Too hard to find Rotel equipment

[Jarrod]

I live in Nashville. Over one million people live here and we have several different high-end stores in and around the city - easily two or three times the number, per-capita, than San Diego where I lived previously. I guess this makes sense given that this city's culture (and economy) is largely dominated by music. Just about every brand of equipment in every budget category I can think of from Marantz and Denon to Krell and Classe is represented. Certainly *every* brand that has entry-level separates is represented - except for Rotel.

I need a new preprocessor. Based on research done here and other places, I've narrowed down my choice to the RSP-1068 or the new Sherwood Newcastle piece. Rotel's website tells me that the nearest dealer is in the next city over, 45 minutes away. So I anxiously drove there yesterday to see if I could find out more about the RSP-1068 and the new receivers as well.

When I get there and ask to see Rotel, the owner tells me that he only has a floor model 1066, a floor model 1095, and a few CD and DVD players. I asked him when he would be getting the new gear and he said he wasn't carrying Rotel any longer. I probed him harder and he was finally rather embarrassed to admit to me that he lost the line because he wasn't selling enough equipment to keep Rotel happy. So Rotel pulled his license and now there is no dealer anywhere in middle TN.

Rotel, if you are reading this: You have great products. Why do you make it so difficult for many of us to get them??? It's not like I live out in the sticks or something. This is a bit disappointing to say the least...at worst I find this situation elitist and insulting.

I spoke with our B&W dealer to ask if they were going to pick up Rotel (Rotel and B&W are distributed in the US by the same company so often you find Rotel gear in the same shop as B&W). He said that they had talked about it but decided they didn't have space for it unless they got rid of NAD, which they weren't going to do.

So now the closest Rotel dealer is 4 hours away. I just don't see myself doing business this way...

[Kevin D]

Just curious why why your local dealers decision not to carry Rotel is Rotel's fault? I'm certainly glad that Rotel doesn't pimp their line out where it's easy to get anywhere, that keeps the value of the line high and the quality of service better.

And quite honestly, we're a small dealer probably under the same rep as the company that you visited. We sell very, very little B&W and less Rotel. We've never even been warned about selling too little. If there are no other dealers in the area Rotel has no reason to cancel one for low sales.. I'm pretty sure they're getting canned for other reasons..

Kevin D.

[Ryker]

Don't feel so bad I am in the same boat. Live in Northern Maine. One dealer in the whole state who is over 5 hours away. Only has an rsx-1055 on hand because he does custom work so he doesn't really have a display area. He actually offered the demo receiver to me for $1000 bucks. Big deal. There is one in Canada which I found out is even farther away. They sure do make it hard. It's to bad you couldn't buy directly from Rotel.

[Jason Brown]

I guess I should feel blessed that there are two Rotel dealers I know of within 15 minutes of my house. Rotel is so easy to find here, that's pretty much the main reason I ended up with their gear.

[Jarrod]

Just curious why why your local dealers decision not to carry Rotel is Rotel's fault?

That's not Rotel's fault. But pulling the only dealer we had is.

As it turns out my post is probably a red herring anyway. I spent all day going from dealer to dealer in town to find out if any of them are interested in carrying Rotel. It turns out that one of them is supposedly in the process of signing on right now. So if I'm patient I'll finally be able to check out Rotel stuff right here in Nashville.

I think this new store that's trying to get the line is probably the reason the old store (which is further away and certainly does less volume as a result) got canned.

[Bam!]

Guys ...I have to comment on this...

I`m a retailer, though not in electronics, I`m in a similar type business than these stereo shops.

Reasons that Rotel did what they did:

1- The dealer did not want to book any product this year and probably onesey and twoseys all the products he had in his store...

You know you wanted ROTEL (believe me I understand why) but maybe the majority of the people in your area want NAD or other stuff... It is a limited business and they can`t carry ever little demand that Joe off the street wants....

2- He might have been paying like a sore stomach (from the story..I doubt it)

3- They are very selective to who they sell...they want knowledgeable and authorized dealers who know their shiat.... this guy`d words were all I have is....that is a crappy way to talk no????

4- This is what I think...He would not commit himself to carrying the whole ROTEL line but instead bits and pieces...bad way to represent a company no? (look at the impression it left on you)

Anyway just curious, is the dealer that is closest to you, seem more knowledgeable and more serious? And will they have the whole line?

Anyway Salut la!!!




Bam!

[Jarrod]

Anyway just curious, is the dealer that is closest to you, seem more knowledgeable and more serious? And will they have the whole line?

The proposed new dealer is a Hi-Fi buys (owned by Tweeter?). Are they more knowlegeable there? No. Does it seem more serious? Probably. The onesy-twosy characterization you made about the first dealer is probably fair. The Hi-Fi Buys will move more product just based on location and visibility (advertising, etc) alone.

Keep in mind this all assumes that they actually start carrying Rotel like the sales person indicated. I sure hope so but it sounded like the agreement was still a couple of weeks off. After that, who knows how long before who knows which products actually start showing up. So I don't know the answer to the last part of your question (will they carry the whole line).