Aries Cerat


Im curious if anyone here in the US has actually ordered a piece of gear from this Aries Cerat, which is based out of Cyprus.  I was quoted a price for a Dac which as it turns out after special shipping and "handling" is almost doubled the list price.  Is this normal? And if so, how do smaller companies such as Lampizator and the recent "giant killer", Lab 12 Dac manage to import to the US at a much lower cost.  
128x128redphu72
Go to whatsbestforum, they have an entire thread for Aries, the owner, designer is a frequent contributor.
I read about the Kassandra on that forum. Coming here to do some fact checking. 
There is a US importer, Beyond HiFi. He's in Austin. I would reach out to him. His name is Joshua.
Yes thanks.  Im checking to to if there's anyone on here who's actually ordered a Kassandra unit and has first hand experience with the unit.  
Well just a heads up for anyone interested in Aries Cerat products.  On the official website, there is pricing for the NON US market.  With shipping and handling fees, the item pretty much doubles in price.  For example, the Kassandra Dac lists for 18000 Euros and the importer quoted me $35K us.  Oh if you're interested theres a demo Kassandra for sale:

From Josh IMPORTER:

The unit is 3 years old and I would rate it 7/10 due to some niks here and there cosmetically and the many demos and shows it has been to. It is the Ref II model and will not come with a warranty. No service or updates needed just occasional replacement of tubes when they burn out and a rebias every 6-12 months. Wasn't planning to sell it but I don't to show the demo any longer since it doesnt have the bias meters and grounding post that all units now come with.

Demo unit would be 25k and I should have its replacement in 2 months.

NEW KASSANDRA:

!8k Euro is retail non US price. It is not a simple online conversion calculator. Tax, duties, shipping, bank % overhead on wires plus their fees, etc. 35k is the price retail here in the US.

Josh will be on hand at RMAF if you want.  


I have experience with the Kassandra, but not enough to go in depth. I've heard it at the home of the distributor, as he's here in Austin and part of the local audio group.