Shipping company for speakers- any good or bad one

I recently used discount-shipping to ship my Martin Logan Sequel II's from San Francisco, CA to Dallas, TX. The cost is normally $0.95/LB. However, they have an interesting alternative to regular shipping. If you can drop off and pick up at their terminals, you can ship for $0.65/lb. This is what I did and it worked fine. (Plus if you drop them off, the company will give you the final cost and let the buyer pay for it directly.)

Note: rates do not include insurance.

AmericanBaggage@Discount-Shipping.net

It really depends on a couple of factors. I recently shipped a 305lb crate of Avalon Opus from SC to Illinois and used Bax and they couldn't have been better to deal with. Great service, very professional, and extremely courteous. I would have had them ship back the Kharma CE 1.0s that I had traded for except that they would not pick up from a residence so I ended up shipping them via Fedex, which worked out well too, albeit a good bit more expensive. I'm sure there are a number of reputable shipping firms that other Audiogoners have used with equal success. A couple of issues that you may have to deal with may determine who you use are: 1)weight of crates or cartons, 2) physical size, 3)where the speakers will be shipped from, and 4)insurability. I assumed that it would be very easy and it ended up being much more involved than I had originally thought. If you are buying from a dealer or business, they'll take care of all the arrangements and charge you accordingly. If you are buying from an individual, it could be a little more difficult and you'll have far fewer options. Good luck!!!

Watkins Trucking

I've had really good experience with BAX Global:
http://www.baxglobal.com/US.asp

They won't pick up from a residence, only from a business address, but the service and prices are great.

My experience with BAX was a nightmare. They damaged a pair of Kharma 2.0, and then refused to settle even after their own investigator concluded that they caused the damage. The problem with BAX, and some others, is that they are self insured - so they do not want to pay. Have had good luck with Target Logisitics and Conway. One of the problems is 'hidden' damage. Make sure the packing is perfect - any weakness risks the contents. Make sure the packing is marked as to 'up-right', do not double stack, etc. Also consider a 'shock watch' which is a device that will indicate if the carton/crate was subjected to a severe shock. Good Luck.