Hello!
Sorry to hear that you didn´t get a response from England. Was it GTAudio(www.gtaudio.com) you´ve contacted? Now, China is a different story. I don´t have a distributor in China, so who was it you tried to get in touch with?
Besides all of that, it would have been quite easy to get in touch with the spanish distributor, Cosmos Hifi.
The role of distributors/dealers is quite clear. Not everyone has the experience/knowledge to set up a turntable. Those with a love for music but ten left thumbs ought to leave it to their dealer to get the best out of their system(fewer and fewer dealers around who are willing and capable of that...). They should also assist the customer in choosing the best component/system, something I´m often asked for. This is not only time consuming but it also makes it very difficult to maintain a neutral position.
But there´s more to cover with those 30-40%. While I don´t advertise, distributors and dealers do , - if they feel the need for it. Why, you might ask, when everyone seems to be on the net nowadays, asking for unbiased advice....and lots of people willing to give that advice, unbiased or not(knowledgeable or not). There are still countless audiophiles around who much rather talk to someone on the phone or in person instead of conversing with an internet moniker.
Distributors and sometimes dealers demo at shows to attract and educate the customer. This is VERY costly, yet more often then not, distributors tell me "it wasn´t worth it, again". It can be rather frustrating to spend thousands of dollars/pounds/euros, schlepping around amps and speakers designed for forklifts, not humans, only to witness too many people sticking their head into the room and turning around in less than 10 seconds(which is how long it took them to collect the color broschures). Yet, when being asked about the sound in that room, one of the standard answers would be: "My system at home is sooo much better and it cost me this much less..."
Fortunately there are many who don´t fall into that category and it is some of them who might not need distributors/dealers. A majority(rendering dist./dealers useless) it is not.
Feel free to get in touch with me directly, if only for advice. But realise that there are limits as to how much time I can divert to this part of my occupation before others aspects(like the sheer making of the product) start to suffer.
All the best,
Frank
