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KH150 Purchase - MusicStore.com (Import)

I understand that everyone wants to save some money, but I wonder how the US representatives of Neumann will prioritize your loudspeakers if in need of service when they see that you did go around their distribution chain. The prices they have set for the product is likely a calculation of many things besides shipping and service based on the cost of those things in the US. Just a thought.
Seeing Sennheiser's clearly stated warranty - this seems like an odd stance out of the gate. Neumann/Sennheiser aren't making or saving money one way or the other (that would be governments with their hand on the scales via tariffs/import/export, not the manufacturer). For a potential repair, I don't believe the actual repair-man would have any idea on the origin of the purchase while the repair is being made (just an upstream paper-pusher stamping "is it warrantied, or not"). In any regard, warranty was not my #1 consideration, but surely a concern, and seems to be clear they will cover it anywhere in the world as long as purchased from an authorized dealer. I could certainly see why purchasing non-authorized might trigger this assumption - but MusicStore is 100% authorized and likely a good chunk of Neumann's sales.

If anything - Neumann/Sennheiser got another sale as I would not have purchased KH150's at $1750/ea ($1900 w/tax) domestically - even with a larger than expected Xmas bonus! I would have likely tried the Kali's and never thought twice about spending over $5500 for a domestic L-C-R trio of KH150's (I'll be under $3900 all said and done - still stings, but easily what I actually value them at. $5500 does not align with my price/performance expectation to be honest, and reflects governmental tariff gouging to the end-user).

Updates to come on Monday. The pair is already local in Houston - so likely a Monday morning/afternoon delivery...
 
They could theoretically block the sales if they wanted to
I can't order Focals to my country from Thomann I assume it's because Focal asked them not to sell to my specific country
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They could theoretically block the sales if they wanted to
I can't order Focals to my country from Thomann I assume it's because Focal asked them not to sell to my specific countryView attachment 414079
But they are cool like that :) They (Neumann/Sennheiser) have much more reach in many more industries than a very "Vertical" company like Focal.
 
FWIW - MusicStore lets me put Focal Trio 6 in my cart for delivery to USA :oops: . $2029 MusicStore vs $3499 SweetWater.
 
Thomann don’t let me buy Neumann speakers if I choose US as the destination country. I find it a bit strange if Neumann doesn't let Thomann deliver to the US but lets MusicStore do it.

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Try MusicStore.com. Worked for me :) One in the hand, AND two in the bush lol
 
Try MusicStore.com. Worked for me :) One in the hand, AND two in the bush lol

I live in Sweden so there’s not a problem for me to buy anything from Thomann, I could have five in my bush in just a few days. :D

No, I suspect that Neumann doesn't know about MusicStore delivering their products to people in the US. ;)
 
I live in Sweden so there’s not a problem for me to buy anything from Thomann, I could have five in my bush in just a few days. :D

No, I suspect that Neumann doesn't know about MusicStore delivering their products to people in the US. ;)
I need to get around to re-creating the phone call this guy made to be sure on warranty (not high on my list of priorities, but on my list none the less). TLDR - ASR user calls Sennheiser USA and they confirm valid US warranty for KH120II's imported from MusicStore.com.

Also, reviewing Neumann's warranty page before my purchase also did not seem to have any wording supporting these theories.

Regardless - I'm not one to leave $1600 (difference on a trio from MusicStore/Germany vs a USA dealer) on the table if legal ways exist to prevent the hemorrhaging of my hard earned cash :) I'm sure Sweetwater (and Uncle Sam, and the Texas Governor) would like to have the extra $1600, but I'd much prefer to keep it.

My hopes were to allow US-based ASR members to get into the KH series for a reasonable outlay - legally and with valid warranty. Once the tariff situation is clarified on Monday with the pair that got flagged (the single passed through undetected!), and once I re-create the warranty call linked above - I would have no qualms recommending this avenue to anyone interested.

If you want to spend more, you are welcome to! I can't afford to spend more, and was willing to take a small risk to document the (somewhat murky) process in this thread :cool:
 
Guys, tried to order these and got the following message

"The manufacturer has instructed us not to deliver their products to your country. Please either choose a comparable product from another manufacturer or call us and we will be happy to advise you."

So unless someone has a work around, it appears this offer either is not or is no longer available in the US.
 
Guys, tried to order these and got the following message

"The manufacturer has instructed us not to deliver their products to your country. Please either choose a comparable product from another manufacturer or call us and we will be happy to advise you."

So unless someone has a work around, it appears this offer either is not or is no longer available in the US.
Interesting, I registered and attempted a purchase of 2 x KH150 and they were willing to ship (Canada) but only have 1 left in stock. Supposed to have more in the new year. Not as big of savings for us though. I can buy them here for CA$1950/each. With the shipping and exchange Music Store is ~ CA$300 cheaper. I’d still get dinged for sales tax when they arrive and probably a brokerage fee of some sort.
 
Interesting, I registered and attempted a purchase of 2 x KH150 and they were willing to ship (Canada) but only have 1 left in stock. Supposed to have more in the new year. Not as big of savings for us though. I can buy them here for CA$1950/each. With the shipping and exchange Music Store is ~ CA$300 cheaper. I’d still get dinged for sales tax when they arrive and probably a brokerage fee of some sort.
I may try again. Perhaps use Paypal next time and see if that makes a difference. The overall cost was around $2400 which is a great price. At $3700 for a US Dealer, companies like AsciiLab, Kef, and even Ascend seem like far better bargains.

Right now, the US premium on Neuman's seems like the US cost of Ozempic vs the rest of the world.
 
The pair arrived today - NIB. Even though they got held-up in customs for a day, no tariff fees were due upon delivery! I'm happily confused and delighted! The obligatory pic of the trio waiting to be swapped in later tonight:

3xKH150.jpeg



Guys, tried to order these and got the following message

"The manufacturer has instructed us not to deliver their products to your country. Please either choose a comparable product from another manufacturer or call us and we will be happy to advise you."

So unless someone has a work around, it appears this offer either is not or is no longer available in the US.

Wow - yes - I'm seeing the same on my end now. Odd. Same if I try to add Genelec or others to my USA cart as well. I guess someone cried to them?

I may try again. Perhaps use Paypal next time and see if that makes a difference. The overall cost was around $2400 which is a great price. At $3700 for a US Dealer, companies like AsciiLab, Kef, and even Ascend seem like far better bargains.

Right now, the US premium on Neuman's seems like the US cost of Ozempic vs the rest of the world.
Yes - precisely my reason for this experiment, and this thread. It seems I might have been the "last one through the door" :facepalm: But it seems as though it was just a matter of time since Thomann already blocked Neumann exports to US (reported by others), and MusicStore also has other brands blocked from my USA cart experiences. I was pondering snagging a pair of KH120II's for surrounds with my savings - but CERTAINLY not at USA prices...

That pretty much closes the thread on this topic. I'll report my experiences in the review thread.
 
The pair arrived today - NIB. Even though they got held-up in customs for a day, no tariff fees were due upon delivery! I'm happily confused and delighted! The obligatory pic of the trio waiting to be swapped in later tonight:

View attachment 414465




Wow - yes - I'm seeing the same on my end now. Odd. Same if I try to add Genelec or others to my USA cart as well. I guess someone cried to them?


Yes - precisely my reason for this experiment, and this thread. It seems I might have been the "last one through the door" :facepalm: But it seems as though it was just a matter of time since Thomann already blocked Neumann exports to US (reported by others), and MusicStore also has other brands blocked from my USA cart experiences. I was pondering snagging a pair of KH120II's for surrounds with my savings - but CERTAINLY not at USA prices...

That pretty much closes the thread on this topic. I'll report my experiences in the review thread.
Did you buy them as B stock?
 
Did you buy them as B stock?
Nope - all 3 were factory sealed. In case you are asking (I also saw it and did a double-take) - the silver on the left one is actually glare off the inner dustcap :) All 3 are pristine aside from my grubby fingerprints. The adhesive little feet they came with are perfect (I'm sure they are engineered to the specific weight of the speaker)!
 
Wow - yes - I'm seeing the same on my end now. Odd. Same if I try to add Genelec or others to my USA cart as well. I guess someone cried to them?

I think it's possible that this very thread generated more orders from the US, which may got the attention from MusicStore themselves wanting to make sure they are not doing something that can jeopardize their future as a dealer.
 
I think it's possible that this very thread generated more orders from the US, which may got the attention from MusicStore themselves wanting to make sure they are not doing something that can jeopardize their future as a dealer.
or Neumann’s attention, lol
 
Hoping the "Use Tax" (or sales tax) request is nothing more than a strongly worded recommendation - as 'I never got it' unless they send it certified mail with a signature. These letters/requests seem hit-and-miss from what has been reported - seemingly from more Orwellian local governments.

Regarding VAT - MusicStoire clearly specifies 0% VAT for USA orders. Both orders have adhered to this, and the first shipment had a declaration that the products were of EU/CE origin to validate no VAT charges were applicable (or similar verbiage).

Updates to come! And a bunch of re-configuring of my current system to allow the center speaker in vertical orientation. Not expected to be done real soon :(
Exports from the EU to end consumers in third countries are exempt from VAT.
However, if there is no sales tax in the USA because the corresponding sales limit for the state has not been reached, you must declare and pay the use tax yourself.
It sounds to me like you're taking advantage of inter country information gaps to avoid/evade taxes. In my opinion it is inappropriate to present this approach here as a success story.
 
Exports from the EU to end consumers in third countries are exempt from VAT.
However, if there is no sales tax in the USA because the corresponding sales limit for the state has not been reached, you must declare and pay the use tax yourself.
It sounds to me like you're taking advantage of inter country information gaps to avoid/evade taxes. In my opinion it is inappropriate to present this approach here as a success story.
Along these lines, my research showed the tariff on the "Active Speaker" category is 4%, or at minimum a 2% tariff on the generic "electronics" category for goods above $800. I received an invoice for 0% tariff for the specific speaker valued as $1200 on the invoice (but had a $2 fee for the processing - probably cost as much to process the card payment!). By your argument, should I also write back stating my research indicates this Active Speaker should have encountered a 4% tariff - even though the official agency apparently categorized this unit with no tariff? US Customs obviously feels this is a non-taxable import transaction - even though they declared the value well over the $800 Tariff break-point. How would you rectify this to your moral satisfaction to be a "Success Story"? Would you send a random check to them for 4% and hope it does some good? I won't be doing that.

The whole "no sales tax for out-of-state sales" was a non-issue for many many years (not sure of past history of State Sales Tax and legitimate US Customs imports). If the state needs to tax me for something I imported from another country (using German manufacturing, labor and and infrastructure; with maybe 1 truck that traveled 20 miles on Texas roads) - I find the onus on them (and Customs) - not on me - to report. If I import something legally and the official import agency doesn't report it to the state for whatever their business reasons are - then who am I to second guess their judgement (the same way I will not volunteer to pay the 4% tariff when a 0% tariff was officially declared by US Customs). This is above and beyond the argument that state sales tax is double-taxation no matter how you slice it - and then to impose it on imported goods is just loony. No water off my back, and I will not bend-over-backwards to allow and assist my income to be double-taxed. In an ideal world I would agree with you - but we all know our money is stolen from us for every hour worked and at every transaction in this sneaky world - I'm just playing that same game on the consumer side and not volunteering my cash away in the few instances this is possible (generally no way to avoid double taxation for everything in life, which is just wrong).

In the grand scheme - 8.25% sales tax is a drop in the bucket compared to the sky-high tariffs that Neumann must face on the US side of their business - and they gladly pass those fees along to the USA retailers and then to customers as outrageous US retail prices (plus double-taxation sales tax :confused: ). The end-consumer is ALWAYS the loser. It's nice to get out from under that machine once or twice in your life if the opportunity presents itself (the machine makes that very unlikely, and the machine takes every opportunity it can - always at your disadvantage). I took my rare opportunity, and have no moral qualms doing so. Simply put - I would not pay $1900/speaker w/tax for the KH150's ($5700 for L-C-R is not worth it IMNSHO), but have compassion for those that have (I can assure you the recipients of the tariffs and taxes that cause these crazy prices have no compassion for your loss of money/value the way you have compassion for them missing out on my 8% sales tax from imported goods).
 
Hi,

Just be happy you (seem) to have slipped through:), while still keeping it legal, anyone within his right mind would have done the same in similar situation, if presented the opportunity, but apparently only the ultra rich of this world are allowed to get away wit tax evasion, oh well.
 
Wow - yes - I'm seeing the same on my end now. Odd. Same if I try to add Genelec or others to my USA cart as well. I guess someone cried to them?

Don't underestimate various employees of various companies reading various forums or googling various things :)

I used a "permanent" 10% discount coupon on a certain webshop. It was an open secret basically, many people have used it for years (probably hundreds of people, resulting in thousands of purchases and tens of thousands of $currency€ ), and then someone posted the coupon code publicly on a forum; previously it was just "secretly" exchanged through private messages.

The code was gone the very next day.

Enjoy your speakers! Great little things, sadly far out of my budget.
 
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