I'm not sure all dealers are capable of doing a top notch set up. There's a big difference in performance between it works and sounds ok and really dialed in. When I lived in NY, I used Mike Trei as a set up guy- he's done countless turntable set ups and does many for dealers and distributors at shows. Is that worth $350 or whatever Mike currently charges? I guess it depends on your perspective. You are spending 7 grand or so on a cartridge. For me, I want to get the most out of the equipment and vinyl is not plug and play. Even for those of us who have been doing this a while. I set up Lord knows how many turntables back in the day, but I think we now know how much more can be extracted using a good arm, etc.
When I moved to Austin, I found there was nobody around that did high end turntable set ups. So, I had to do I myself (a skill that I hadn't used in a while). The Koetsus aren't the easiest to set up either b/c the cantilever is pretty well hidden by the body, at least on the stone bodies. Sure, you can do it yourself and it's good to learn. But, do you want to do so on an expensive cartridge? I'd use somebody like Mike Trei in an instant if he were local to me. Others may have different priorities. I don't think the fact that a dealer uses an outside set up person is an indication that they are ripping you off.
When I moved to Austin, I found there was nobody around that did high end turntable set ups. So, I had to do I myself (a skill that I hadn't used in a while). The Koetsus aren't the easiest to set up either b/c the cantilever is pretty well hidden by the body, at least on the stone bodies. Sure, you can do it yourself and it's good to learn. But, do you want to do so on an expensive cartridge? I'd use somebody like Mike Trei in an instant if he were local to me. Others may have different priorities. I don't think the fact that a dealer uses an outside set up person is an indication that they are ripping you off.