crane oceana - 650 on web.. 500 in richer sounds?

[phoTToniq]

Hi - I was confused today when I saw what looked EXACTLY like a set of Crane Audio Oceana speakers in Richer sounds. They were rebadged but the speakers looked exactly the same - very distinctive. The funny bit was that instead of being the 650 they are on the crane audio web site, these ones were 500 pounds. According to Crane their speakers should cost twice as much in shops and they keep the price down by selling direct. Instead these seem to be cheaper.

Are they the same drivers etc I wonder. The guy in the shop seemed to think so. I know that Chris Crane reads the forum so I am hoping he will reply.

phoTToniq.

 

The speakers in Richer Sounds are badged Synn, who are a Belgian company. They have decided to list a small quantity of these on the back of our successful reviews and advertising campaign (as I've discovered from one of their managers, who also told me ours were £900 in comparison, which was misleading).

As many well known leading speaker brands do, Crane Audio has taken an existing design and altered it for the UK market. Richer Sounds have 'grey imported' the Synn version of our speakers, which among other things do not have a bi-wiring facility as ours do.

We are very surprised at the price point RS have chosen, and can only assume they hold the product in little value and are treating it as a 'loss leader'. However, it should be remebered that RS often sell at huge discounts over normal list prices, as any of their adverts will show.
Our price of £649 is indeed much lower than the normal high street price (not discount clearance stores), as there is no dealer margin to pay.
We believe that the Oceana is sufficiently different to the grey import, and that the £649 price offers excellent value to our customers.