Hi all, I've been enjoying this site for a few months now and am quite impressed by the knowledge base here and general great manners shown in debates. I have been reading the Audio Circle Guidelines for Manufactureres, which we will be applying for as a site sponsor, it did say to introduce ourselves here, so here it is, as drafted by my partner Rachel (the smart partner
for an upcoming press release, I'll be happy to answer any questions:
Grant Fidelity – 'Now you can Afford to be an Audiophile'While the consumer goods market is flooded with “Made-in-China” low end products, Grant Fidelity, an Alberta business located in Calgary, brings the real high end audio from China to North America with a unique business model for affordable pricing.
Grant Fidelity has hand-picked three high end audio manufacturers in China to be their suppliers to service the North American high end audio market after their intensive business trip to China last year, visiting nearly a dozen factories, followed by 8 months of thorough product testing. Grant Fidelity products include Tube Amplifiers, a Tube Pre-Amp/Phono-stage, Tube CD players, a Tube DVD player, a Tube Processor, Speakers, Turntables, Cabling and Power. Complete ‘from the wall power plug’ audio systems.
What makes Grant Fidelity different from the other audio distributors is not only their value proposition, but also their unique distribution method.
Grant Fidelity distributes their high quality tube audio products at a very affordable price for consumers with an average-sized pay check. Their products are priced at about at least 1/3 to half less than the comparable North American or European brands and the quality is equal to or better. Grant Fidelity’s goal is to allow average consumers who have never had a chance to experience high fidelity audio due to the staggering price tags, to experience music the “Grant Fidelity way”.
Grant Fidelity also distributes their products through a unique mixture of retail dealers and product demonstrators. A Grant Fidelity Product Demonstrator is usually located outside of major urban centers and only carries a set of products for demonstration to local consumers. The Demonstrator, who has a love and knowledge of high end audio, doesn’t need to carry any Grant Fidelity stock and only needs to invest less than $5,000 to join the Grant Fidelity network. They help Grant Fidelity to reach out to more consumers with knowledge and service. When a Demonstrator generates a product sale, he or she will share the profit with Grant Fidelity from the sale. It is a win-win-win situation for Grant Fidelity, the Consumer, and the Demonstrator as the product will be visible to more customers, more affordable with little overhead and help some business-minded music lovers to start their own audio business.
The reason that Grant Fidelity chose to use dealer and demonstrator network is to differentiate Grant Fidelity from online stores but still offer Customers a high quality purchasing experience. Overtime, many Chinese made audio products have somehow found their way into the North American market through direct online sales. However, those online sellers are either located offshore, or people who have connections with China to purchase small stock for sale at heavily discounted price. The origin of such products is often hard to trace and consumers have no way to confirm if the products have been modified by unlicensed personnel or if they were designed and built for the North American market. If those products were originally made for consumption in China, more than likely that the parts inside are of lower quality than export orders and quality control during production is less stringent. Factory warranty of such products is often next to impossible to realize given the language barrier, customs procedures, high shipping charges between the two continents, and counterfeit products from a large grey market. Nearly all reputable Chinese manufacturers disclaim on their own websites that they have never authorized any online discount sales and they will not provide warranty to products if consumers cannot provide proof that such products were purchased from an authorized dealer.
For an English-speaking-only consumer in North America, trying to get warranty service on their purchase from the factory on their own is truly a “Mission Impossible”. The online sellers usually also take long time to respond to warranty request because their heavily discounted pricing doesn’t motivate them to take on such profit diminishing tasks. Even with all these potential hurdles, many consumers still risk their money to purchase online without seeing and auditioning the products, just being lured by the heavily discounted prices and reviews by a few lucky customers.
Grant Fidelity use their dealer and demonstrator network to allow consumer to “touch, see and hear” their products before purchase, taking out the guess factor of online purchase, and still enjoy the true good old ways of product warranty. Grant Fidelity even goes out of their way to provide a 10% rebate credit to consumers if the consumer won’t use the warranty service within the warranty period of time. If some products do need warranty service, Grant Fidelity will diagnose the problems in 72 hours and if the problems will take more than 72 hours to fix, Grant Fidelity will ship out a loaner or replacement unit to the customer while the unit is being repaired. As a Grant Fidelity customer, you will never be left without music for more than 72 hours plus shipping time. It is a “true peace of mind” impeccable warranty service.
After 10 months of retail sales totaling over $100,000, Grant Fidelity only has only two product returns which one appears to be caused by power surge during customer usage, the other caused by pulling on a twist lock interconnect, not the manufacturing quality.
“Now you can Afford to be an Audiophile” is Grant Fidelity’s slogan; it is also their contribution to the North American audio market. For a consumer, there is no more guessing on quality, no more sweating over warranty, just pure beautiful music at affordable price, thanks to the low labour costs in China.
Speaking of low labour costs, Grant Fidelity is very conscious not to purchase products from a factory that mistreats their workers. Between the two business partners for Grant Fidelity, Ian Grant is a real Canuck born and raised in Ontario; Rachel Zhang is born and raised in China but now resides in Canada. Ian has been involved in the pro audio recording industry for over 20 years. Rachel has been in the import/export business for over 15 years, speaking fluent Chinese and English. They both love to travel, doing business in both China and Canada and seeing customers’ smiles when they “touch, see and hear” a Grant Fidelity product. Rachel received her Master of Business Administration degree from University of Toronto – she likes to create and grow a business from ground up.
In a short period of 8 months since their return from China in July 2007, Grant Fidelity has signed up 4 dealers in Western Canada, one dealer in Western USA and 2 demonstrators – one in Southern Alberta and one south of the border, with many more under negotiation. They are actively seeking Dealers and Demonstrators across Canada and the United States to grow their unique audio distribution business.
Grant Fidelity is also working with North American Designers and Manufactures of High End Audio equipment for new Grant Fidelity products and to allow for their own product's distribution through our Grassroots Demonstrator/Dealer network and to penetrate the Chinese High-End Audio Market, which is the largest audio market in the world. Grant Fidelity has established deep ties with major distributors in China.
If you want to check out Grant Fidelity products, visit the website at
www.grantfidelity.com. You will find many happy customers on their forum and a friendly hands-on audio-nut, Ian Grant, to answer your emails and phone calls with great enthusiasm.
“Now you can Afford to be an Audiophile.”
Rachel
Hey, it's a marketing slogan, geared towards those that have never heard or owned a real audio system, no offence intended to establsihed audiophiles
I like Eye and Ear Candy as our slogan and try and get it wherever I can.
A simplified version of the above is that we have great gear at great prices that you can touch and feel or purchase online with confidence. We have possibly the best warranty in the business. We work with designers and manufactureres from both sides of the 'left' pond to bring you GF products that should make your music sound better.
WAF 101 - Dear, I can make money from all this gear (and cabling) in the living room !! Worked for me.Ian
