Just wondering the reason, why?

When the Chinese really entered into the HiFI world in a serious way, they did so by offering high quality goods that could be bought directly from their "warehouses"

What this did was remove the dealer margins that are worked into the prices of well established brands like NAIM, LINN etc. This made the Chi-Fi pieces look to be extremely high VFM in comparison. I recall the furore regarding the Denafrips Terminator, which at the time was offered at £2k inc tax! There was nothing available from a dealer of that quality for anywhere near that price. Since then others have followed. Gustard, Topping, SMSL, Holo...you can buy directly from the manufacturer, which i prefer.

The downside is that there is a scarcity of dealers and there usually isn't a dealer anywhere local to most people where you can go and arrange a demo, but IMHO, the dealer margin is a high price to pay to listen to a bit of kit for an hour on equipment they want to demo with it, which is usually far detached from what the potential new owner listens to at home.

I am not one for dealers.

Personally, i have been buying from the Chinese on a weekly basis since 2019. The reports of ropey after sales service is bollocks IME. Whenever there has been a n issue, whether small, like a mark on a Aluminium chassis, or large like an order not arriving, they have been exemplary in their efforts to resolve it.

The one area where i wish they *would* pay attention is in the PSU of their devices. 90% of Chi-Fi is made with a traffo specced for 220v, which is not high enough for the majority of the UK, and could shorten the lifespan of their equipment when used here. That said, swapping a traffo is hardly hard work!

Holo make excellent dacs, and the few weeks i spent woith the Spring 3 were full of exceptional sound. I don't know why i won;t buy one....maybe it's because Alan has one and i like to be different lol

"I am not one for dealers."

cant agree there ollie , this week and last my hifi dealer dealt with multiple emails with manufacturer to sort out some upgrades as was not functioning properly . Its so important to have support and back up . this company boss in USA replied in 5 mins on a saturday night to my questions . Therefore i will buy again from that company because of that

I think people will obviously have different experiences and reasons why they go one way or the other.

I usually go used, and have obtained some superb pieces of gear that way, I'd otherwise have had no way of affording. I also love the idea someone's done the burning in already.

The one most recent piece I purchased new (Aurorasound Vida Prima phonostage), wasn't silly money at all, a bargain in my view, for what it does and that was a great, smooth dealer experience.

Ah, hold up....

I'm not saying that some dealers don't do a good job of customer service and support, what I am saying is that I don't want their markup on the items I buy.

The last dealer I bought anything from was Tony, and TBF, what I bought from him couldn't be bought new for less from elsewhere...and there were no used ones for sale. I was also very happy with the service I received, and on the whole have been happy with numerous dealers I've had to buy from in the past when other options weren't available.

But, that's a straight up blind purchase scenario...the minimum I'd expect so to speak.

The last time I walked into a dealers to audition a specific piece of kit, it ended up with it being demoed in a £100k NAIM setup that was absolutely nothing like my system at home at the time.

That's my issue with the majority of dealers, they want to demo what they want you to buy, not necessarily what YOU want to buy. As it happens, you can't buy any part of my system at a dealers...so they are pretty pointless to me now lol

If I can buy something ANY dealer is selling at a lower price directly from the manufacturer...I'm buying from the manufacturer.

The last time I got ripped off by a dealer it was for something completely unrelated to hifi. ...🤣

That was many years ago mind.

Not long after I moved here got a knock on the door from a youth known locally as 'Carrot' who tried to sell me some hashish.

Had to point out to him that it was a lump of asphalt off of the road. Later discovered that he had made a sale to the two students living in the flat over the post office when I ran into them and they warned me 'Don't buy any hash off that carrot bloke!'

he was also a thief, ended up robbing off the wrong person and moved away once he eventually got out of hospital.