[TSAVJason]

Hello Everyone! Sony has just given us the shipping schedule for the Signature Series product and where it can be purchased for the US and Canada. Sony is authorizing what is 7 - 8 dealers for North America. The stores we know for sure are listed below. The online stores that say they are authorized are not. Only 2 online sellers will be authorized. Your brick & motar stores that also can ship anywhere in the US & Canada will be officially announced in a few days. Right now you can pre-order from any of the following stores;

The Source AV in Torrance Ca. - Music to my Ear in Pittsburg Pa - Natural Sound in Boston Ma - LMC Home Entertainment is Scottsdale Az. I will announce more of the brick & motar stores tomorrow and the 2 online dealers will be announced by next week. Inventory starts to ship to dealers next week and they should have some inventory to sell by the last week of November 2016.

We at The Source AV have already begun taking pre-orders as of last week.

 

[Mediahound]

Hello Everyone! Sony has just given us the shipping schedule for the Signature Series product and where it can be purchased for the US and Canada. Sony is authorizing what is 7 - 8 dealers for North America. The stores we know for sure are listed below. The online stores that say they are authorized are not. Only 2 online sellers will be authorized. Your brick & motar stores that also can ship anywhere in the US & Canada will be officially announced in a few days. Right now you can pre-order from any of the following stores;

The Source AV in Torrance Ca. - Music to my Ear in Pittsburg Pa - Natural Sound in Boston Ma - LMC Home Entertainment is Scottsdale Az. I will announce more of the brick & motar stores tomorrow and the 2 online dealers will be announced by next week. Inventory starts to ship to dealers next week and they should have some inventory to sell by the last week of November 2016.

We at The Source AV have already begun taking pre-orders as of last week.

 
Which are the only 2 online sellers that are authorized?
 
I'd be real surprised if B&H, a very reputable online retailer is not one of them: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1295895-REG/sony_mdrz1r_z1r_premium_headphones.html//BI/4417/KBID/4870

 

[Rowethren]

Everyone should just order it from Amazon UK it is so much cheaper

 

[TSAVJason]

Which are the only 2 online sellers that are authorized?

I'd be real surprised if B&H, a very reputable online retailer is not one of them: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1295895-REG/sony_mdrz1r_z1r_premium_headphones.html//BI/4417/KBID/4870

I'm not at liberty to discuss anymore than I've provided but I can tell you that I know of many online and b&m stores advertising they are dealers for Sony Signature Series that are NOT authorized dealers.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I'm not at liberty to discuss anymore than I've provided but I can tell you that I know of many online and b&m stores advertising they are dealers for Sony Signature Series that are NOT authorized dealers.

Beyond warranty and service issues, what is the difference to the consumer if the reseller is authorized or not? I'm not suggesting that these aren't valid concerns consumers need to think about, but are those the only issues when dealing with non-authorized vendors?

 

[Whitigir]

Beyond warranty and service issues, what is the difference to the consumer if the reseller is authorized or not? I'm not suggesting that these aren't valid concerns consumers need to think about, but are those the only issues when dealing with non-authorized vendors?

I don't think it matters, Sony take warranty services by regions. So as long as your series number is belong to whichever region it was released to, you will get warranty works only I that specific region. In case if your item is an import, you can have it serviced at the closest Sony center or authorized services center in that region, but you need to pay for it and even shipping.

Usually non-authorized seller, or 3rd party sellers are mostly behind on manufacturers authorized discounts..... The way I see it, but a confirmation is nice to see

 

[TSAVJason]

Everyone should just order it from Amazon UK it is so much cheaper

Yes! Exactly ....all North American purchasers of Sony Signature Series should buy from Amazon UK. It's cheaper, it's so much cheaper it's worth risking a couple grand isn't it?

Be smart and buy from authorized dealers. I've heard the gray market nightmare stories on STAX, Focal, Sennheiser, Questyle, A&K and a number of other products. It isn't pretty when you buy gray market and need support.

So I suggest you take that risk with your money Rowethren, buy Sony Signature Series from Amazon UK first and let us all know how that goes.

 

[TSAVJason]

Beyond warranty and service issues, what is the difference to the consumer if the reseller is authorized or not? I'm not suggesting that these aren't valid concerns consumers need to think about, but are those the only issues when dealing with non-authorized vendors?

You do know people sell knockoffs and all kinds of crazy stuff don't you? Wouldn't you like to know you bought the real thing? Serial numbers can be faked ....all kinds of crazy things can go bad.

 

[Sonic Defender]

You do know people sell knockoffs and all kinds of crazy stuff don't you? Wouldn't you like to know you bought the real thing? Serial numbers can be faked ....all kinds of crazy things can go bad.

I rather doubt there are any knockoffs just yet of the Z1R. The fault lies with Sony for allowing such wide price discrepancies between markets. I also personally think that Sony suggested retail pricing is deliberately high. If I'm correct this allows for vendors to attempt to capitalize quickly upon release and get the highest returns. That seems like a valid strategy as we know that in short order there will be such stiff competition among the many, many vendors who sell Sony gear, and if this is the case that allows vendors the needed flexibility to compete. I'm not sure if this holds true with the reported exclusivity and tiny number of vendors approved to sell the Signature Series here in North America, but I remain confused as to why North America should be treated so differently than it appears Europe is being treated.

 

[Sonic Defender]

It should be noted that the pricing on the UK Amazon suggests it is special pricing and we may see that price return to the suggested retail. What is not up for debate is that this pricing promotion is completely sanctioned by Sony. I visited the corporate UK Sony site, found the Z1R clicked on where to buy and the Amazon UK link went directly to the clearly discounted pricing special. I really do find it odd that North America is seemingly being treated so differently?

 

[TSAVJason]

It should be noted that the pricing on the UK Amazon suggests it is special pricing and we may see that price return to the suggested retail. What is not up for debate is that this pricing promotion is completely sanctioned by Sony. I visited the corporate UK Sony site, found the Z1R clicked on where to buy and the Amazon UK link went directly to the clearly discounted pricing special. I really do find it odd that North America is seemingly being treated so differently?

Buy it! See what happens. I'd suggest you use your money rather than tell people to risk their money. It's the old saying, just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's true. Just for giggles go check Amazon.com. There is no special price. I've seen Kimber Kable get knocked off in 1 week after Kimber reveals a new product. Criminals exist, bad dealers exist, people willing to do anything to take money out of your wallet EXIST.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Buy it! See what happens. I'd suggest you use your money rather than tell people to risk their money. It's the old saying, just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's true. Just for giggles go check Amazon.com. There is no special price. I've seen Kimber Kable get knocked off in 1 week after Kimber reveals a new product. Criminals exist, bad dealers exist, people willing to do anything to take money out of your wallet EXIST.

I'm not actually telling anybody to buy from anywhere, I was simply clarifying things in the very small way that I could. I remain confused about your feeling the Amazon UK is not legitimate. As I said, I went from the Sony UK site clicking out and landed on the Amazon UK page so that seems to suggest a legitimate sales channel. Frankly where people buy is none of my concern, I have already paid for mine (and not from Europe) and if I have made a mistake it will be on me to deal with so I have already put my money where my mouth is so to speak.
 
I think what you have suggested to me in other conversations is quite realistic, Amazon in the UK may take tons of orders and not be able to fulfill them so some people may order at the special price only to have their orders cancelled eventually in keeping with Amazon's pre-order policy. Who knows? I certainly don't, and as an industry insider I am quite confident that you yourself know much better than I could hope to. That said, my point remains, I do not see how the pre-orders through Amazon in the UK aren't legitimate, sanctioned sales. I do think sooner as opposed to later that avenue will close to consumers here and at that point it will make no sense to source from outside North America for us.
 
I do wish stocking, community active companies such as yours have a great deal of success selling this line, and I would like to acknowledge your continued participation in this thread and thank you for being engaged with the community.

 

[TSAVJason]

I'm not actually telling anybody to buy from anywhere, I was simply clarifying things in the very small way that I could. I remain confused about your feeling the Amazon UK is not legitimate. As I said, I went from the Sony UK site clicking out and landed on the Amazon UK page so that seems to suggest a legitimate sales channel. Frankly where people buy is none of my concern, I have already paid for mine (and not from Europe) and if I have made a mistake it will be on me to deal with so I have already put my money where my mouth is so to speak.

I think what you have suggested to me in other conversations is quite realistic, Amazon in the UK may take tons of orders and not be able to fulfill them so some people may order at the special price only to have their orders cancelled eventually in keeping with Amazon's pre-order policy. Who knows? I certainly don't, and as an industry insider I am quite confident that you yourself know much better than I could hope to. That said, my point remains, I do not see how the pre-orders through Amazon in the UK aren't legitimate, sanctioned sales. I do think sooner as opposed to later that avenue will close to consumers here and at that point it will make no sense to source from outside North America for us.

I do wish stocking, community active companies such as yours have a great deal of success selling this line, and I would like to acknowledge your continued participation in this thread and thank you for being engaged with the community.

It's really pretty simple. To keep your order warrantable the distributor of record must handle the cost of any warranted service repair, even within the same parent company. Why would Sony NA pay to warrant a Sony UK product. It comes off each reported bottom line. Let's use Focal as another type of example. Focal uses independently owned distributors in most countries. Of course the NA distributor isn't going to pay for a Chinese distributors product repair. Global enterprise is not as simple as you might want to imagine.

By the way, that's an awesome compliment thank you very much. We've enjoyed great success in getting into the headgear enthusiasts community. We learned early on, within the first month of starting that this community was fun, zealous and interesting. You support us as a community and in return we will have decided to help your community be more empowered with truth and knowledge. People ask us for deals/discounts all the time. We take no insult but we do follow the rules of engagement set out by the manufacturer. We don't cheat them and certainly won't cheat any of you. Just respect that we built this company on integrity and count on the fact that we will always respect yours.

 

[musicor]

I did it Pre-ordered from Amazon UK from US.
 
For some reason, during checkout the price fell from the displayed £1,334.30 to £1,110.02. I couldn't figure out why the price dropped and when I checked the product page after purchasing, it was still at £1,334.30. So my total checkout (+ shipping, import fees) came to £1,172.56 ... which comes to around $1460 US.
I am not going to complain about that.
 
Now the waiting starts.
It's probably going to take at least a few month for the price to go that low in the US once it starts selling here :/

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Amazon algorithm really throws the value on these phones. Crazy Sony lets them get away with that. This is the lowest price I've seen them.

However if $1500-2k is major investment for you, i suggest getting it from an authorized vendor for the comfort of warranty. What's the warranty on these btw? Surely more than 1 year. Right?

I did it Pre-ordered from Amazon UK from US.

For some reason, during checkout the price fell from the displayed £1,334.30 to £1,110.02. I couldn't figure out why the price dropped and when I checked the product page after purchasing, it was still at £1,334.30. So my total checkout (+ shipping, import fees) came to £1,172.56 ... which comes to around $1460 US.
I am not going to complain about that.

Now the waiting starts.
It's probably going to take at least a few month for the price to go that low in the US once it starts selling here :/