Vitus distributorless again in the US?

Michaels HiFi

Michaels HiFi

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 3, 2022
Messages
1,490
Location
Texas
Noticed on October 20th High End by Oz announced he is no longer the US distributor.

Seemed like he inherited a mess in 2019 and was trying to build things up for Vitus in the US.

I don't know any of the details, but from the outside looking in that does not give a consumer any comfort in buying such an expensive piece of kit - compounded by so few dealers in the US (I think only 4-5).
 
Oz is a great guy. Wish him all the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Mike said:
Oz is a great guy. Wish him all the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...


Yeah - that was the sense I got. Seemed like he was really putting in the time and effort to make things right. I must admit I was intrigued by their integrated and the few reviews I've seen talking about how musical it is.

To MY ears, I find a lot of amps may sound good tonally, but not be very musical per se. Seemed like the Vitus integrated was very musical and organic.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I had heard Vitus is going direct to dealer similar to what Gryphon did. I think the source is good but I've seen nothing in Black & white.
Click to expand...

I wonder what the pros and cons are of that approach from a dealer standpoint.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I've heard it takes longer to get a product when ordered but not having distributors saves the manufacturer money. I wouldn't expect any of those savings to be passed on to the consumer.
Click to expand...
When Luxman took over their own distribution by setting up Luxman America they were able to lower their retail prices ~25% since it eliminated the expenses of having a third party distributor.
 
audio.bill said:
When Luxman took over their own distribution by setting up Luxman America they were able to lower their retail prices ~25% since it eliminated the expenses of having a third party distributor.
Click to expand...

Do you think the same will happen with Vitus?

I think if I had just bought Vitus gear in the past month, I would feeling terrible.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Mike said:
Do you think the same will happen with Vitus?

I think if I had just bought Vitus gear in the past month, I would feeling terrible.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

Regardless of how good a product may be, I personally would be nervous to buy something that has distributors coming-and-going and only 4 or 5 dealers in the entire US.
 
Mike said:
Do you think the same will happen with Vitus?

I think if I had just bought Vitus gear in the past month, I would feeling terrible.
Click to expand...
I have no way of knowing, only brought up Luxman as an example to show that price reductions can happen when the distribution chain is effectively shortened. That's not always the case though, PS Audio went factory direct and kept their list prices unchanged.
 
Quite a few high-end wristwatch brands have eliminated authorized dealers and opened their own boutiques. Prices have only risen consistent with what the market will bear. If Vitus does direct-to-dealer I'd expect them to do what the market will (or won't) bear.

Luxman MAY WELL have determined that they could lower prices and the net net would be positive. It's all based on the brand knowing the market and where they sit within the market vis a vis close competitors. And where they WANT to sit.
 
European brands really need a distributor IMO and vice versa. It helps to have a distributor here on local time, navigating the waters, customs, liaison for repairs, etc.

Just think, when Europe literally and completely shuts down for a MONTH, do you, as Joe Q Public in America want to have your inquiries going into a black hole?

Imagine you have a European made amp and on August 3 it starts giving trouble. Sporadically not turning on unless you unplug it, let it sit and then try it again. The dealer has exhausted his ideas. Do you want to wait a month for an answer for your issue on your $80,000 amp?

Without the efforts of a proper distributor, you may not even know about the product in the first place. One trip to Munich and you will see hundreds of brands you’ve never heard of.

The big boy/household brands can get away with “just a rep firm” because they likely still have a U.S. support team (think: B&W). The smaller Euro guys need a proper distributor IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Is history repeating itself?
Over the years, we have seen a lot of companies founded by very capable individuals who, unfortunately, did not know how to run a business. These founders believed that they could do it all themselves without partners or employees with expertise in areas that they were lacking. And while things may work for a while, ultimately consumers bought into a company that has no bullpen and they will end up holding the bag.
 
I would not have bought an Canadian amplifier if there was not a well established importer in the Netherlands.
 
Just a point of clarification... eliminating a US distributor and going factory direct on an imported brand can sacrifice support as Mike described. What Luxman did was to setup and staff Luxman America which is fully operational within the US providing their dealers and customers with full support for their products. Of course smaller companies could not likely afford to fund such an arrangement.
 
audio.bill said:
Just a point of clarification... eliminating a US distributor and going factory direct on an imported brand can sacrifice support as Mike described. What Luxman did was to setup and staff Luxman America which is fully operational within the US providing their dealers and customers with full support for their products. Of course smaller companies could not likely afford to fund such an arrangement.
Click to expand...

Agreed. A brand as big as Luxman could justify that.

Small Euro brands that hire a rep guy will suffer, we are seeing it with one brand in particular that fired the distributor who worked tirelessly 24/7 and replaced them with a rep “guy”. Big mistake.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Hi all,

seems like I have to make some clarifications..

The US pricing of Vitus Audio products is set by AVA Group.. Not by me.. Therefore the claims PEABODY is making are baseless.

Vitus when making the announcement (which is a first by a company to make an announcement while terminating a distributor) clearly stated that they will announce a new partner shortly.. Therefore as a hobbyist, I am expecting them to sign a new distributor.. not going direct... but who knows...


I have few questions for Peabody.. how exactly not having a distributor is saving money for the manufacturer?

who do you think pays for advertising? manufacturer or distributor?
who do you think pays for the shows? manufacturer or distributor?
who do you think pays for banners? manufacturer or distributor?
who do you think pays for shipping gear all around the country to dealers and shows? manufacturer or distributor?
do you think that the manufacturer loans the gear at the shows or the distributor buys them ?

if your answers are manufacturer to the questions above, you are WRONG!!!!

the correct answer is Distributor.. now can you explain how the manufacturer gains by going direct? and save money?
please do not make false statements like these without really understanding how it works.


as for a distributors job, we have serviced "all Vitus" products even the ones that were imported before our time.. no questions asked.. I dont know how many distributors do that?

We even had a loaner amp that we shipped around the country to any Vitus owner if and when they experienced any issues with their extremely old Vitus gear.. like loaner car.. I don't how many distributors do that...

we didn't want to have too many dealers as we wanted a personalized service for all our clients.. you are right that the number of dealers should have been more, but personalized service to the end client was much more important for us..
to give you some examples
.. if a dealer of mine asks for my help for a set of Vitus gear for their clients, I flew to all those dealers' client's houses for free and helped with set up... I carried (with the help of 3 movers who were useless) 375lbs of Masterpiece Stereo Amp to a second-floor listening room... I rented a truck to hand deliver that piece on behalf of my dealer.. You might have seen pictures of me on the floor connecting amps to a dealer's client systems..

all of above and many more are to give a full 360-degree satisfaction to the client. We treat all our brands the same way.. you get the same treatment if you buy Thrax Hifistay Lansche Albedo Hemingway or SIN Audio boutique products from our dealers. Not to mention that we have established a fully authorized service center here in the US for Thrax Audio and have our technician take care of warranty, out-of-warranty, upgrades etc all in-house... I wish every brand is as supportive as Thrax Audio and allowed us to set up our own service center which is a must in my view for European brands.

All the best

Oz

Home - High End by Oz
 
Highendbyoz said:
Hi all,

seems like I have to make some clarifications..

The US pricing of Vitus Audio products is set by AVA Group.. Not by me.. Therefore the claims PEABODY is making are baseless.

Vitus when making the announcement (which is a first by a company to make an announcement while terminating a distributor) clearly stated that they will announce a new partner shortly.. Therefore as a hobbyist, I am expecting them to sign a new distributor.. not going direct... but who knows...


I have few questions for Peabody.. how exactly not having a distributor is saving money for the manufacturer?

who do you think pays for advertising? manufacturer or distributor?
who do you think pays for the shows? manufacturer or distributor?
who do you think pays for banners? manufacturer or distributor?
who do you think pays for shipping gear all around the country to dealers and shows? manufacturer or distributor?
do you think that the manufacturer loans the gear at the shows or the distributor buys them ?

if your answers are manufacturer to the questions above, you are WRONG!!!!

the correct answer is Distributor.. now can you explain how the manufacturer gains by going direct? and save money?
please do not make false statements like these without really understanding how it works.


as for a distributors job, we have serviced "all Vitus" products even the ones that were imported before our time.. no questions asked.. I dont know how many distributors do that?

We even had a loaner amp that we shipped around the country to any Vitus owner if and when they experienced any issues with their extremely old Vitus gear.. like loaner car.. I don't how many distributors do that...

we didn't want to have too many dealers as we wanted a personalized service for all our clients.. you are right that the number of dealers should have been more, but personalized service to the end client was much more important for us..
to give you some examples
.. if a dealer of mine asks for my help for a set of Vitus gear for their clients, I flew to all those dealers' client's houses for free and helped with set up... I carried (with the help of 3 movers who were useless) 375lbs of Masterpiece Stereo Amp to a second-floor listening room... I rented a truck to hand deliver that piece on behalf of my dealer.. You might have seen pictures of me on the floor connecting amps to a dealer's client systems..

all of above and many more are to give a full 360-degree satisfaction to the client. We treat all our brands the same way.. you get the same treatment if you buy Thrax Hifistay Lansche Albedo Hemingway or SIN Audio boutique products from our dealers. Not to mention that we have established a fully authorized service center here in the US for Thrax Audio and have our technician take care of warranty, out-of-warranty, upgrades etc all in-house... I wish every brand is as supportive as Thrax Audio and allowed us to set up our own service center which is a must in my view for European brands.

All the best

Oz

Home - High End by Oz
Click to expand...

Thank you for coming here and updating us.

I have no dog in this fight as I don't own Vitus nor have anything negative towards them, but I will say based on what you outlined and what I've read elsewhere about you setting up a service center and such, I can't imagine an owner or dealer being able to get a higher level of support than what you offered.

I wish you the best with your next steps!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top