DTC,
In the late 70's/early 80's I worked at some high shops in the DC area, when Yamaha was a mainstay line for many shops like the one I worked at.
Then Yamaha introduced a cheaper line of equipment, sold at department stores and our factory rep came by and gave us a primer on how to sell against that equipment. We all thought it was the beginning of the end of the "sweet spot" in the product lineup Yamaha dominated, and it was.
Sales people who are on straight commission at these high-end shops have it bad enough to educate their potential customers, oftentimes those customers take that education elsewhere and buy something cheaper, thinking they are getting the same quality. I remember a customer who took several hours of my time, bought a cheaper system from a low-end competitor, then had the audacity to visit me to see if I could figure out why there was all this hum coming from one of the speakers!
When McIntosh (and some other "exclusive" brands) started selling at Magnolia, I thought it was "deja vu all over again". I see that McIntosh is no longer at Magnolia, I suspect the business arrangement didn't work out. But I do see brands like NAD, and B&W, not a good sign for those brands.
Hey, this is a hobby. Some of you with your strong opinions one way or another sound like you are really angry that someone else doesn't agree with your opinions, my advice would be to "lighten up". If someone else wants to spend their hard-earned money on things you don't value, who cares?
In the late 70's/early 80's I worked at some high shops in the DC area, when Yamaha was a mainstay line for many shops like the one I worked at.
Then Yamaha introduced a cheaper line of equipment, sold at department stores and our factory rep came by and gave us a primer on how to sell against that equipment. We all thought it was the beginning of the end of the "sweet spot" in the product lineup Yamaha dominated, and it was.
Sales people who are on straight commission at these high-end shops have it bad enough to educate their potential customers, oftentimes those customers take that education elsewhere and buy something cheaper, thinking they are getting the same quality. I remember a customer who took several hours of my time, bought a cheaper system from a low-end competitor, then had the audacity to visit me to see if I could figure out why there was all this hum coming from one of the speakers!
When McIntosh (and some other "exclusive" brands) started selling at Magnolia, I thought it was "deja vu all over again". I see that McIntosh is no longer at Magnolia, I suspect the business arrangement didn't work out. But I do see brands like NAD, and B&W, not a good sign for those brands.
Hey, this is a hobby. Some of you with your strong opinions one way or another sound like you are really angry that someone else doesn't agree with your opinions, my advice would be to "lighten up". If someone else wants to spend their hard-earned money on things you don't value, who cares?