UPS ??? Do they ever pay a claim???

Pretender, if these truly are "large" speakers, i would check into going motor freight. You will have better luck using that method than you would with UPS. While i'm not saying that they are the best out there, i have had very good luck over the years using Overnite Express. Their prices were lower than any of "the big three" i.e. Roadway, Consolidated Freightways, Yellow. This is probably due to the fact that most Overnite terminals are non-union, do there is less overhead involved. The shipments that i've sent through Overnite were also delivered in a more timely fashion and arrived in better shape. Since it is a non-union company, employees that slack-off or get caught handling shipments roughly or damaging property will get fired, not just reprimanded with a letter.

One other suggestion and this applies to anyone shipping speakers. Speaker terminals should be "shunted" or "shorted" together. By this i mean using a low value resistor ( 2 - 8 ohms ) connected from the positive to negative binding posts of the speaker. If you don't have access to something like this ( Radio Shack has them and you don't need anything bigger than a 1/4 to 1/2 watt ), you can use a piece of small gauge wire instead but the resistor is preferred.

What this does is "lock" the voice coils of the drivers in place. This greatly reduces the amount of movement or "throw" that the driver can make. It is being held in place by the natural magnetic field within the driver itself. This minimizes the potential for damage since the driver won't be allowed to "bottom out" or "over throw" if the package is dropped or shipped upside down, sideways, etc... The resistor absorbs any voltage generated by the driver, which WILL end up moving a little bit no matter what. It is one of those "ounce of prevention" type of deals... Sean
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If they don't like the box you are using they should tell you before they take your money for insurance. This person sent me the amps in the factory boxes with at least 3 inchs of packing foam around it and they still ruined it. And not only that, they tell me they have to pay the shipper. So if they pay anyone, which I doubt, I will have to get it from the shipper (if they ever get it).

I HAD AN EXPERIENCE WITH UPS DROPPING A MAC AMP OFF IN MY OPEN GARAGE FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE. WHEN I TRACKED THE PACKAGE AND READ THAT THEY HAD DELIVERED IT AT 6:30 PM (AT THIS TIME IT WAS 9:30 PM) I WENT TO THE GARAGE AND LO AND BEHOLD IT WAS GONE. I CONTACTED THE SELLER WHO THEN PROCEEDED WITH THE INSURANCE CLAIM FOR 1000.00 AND WITHIN A 3 WEEK PERIOD THEY PAID THE SELLER WHO IN TURN REFUNDED MY MONEY. IT ALL WORKED OUT FINE IN THE END, BUT JEEZ, DON'T YOU THINK THAT THE DRIVER COULD HAVE USED A LITTLE BIT MORE COMMON SENSE? BY THE WAY THE PACKAGE WAS TO BE SIGNED FOR.