too shabby.

And finally, I agree with Elizabeth that I don't consider a 10 to 15% discount a deal. But if I buy used, maybe I'm one model back from what is ccurrently the top model, so what. I bought my stuff for 40% less than MSRP retail.

FWIW -- good luck in whatever you decide.

Thanks to both of you for the response. I see your points and agree with exactly where your going. The unfortunate part is that I do think I am slightly over a barrel since I have fallen in love with the B&W line/sound. I suppose looking at some other stuff can't hurt.

I will take your comments to heart and see what I can pull off.

Thanks

Blackmsport
Do you know any industry affiliates? A rep? a manufacturer?
I am still an electronics buyer as a living, way back when I own my own store and way before that worked for a manufacturer/retailer... If I contact manufactures direct, I can usually still squeeze a nice discount as an industry affiliate. Good Luck, Tim

The advantage of not being offered a price less than retail is that you don't have any pressure to make a quick decision. The price won't change so see what else is out there.

When I purchased my Focal speakers the I would have paid retail for them, but was offered the MAP (minimum advertised price) that was about 10% under retail. The salesman told me straight up that if I opted for a Cambridge Audio receiver there was some flexibility, but if I chose an Integra product the MAP was the same as retail. I know a dealer can sell for lower than the MAP price, but I'm sure very few do unless there's more to the story.

I don't know how MAP compares to retail for B&W products.

If you really love the sound of the B&W speakers then a few hundred dollars won't matter as soon as you pay the credit card bill at the end of the month. If you pay cash you won't care the minute you set them up at home. I'd suggest finding a Focal dealer for a listen, but if you love the B&W sound you might not prefer the Focal sound.