Best dealer I ever knew was Stewart Marcantoni of Weekend Environments. Stewart was one of those guys who never really cared about much besides audio. One of the hardest things about this is how the very best stuff is so scarce and scattered around the world. Stewart spent all his free time flying around buying and trying. A flippers flipper. Until his wife said look this is all you're doing why not do it as a business?
I met Stewart when he was moving out to Washington from the east coast. He drove cross country in a mini-van packed full of gear. Not straight across, but zig-zagging from one customer to another! Still a lot of stuff in there by the time he got to me at the end of the line. Whole lot of stuff I never heard of back then- Synergistic Research, Aronov, bunch of stuff I'm forgetting as this was nearly 30 years ago.
Ordinarily the extra stuff would turn out to be crap. But Stewart was no ordinary dealer. I told him only interested in a pre-amp. Stewart brought in an amazingly good pre-amp. But then he said might want to try this Aronov integrated. Which turned out seriously good. Not only better, but cheaper. Even before factoring in interconnect. I could sell my amp, buy the Aronov, now I don't need a pre-amp, or interconnect, or power cord... and even have money left over.
Everything Stewart brought in was like that. Speaker cable. Interconnects. CD player. Every single one not only better than what I had (which, let's face it, there is always better) but cheaper too! And not only cheaper, but cheaper enough I could sell what I had and buy what Stewart had and have money left over! How often does that happen?
About as often as you find a dealer with more knowledge and better ears and greater customer service than Stewart. Which is to say, never.
Stewart set up shop in the daylight basement of a custom home on the shore of a nice little lake out by Bremerton. No ads, just a small website. Residential area. You could get further out, but not by much. By appointment. Always seemed to have people flying in from all over. They came because of the reputation Stewart had for finding the best sounding gear for the money. I don't recall him ever carrying any of the really big name brands. Only the really good stuff.
Way back when most people still questioned whether cables really made any difference Stewart demo'd a system with more money in cables and conditioners than amp, source and speakers. Twice more. Caelin lived nearby and would bring his newest Shunyata cables over for Stewart to compare. One time he's all excited, got some power cord he's gonna sell for $500. What do you think? Stewart didn't say a word. Just said here try this one. Caelin was impressed. What's that one retail for? $750? $1000?
That one goes for $300. Oh. Back to the drawing board.
Golden ears. Encyclopedic knowledge. All the best components. Connections. Leading edge. Value. And I haven't even touched on acoustics, tweaks, setup, ability to help anyone of any interest at any budget. Totally unfair, but Stewart was my standard for what a dealer should be.
Sad to say Stewart retired a few years ago. Wish there were more like him.
I met Stewart when he was moving out to Washington from the east coast. He drove cross country in a mini-van packed full of gear. Not straight across, but zig-zagging from one customer to another! Still a lot of stuff in there by the time he got to me at the end of the line. Whole lot of stuff I never heard of back then- Synergistic Research, Aronov, bunch of stuff I'm forgetting as this was nearly 30 years ago.
Ordinarily the extra stuff would turn out to be crap. But Stewart was no ordinary dealer. I told him only interested in a pre-amp. Stewart brought in an amazingly good pre-amp. But then he said might want to try this Aronov integrated. Which turned out seriously good. Not only better, but cheaper. Even before factoring in interconnect. I could sell my amp, buy the Aronov, now I don't need a pre-amp, or interconnect, or power cord... and even have money left over.
Everything Stewart brought in was like that. Speaker cable. Interconnects. CD player. Every single one not only better than what I had (which, let's face it, there is always better) but cheaper too! And not only cheaper, but cheaper enough I could sell what I had and buy what Stewart had and have money left over! How often does that happen?
About as often as you find a dealer with more knowledge and better ears and greater customer service than Stewart. Which is to say, never.
Stewart set up shop in the daylight basement of a custom home on the shore of a nice little lake out by Bremerton. No ads, just a small website. Residential area. You could get further out, but not by much. By appointment. Always seemed to have people flying in from all over. They came because of the reputation Stewart had for finding the best sounding gear for the money. I don't recall him ever carrying any of the really big name brands. Only the really good stuff.
Way back when most people still questioned whether cables really made any difference Stewart demo'd a system with more money in cables and conditioners than amp, source and speakers. Twice more. Caelin lived nearby and would bring his newest Shunyata cables over for Stewart to compare. One time he's all excited, got some power cord he's gonna sell for $500. What do you think? Stewart didn't say a word. Just said here try this one. Caelin was impressed. What's that one retail for? $750? $1000?
That one goes for $300. Oh. Back to the drawing board.
Golden ears. Encyclopedic knowledge. All the best components. Connections. Leading edge. Value. And I haven't even touched on acoustics, tweaks, setup, ability to help anyone of any interest at any budget. Totally unfair, but Stewart was my standard for what a dealer should be.
Sad to say Stewart retired a few years ago. Wish there were more like him.