Definition of Local Dealer

I believe this distance does vary from product manufacture to prod' mfg'. They do have different rules for distances. A few years back we had a dock strike. No product was available on the west coast. I was not able to buy on line;and I was RTB . This turned me off and I wouldn't let myself get interested in anything this co. made.---Things like this; I keep!!

I think what the phrases refer to in principal mean that you should want to support your local dealers and buy from them, not just waste there time in getting free education at their expense and then jump online to buy from audiogon.

If the local dealers can’t pay their bills and go out of business, you’ll find it very difficult to listen to anything without making a long journey. Doing it once or twice its fun – but, doing it every single time can be tedious.

Audiogon has replaced the local dealers in some respects making it very difficult for these smaller folks to make a living, leaving them with no money to be able to afford to bring in newer product lines or to expand in anyway or even be able to afford advertisements to let us know they even exist.

I think, personally, to some extent all the verbiage may be screaming these thoughts out.

If the local dealers cant sell to consumers then the manufactures suffer as well and if they have to go online to sell directly or through audiogon and ebay then we’ll have a scenario where we’ll be relying only on hearsay of what gear sounds like and no opportunity to listen to anything or get sound advise from the dealers that actually listen to a wider range of equipment then we’ll ever have access to.

This is my take on it…

For most manufacturers it is simple.
Type your state or zip code into their dealer locator.
If there is a dealer closer to your physical location than the one on the internet, the one on the internet should only sell to you if your "local" dealer is unable to meet your needs.
Your closest dealer should try very hard to meet your needs as far as audition and advice.

Good luck!

Elizabeth, I understand your frustration. Manufacturers can set the rules as they please, and you have to understand the dealer was following them. As far as the dealer refusing to deliver the speakers to you, they are slitting their own throats, but that's their prerogative. As far as I'm concerned distance isn't a problem, and in fact I've sold speakers and other equipment to people much farther away than you, including delivery and setup.