Dolphin Music / UK online supplier

ZV Yoda

Hi folks,

Not really sure if I'm allowed ask this on the forum, but does anybody have experience of using these guys? Not a whole lot of info about them from searching the forum.

They're a lot more competitive than Thomann (for what I'm looking for anyway - thank God for weak Sterling!).

Just wanted to see if any of you had any experience using them.

Thanks

cornbb

I bought some monitors from them via their ebay shop a few years ago, it was a trouble free experience from what I can remember.

James Hunt

Bought stuff from them a few times....dealt with a decent enough bloke called Andy.

On the plus side, they'll do a deal on the price if you put something reasonable to them - on the downside, it took ages for the stuff to arrive, a couple of weeks and over a month in one case, even though they take the money straight away. So much of a delay in fact, that the prices had actually dropped on other sites by the time the stuff was delivered.

They're reasonable enough I've found, but make sure they have the thing in stock that day. I would use them again, but only if they had it in stock, as I say.

eoin5

I got a couple of valves from them. I had no problems and it was a quick delivery.

ZV Yoda

OK, thanks for the feedback - will bear the "in stock today" thing in mind.

af_thefragile

I got some stuff off them twice.
They take time to process your order sometimes. They sometimes ask you to send them somesorta proof of your address to them and they don't process the order until they get that.
Usually takes about a week to get the delivery.

So yeah, they're not the smoothest of suppliers. But they're reliable and you'll get your stuff in good condition...eventually!

Helix

bought a few things from them meself, never had any bothe

theyre very good, and with the pound as weak as it is its a great time to buy from them

PaulBrewer

With the pound weak it's a great time to buy locally too. Most gear comes in through UK, so haggle!

Feelgood

From a customer service point of view they are great, delivery is fine etc.

I bought a Yamaha Bass off them a while back and the neck was warped - brand new, called them and they said I would have to send it back but that I have to pay for shipping which I think worked out at around £70 at the time, just to ship it back. I think the bass was in or around £100 so it wasn't worth the hassle of sending it back.

I also bought an M-Audio Audiophile off them, after 12 months the power supply burnt out and blew the whole card, just out of warranty too. Maybe its just that I have been unlucky though both items I bought from them are fcuked...

Can't fault them on customer service and their decent prices, but I reckon a lot of their stuff is B-Stock, would stick with Thomann...

alan.com

I bought an orange rocker 30 combo from them and some other smaller stuff couple months back, as they were cheaper than everywhere else. When I ordered they didnt have the amp in stock, but they got one from orange for me real quick. No complaints!!

Helix

PaulBrewer wrote: »

With the pound weak it's a great time to buy locally too. Most gear comes in through UK, so haggle!

there arent many places wholl drop list prices tho unless youre spending a lot in the one go

personally i wont buy anything that costs more than 200 quid in ireland

PaulBrewer

Helix wrote: »

there arent many places wholl drop list prices tho unless youre spending a lot in the one go

personally i wont buy anything that costs more than 200 quid in ireland

We compute our prices from what we pay for the product, usually in STG £ - so taking it the Manufacturer hasn't changed pricing in the meantime the currency advantage means you should pay less now than last year.

ev612337

As someone involved in the pro audio industry for nearly 20 years I'd advise speaking to the local dealers. As per the advice of Brewer.

I'm at the cold face of troubleshooting and problem solving and there's no doubt about it, you are better off being a consumer with a problem when you've bought from an Irish based retailer.

While nobody likes to think about the reality that equipment can let you down, there's no doubt that being the victim of problems is a much more pleasant experience when you've the support, advice and backup of an Irish pro audio dealer.

I'm not a pro audio dealer BTW, but I work with or am recommended by them nationally and it's something well worth consideration when contemplating a purchase these days because price really is not always everything.

Good luck with your equipment choice and I hope you can find a local source.

ZV Yoda

Hi ev612337,

Good point on the local support... however there is a trade off to be made on purchase price vs. support. If there was a small difference (say 10% or less), then I'd happily opt for a local supplier.

The gear I bought online via Dolphin cost €2500. The same order was €3000 via Thomann, and based on the online Irish retail prices I found on a couple of websites, it was €3500.

So, I made a call that (based on a 40%/€1000 saving) I was prepared to take the risk & go with a UK supplier. I still have the same warranty support, but I'll just have to eat the additional shipping costs if something goes wrong. Given that I saved €1000, that's a lot of shipping.

It all boils down to basic economies of scale. I'm not suggesting that Irish suppliers are out to rip people off, but the bottom line is that the Irish market is smaller and basic overheads are higher for retailers. They struggle with the lower market size and higher costs. This means they will always struggle competitively with international sellers. Irish retailers can only really compete on service (not cost), so that's the trade off.

PaulBrewer

You didn't ask me now did you?:) I could safely say I'd NEVER be 10% dearer than the UK.

Usually I can match or beat Euro prices.

Only this week I had a customer who had a Genelec 8050 go down. He called me, I got him a replacement next day and his own speaker will be fixed shortly.

Also this week I have another customer who wants two Manley valve units serviced. I've booked him his service with the manufacturers and am giving him 2 replacement units til his return.

Dolphins are nice mammals both won't do that for you!

Guys go on about Irish prices being bad - How do you know if you don't ask?

ZV Yoda

Hi Paul,

You make a fair point about not contacting you. I would of course prefer to source locally, but I did initially contact & do web research with Irish suppliers... on the Projectmix (which I got for €973) Sound on Sound wanted €1449.. that's a 49% difference:eek:. Musicmaker couldn’t give me a price upfront (why is that?:rolleyes:) but when they called me back (a few days later), they quoted €1400.

On the iMac, Apple.ie / 3G both wanted €1200... I got this from Dolphin at €1050... a 14% saving.

As a result, I (possibly wrongly) made a sweeping assumption early on in my research that I needed to look abroad for competitive prices. UK was the obvious choice with a rate of €1.30 / £1. I can go online, get a realistic list price (and in the case of Dolphin) submit a request for quote if I’m spending a few quid. They came back with a further 5% reduction and scrubbed the shipping costs.

Also, it’s been mentioned a couple of times before that Irish retailers can match non-Irish vendors… if that is the case, why do they list their product at such a high price to begin with? I’ve been buying stuff in Irish shops for nigh on 20 years, and without fail, I manage to haggle the price down (Musicmaker in particular for drums). This type of practice only leads me to believe that (at least some) Irish retailers list at an exorbitant price.

It’s only since ecommerce has become mainstream that Irish retailers have any real competition. It’s chicken & egg. A generalisation I know (and not directed at you) but you get the point. If I’m in the market for something, I expect that the list price is the price (more or less). If Irish retailers list too high, then folks like me (on a budget) will choose to haggle with retailers who list at a lower price initially.

I am also in the market for drum mics (per my earlier posts) so I'll give you a shout on those... I may be able to drop in to you tomorrow. How does that sound?

PaulBrewer

ZV Yoda wrote: »

Hi Paul,

You make a fair point about not contacting you. I would of course prefer to source locally, but I did initially contact & do web research with Irish suppliers... on the Projectmix (which I got for €973) Sound on Sound wanted €1449.. that's a 49% difference:eek:. Musicmaker couldn’t give me a price upfront (why is that?:rolleyes:) but when they called me back (a few days later), they quoted €1400.

On the iMac, Apple.ie / 3G both wanted €1200... I got this from Dolphin at €1050... a 14% saving.

As a result, I (possibly wrongly) made a sweeping assumption early on in my research that I needed to look abroad for competitive prices. UK was the obvious choice with a rate of €1.30 / £1. I can go online, get a realistic list price (and in the case of Dolphin) submit a request for quote if I’m spending a few quid. They came back with a further 5% reduction and scrubbed the shipping costs.

Also, it’s been mentioned a couple of times before that Irish retailers can match non-Irish vendors… if that is the case, why do they list their product at such a high price to begin with? I’ve been buying stuff in Irish shops for nigh on 20 years, and without fail, I manage to haggle the price down (Musicmaker in particular for drums). This type of practice only leads me to believe that (at least some) Irish retailers list at an exorbitant price.

It’s only since ecommerce has become mainstream that Irish retailers have any real competition. It’s chicken & egg. A generalisation I know (and not directed at you) but you get the point. If I’m in the market for something, I expect that the list price is the price (more or less). If Irish retailers list too high, then folks like me (on a budget) will choose to haggle with retailers who list at a lower price initially.

I am also in the market for drum mics (per my earlier posts) so I'll give you a shout on those... I may be able to drop in to you tomorrow. How does that sound?

I agree that a lot of Irish retailers don't compete!

I compute a price on what I pay for it so that negates the currency difference i.e. when the £ drops so do my prices.

However there'll always be a better price somewhere and if that's the only issue then your likelihood of any support at all afterwards is slim - but perhaps you can accept that, and that's fair enough!

If I was shopping I'd be rounding up the cheapest internationally and then presenting that to Irish guys, you then have the best of both worlds.... a good deal and some one to lean on if you need to.

I don't bother with the cheap and cheerful stuff as there's a zillion places to buy it and I get no enjoyment out of supplying average equipment to people who don't really understand what they're buying.
(that's not a criticism - it's a fact!)

So the bottom line is - give us a yell and let us help you! We know stuff!

ZV Yoda

Hi Paul... just sent you a PM