Thanks for everyone's input so far. I certainly agree with going with a reputable dealer. I'm just trying to figure out if it's necessary to go with an authorized dealer. For example, the home technology company that's installing my low-voltage prewiring quoted me a price (in this case, it was MSRP) for a Denon receiver, even though they're not an official authorized dealer according to Denon's website. The company is contracted by my home builder for dozens of other houses, so I don't believe the company is a shady fly-by-night gig, and they're authorized for certain other brands (like LG). Obviously, I wouldn't go with them because I could (a) get it for the same price from an authorized dealer, or (b) pay less if I was willing to risk an authorized one. I just wanted to make the point that there are reputable unauthorized dealers. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the extra cost to go with an authorized dealer.
I guess that, indirectly, I'm looking for opinions about the reliability of higher-end audio equipment and trying to gauge the likelihood that I'll need to use that warranty. As a point of comparison, I'm fairly comfortable with computer components and have no problem buying an OEM CPU (one that comes without a fan or manufacturer's warranty), relying on the reseller's return policy and warranty instead. I know that if the CPU is a lemon, I'd find out fairly quickly and how to do so. Same thing for video cards, RAM, etc. However, I don't have the same sense about audio equipment b/c I'm new to the field.
Any other thoughts or opinions?
