It isn't a racket-the manufacturer 'authorizes' dealers that have been trained to understand their product, how it should be configured and installed, and what applications it is good for. It also allows the manufacturer to ensure that a certain quality of person/store is representing their product. For a brand like Rotel they don't want a minimum wage kid at Circuit City selling their gear. The kid may not appreciate the difference between the $300 Sony and the $1300 Rotel with similar bullet points next to the price tag. Furthermore, the manufacturer has no way of verifying that the unit wasn' used as a demo unit or a resold DOA unit.

Bernard, it could involve a legal hassle, but the lack of an applicable written warranty doesn't absolve a manufacturer from being responsible for the condition of its products. There are implied(unwritten)warranties of merchantability that require products to work for their designed purpose for a reasonable period of time.

Drunken: it is a racket!!!! How do you think that the "unauthorized" etailer get the gear in the first place? They get it directly from the manufacturers!!! How do I know, I called several and asked them where they get their units.

What makes you think that the salesmen at speciality stores are any smarter than the salesmen at CC or BB? Really don't think that is a fundamental issue!

John: I agree, but who really has the time and money to file law suits? Of course, I would like to see some (many?) do it and change this crap!!

If I wanted to create a respected speaker brand one of the first things I would make sure I did was be very selective about where my product was sold. To discourage people that didn't meet my standards limiting the warranty would be a great way to make it really hard for the people I didn't want selling my product to be competitive. Protecting a brand name can be a very delicate business. And while I know that there are idiots in every store, if you go to the custom shops I think the odds are higher that you'll find someone at least familiar with the terminology. Those shops live and die by referrals, and if they don't deliver something that their customers are happy with they'll go out of business. That's why you'll never see a kid working at a place like that in the same way that you'll never see Paradigm for sale at Circuit City.