Recommended Carrier for Speaker Shipments

I agree. The UPS gorillas beat a set of Def Tech speakers up and previously wrecked another (nameless) set of old speakers. Furthermore, I never got any money from them. You might also consider having one of the pro packaging services like Mailboxes, Etc do it for you.

Shipped my krell amp in for rebuild a while back (150 lb.) so I used their shipper. They will not use ups or fedex. Krell is in CT. so you could call them and they will give you the # of the company they use. Costs a little more but might make you fell better. The people at krell are nice to deal with and very helpful.

I just used FedEx Ground to have a pair of PSB Image 5T's shipped to me from Canada. One speaker arrived with the magnet sheered off the woofer and banging/knocking around inside the cabinet. It must have been dropped, par for the course with all ground shippers I think. The box looked ROUGH, with torn/dented/banged up corners and a tear in the bottom. Amazingly, the cabinets were not damaged. Just the sheered off magnet. I can buy a new driver and do a quick replacement, but I won't be using FedEx Ground for anything heavy again. They are truly rough and careless, same as UPS. Check several other threads on this issue within the last year--same complaints and experiences w/FedEx Ground as with UPS.

A further word of advice -- PACK IT YOURSELF! A seller took some gear that I had bought to one of those Mailboxes, Etc. places, and they packed a Lexicon DC-1 and a 50 pound Rotel amp IN THE SAME BOX.

Needless to say, damage ocurred, and needless to say, UPS is working very very hard at not paying . . . .

It might be more of a hassle to do the packing yourself, but at least you know it's done right.

I'm guessing you have a set of Vandersteen 3s or 3as that you're getting upgraded to Signature status, right? (Not that it matters...). I suggest you call the speaker company and get their recommendation for carrier. They're in the best position to know who mangles their products and who doesn't...