shipping speakers

Original boxes are not necessarily the best way to ship. I had a pair of Thiel 2.2's that were damaged in shipment to me precisely because they were shipped in the original boxes. The boxes, as built, completely depended on a glued brace to keep the speakers in place and the way the brace was built into the box almost guaranteed that the leverage generated by any side pressure would break it off. That's what happened and both speakers spent their cross-country ride sloshing around inside the boxes, arriving with dinged corners all around.

On the other hand, I received a pair of ProAc monitors that had been shipped in a professionally packed, foam-lined box that is substantially better suited for individual shipping than the original boxes, which sometimes are designed to be good enough if strapped to a pallet but not if left to the mercy of being tossed around individually.

I ship many loudspeakers ,UPS FEDEX stay clear.Frieghts your best shot. I have had no loudspeakers damaged in shipment[30 pair]some giant I mean realy giant 19ft end to end, since going roadway.

You sometimes see tilt indicators on large parcels like major appliances or computer cabinets indicating that said item was tilted too far from vertical, and may have sustained damage from such treatment. I believe similar indicators are available that show if a package was dropped, and how hard. They go either inside the box or outside for all to see. Gives new meaning to the term 'slam'.

I have sent and received floorstanding speakers by air freight with no problems. On the other hand, I received speakers by UPS once that arrived with a broken binding post. Fortunately it was an easy fix.

I once shipped a pair of Vienna Acoustics speakers (factory boxes) 300 miles away. The shipper completely destroyed them. I filed claims on buyer's behalf and got the money back after 3 months later. That's the reason why I drove 600 miles to pick up my Wilson Sophias.