Most economical way to ship large speakers?

I shipped speakers I had bought across country using a moving company. They were in three large crates that totalled 1100 lbs.  so no other method would have been as good/economical.

Definitely ground freight. They go on their own individual crate that way. 

I'm in the middle of moving to Hawaii.  I packed my floor standing loudspeakers by first wrapping them in the large plastic wrap you get from OfficeMax.  Then adding a couple layers of bubble wrap.  Then I put each of them in a wardrobe carton and filled in the rest of the space with styrofoam popcorn.

That doesn't answer the question of what shipper to use, but I'll bet a lot of you have some good floor standing loudspeakers without packing.  That's how I'm doing it.  Not hard to do with readily available materials.

@jnovak , if you shipped with Saia Motor Freight and you received your goods undamaged then you are one very lucky man, they are no better than Estes. I retired from Saia 9 years ago after 25 years driving line haul for them and never shipped anything audio related with them, they just aren't geared for delicate gear. I did buy my Harleys (3 different times) in Lubbock Texas and loaded them myself on the back of a half loaded trailer that I pulled back to Houston and removed them myself after bumping the dock. Don't mean to come down so hard on the company that fed my family for 25 years but they just aren't geared for that, but do very well for their niche. Enjoy the music

I just shipped some Von Schweikert speakers that were 500lbs total. i used one of the moving companies shipping sections. they came picked them up put them on a pallet and took them away. moved from the west coast to Toronto (3000km approx.) for $480 insured (Canadian$). they were half the cost of any of the other shippers I normally use like UPS air freight etc. they arrived two week later in prefect shape. 

I just requested a quote from Uship. I didn't realize that it's just a clearing house for shippers. I assumed that they WERE the shippers.

How economical you want to be isn't worth the cost if the speakers arrive damaged. Its worth to extra cost to make sure they arrive safe and sound. I'll be going palletized from here on out since FedEx doesn't stand behind their insurance. 

Another vote for U Ship! I shipped an 800 pound set of Snell Type A 5's from Pennsylvania to California. It cost the buyer $800.00; a fraction of what other shippers wanted. More importantly is the fact that the hauler was an independent guy (this could be good or bad). He showed up at my house at midnight in January. It was freezing! He had a 30 foot trailer that pulled with a pick up truck. I was leery of this set up BUT he strapped the five cartons to the sidewall of the trailer and they didn't leave that spot until the delivery destination. That's important as most damage happens when cross docking. They arrived in excellent condition! The hauler did have all paperwork necessary as required by U Ship.

   If you're going to use a trucking company, consider SAIA Trucking. They did an excellent job getting a set of speakers to me that were poorly packed. The shipper didn't put ANY padding on the bottom of the speakers! Still, perfect delivery! AVOID truckers like ESTES. I think they hire gorillas to move their pallets. Also up for consideration is a third party freight broker. The right one can make life easy. I use ECHO Global Logistics. My sales rep is Elizabeth Walker. She's a gem. Good luck. Joe

I would find out who companies like Rockport ,Magico and other high end speaker companies use and go with one of them. Good luck !

If you must ship them make sure they are strapped to pallets and use a highly rated freight company. Stay away from UPS (and FedEx) like kryptonite. They will be rough with your speakers and if they get damaged their claims department is WORST to deal with. They will give you the run around for months and then find any excuse to not pay the claim. I speak from experience.

I recently ordered some speakers (Focal Auria 926) via an Audiogon purchase.

We (seller and I) decided to ship via Team Worldwide for a few reasons:

1. Care and hand delivery.

2. Full insurance.

3. Neither of us trusted Fedex Home delivery, UPS etc. to be honest.

4. Cost wasn’t tremendously more for the above reasons (and given price of speakers). ~$400.

They arrived on a pallet, shrink-wrapped and took care in delivering them to my front door - felt I got white glove delivery when they arrived. And they were in pristine condition. 

Personally I felt the shipping cost was worth my peace of mind.

Perhaps food for thought.

=- Michael

Appreciate to all for taking time to respond to my inquiry, they surely are very valuable for any future shipment. For this time I decided to go w/ UPS. After numerous times doing business w/ them, my first claim happened last year which took over 2 months for them to pay my claim. Funny is how quickly businesses take our money but when come to their mistakes the make us jump through hoops.

Again thanks and best regards,

CD

When I bought my JBL L300 from the east coast the seller used Forward Freight.

They were pallatized and I had to pay more to get them delivered from LAX.

Pick up only , if in New England or big city by far the best way to go 

prices are out of hand in both ups may be a little cheaper 

you did not say ,stand mount ,or floor stand ,and size, weight ,weight is where it gets costly 80 lb each speakers , can go vary greatly 

if you are on the east coast ,how far ? East to west coast $600

if on a pallet a trucking company  where speaker is going, size and weight .

 I work in the shipping industry as a truck driver. I assure you that you will find some shipping options cheaper than others.  I can also assure you that the cheapest ones are most likely to destroy your freight. They will probably even give you a hard time when you file a damage claim. I would talk to some freight brokers at length, discussing not just shipping cost, but also insurance, willingness to honor a damage claim, reputation etc.  I myself will not offer my opinions on who to use. That would make too many people in my field unhappy. You want absolutely guaranteed damage free delivery? Rent a trailer or a small truck.

UPS will pick them up from your house....pack them well and track them

Agree with above advice, try UShip. I had an awkward pair of Dahlquist DQ-10s brought from Chicago to Tulsa for half what others were charging. 

I used Uship to deliver my Vandy 3a sigs. It was easy to set up and the delivery went smoothly.

Bob

Dealers seem to pay way less than whatever I find on multiple sites.  I have heard Parcel Monkey but not used personally.  If you are buying new from a dealer I would ask to purchase a shipping label from them.

When I shipped two big subs from Maryland to BC Canada, the buyer purchased the shipping and emailed me the label from FedEX and they picked them up from my garage!  

Reminds me of the quote by Trek Bicycle's Keith Bontrager - "strong, light, cheap, pick two" 

"Reliable and economical" are somewhat at odds with each other.  Any of the shippers are ok - until something goes wrong, then economical goes out the window.  If they are truly large (implied heavy) speakers, and especially if they are expensive, I would only ship them by strapping them to a pallet, or pallets, and using a reliable freight carrier.  FedEx has a freight division that I have used for large amplifiers (Lamm) that were strapped to pallets.  If for some reason you don't want to do that or it is too expensive, then at least double box with at least a couple of inches of polystyrene foam between the manufacturer's box and the outer box, if possible.

You could also look at Greyhound freight or an independent shipper from some place like UShip. 

Klipsch uses Old Dominion.