Struggling to spend 13k with three dealers

As others have suggested, I would call them.  You can hash out the deal within a couple of minutes that way and get the ball rolling.

Call John Rutan at Audio Connection in New Jersey.....he'll be responsive and make you smile.

Seriously, just checked a site that does only pre owned and they say they need two weeks to respond to provide a trade in quote...ridiculous- you can trade car in and drive out in two hours; you can buy a house in a day but our audio dealers can't return calls, can't develop quotes and need weeks to respond.

Some of this may be specific to the dealers in question, but I wonder how of it is a function of the general "pandemic economy."

Here in central NY, we have been getting callbacks for all manner of goods and services, even for previously reliable providers, or providers who text saying when to expect a call.

If supply chain issues mean you don't have stuff to sell (or have multiple buyers for every item), and labor issues mean you don't have services to provide, your incentive to communicate must diminish.

There's worse problems in the world, of course, but it is a drag. 

Others experiencing similar?

I never the less find it bizarre that when asking a dealer of Harbeth what they'd take a pair of mint rosewood HL5 super plus in for it's as if they've never heard of the model, ask for the description several times and stumble and hesitate as if they have no idea what they might sell for- meanwhile they've been a Harbeth dealer for years and are in fact a distributor too..."we'll call you in a few days after doing research'"...