Anyone in New York with Grand Veenas?

I contacted them a year ago or so to ask the same thing ... "are there any owners in the area who might let me hear them before I buy them". They told me Harry Pearson was the only one with a pair in the area, and good luck getting that old queen to let you into his house.

So I offered to rep for them if they could discount me a pair. They said no way. So I opted out for a friendlier solution.

Yes, strange business model.

Company is a big turkey!!

I too would love to hear these speakers. I did hear a pair of Episodes in a less than optimal set-up and was duly impressed. The high frequency performance was astonishing as good as ANYTHING I've ever heard. Wonder what the deal is here?

I did the trial period for the Grand Veena, and I do not reccommend 'the process'.
Since it is a large box and the shipping is international, I had to attach 5 copies of some form on the outside of the box that included my SS#, DOB, and a copy of my last colonoscopy report. To me, this was a huge breach of my identity, but was necessary in a post 9/11 world if I was to get $8,000
back.
I have auditioned many speakers in my home with return privileges; I would never again do it across borders.

As a very happy owner of first, the Dulcet and now the De Capo i-A, I have to say that dealing with the folks at Reference 3A has been a pleasure. Both Tash and Diane in the front office are very nice to deal with. I purchased both of these speakers directly from the company because I am in Austin, Texas and the closest dealer is in San Antonio. I took advantage of the direct sale discount and also of the six-month, full value trade up program that they offer. That is, they applied the entire cost of my Dulcet to the new speakers. That said, dealing with international shipping back to Canada is not a great deal of fun, and I ran into some hassles with one of the return customs shipping documents not having been filled out completely (my fault). In the end, it was worth it, and I think the company offer is quite generous but, yes, international shipping is a pain.