I would like to contribute to the discussion about Dave, the “Audio Doctor.” I live in California but, after many phone conversations and texts where he provided advice about my system with no promise of any return, we decided a trip here from New Jersey would be worthwhile and worked out an arrangement. Dave brought a lot of accessories for me to audition. First, we repositioned my speakers (KEF Reference 5s), which really improved the sound. We tried a DAC (Aqua) to compare with my current Auralic Vega (first generation), wireworld interconnects and several other things. I already had purchased an Innuous Zenith server from Dave and we set that up. Dave was very enthusiastic about my speakers (which he sells but I already had purchased elsewhere) and my electronics (Audio Research amp, pre amp, phono stage) and never suggested buying new ones.
At no point did I feel he was pressuring me or trying to sell me something just to make a sale. My system is definitely sounding better now and I may move ahead with some other improvements he recommended. Of course, Dave is in the audio business and makes his livelihood that way but I think he was genuinely interested in helping me get better sound. I know that some have objected to him and other dealers posting on this board. Personally, I have found his postings very helpful. Those who don’t can always skip over them—no one is forcing you to read anything.
Finally, I met Dave for the first time when he came here and have no connection other than as a recent customer.
Stereo5, we are actually interested in being Technics dealers for the turntable which we too thought was wonderful and has nothing in common with the original SL 1200 series other than the look, also the Technics monitors are really good.
I have no doubt that the Technics is a better table than the VPI, as the machining and tolerances on the Technics are fantastic.
As per Golden Ear we finally got a decent demo of the Triton Reference at the New York audio show by Sandy himself and we are entertaining bringing in the line especially for the fact that the Triton 3 are great for the starter home theater buyer.
Thank you again for your nice comments and if there is anything we can do to assist you getting better results out of your system please feel free to PM us.
Please check out the Critical Mass Center Stage Footers they are amazing, not inexpensive but mind blowing in how effective they are.
I LOVE it! I love playing vinyl again and I have played close to 300 records since I got it. I had the Prime 1.5 years and played less than 20 records. I needed an easy to operate TT so my wife would play her vinyl again as well. She is really into it now and that makes me happy. I thought I would be sacrificing sound quality but I must say (dare I), it is better than the Prime in the sound quality that I like. I am not knocking VPI as I owned 3 different models in the past (HW19 MK4 with RB300 arm, Scout & Prime), but this Technics gives me so much more musical enjoyment. I don’t have to fiddle with it, just put the record on and play.
Ever since the Teleportation Tweak I find trips to customers’ homes completely unnecessary. No shipping costs and no per diem costs. It’s a win win. Shop smart. Let quantum mechanics do all the work.
Bravo! You are one of the high end retailers who really care and will go the extra mile for your customer. I don't care if you self promote or not but I always learn something when you post. You have to understand there are a some mean spirited people on the forums and I have learned to stay away from them.
A certain group of people chastised me because I was excited about a couple of particular components I had recently purchased and wrote about them. One was a Technics SL1200G which I bought in August and I was told by members here I was bragging, more interested in the gear instead of music because I don't want to modify it and lots of other mean words. When I posted my excitement of just having received my GE Triton Refs after waiting very impatiently for 7 months, was told it is cheap Chinese junk.
All I can say is don't let the naysayers wear you down. If I am ever interested in an item that you sell, you can bet your life I will think of you first.
Tomic it has nothing to do with Alma, it had to do with our gracious offer of doing a full system setup and tuning session for free if the client paid for our expenses, plus a few other reasons as noted below.
Alma audio is an 8 hour drive from San Francisco, the distance is rather long, San Diego might as well as be in a different state from San Franciso.
Also Brownsf reached out to us with specific questions based on reading our posts and being a full line KEF dealer with experience with his KEF Reference 5, which started the process and we also gave him a nice trade in on an older Naim serer which Alma may or may not have done, the bigger of the two distinctions is we are KEF dealers, and Alma is not.
Would have Alma packed up a giant assortment of tuning products: Isoacoustics footers, Stein Harmonizers, Acoustic System resonators, Audio Magic power conditioner, Isotek Syncro power cord, Wireworld interconnects, Audioquest Power cabling, does Alma even sell all of those products?
Lastly how much experience does Alma have in system tuning?
Just because you sell expensive gear doesn't mean you have the experience to tune a system correctly.
We personally like Alma and have nothing but respect for them, in Brownsf's opinion we were the best place to assist him in his quest to get his KEF Ref 5 sounding great.
Gpgrblu, even in the face of numerous clients having more then positive experiences with us, your negativity is a wonderful example of how petty some people truly are.
It is not a matter of self promotion facts are the facts either we deliver on creating superior sound and our products are tools we use to do so, good luck to you.
Hifiman, there is a fine line between promoting your products for the sake of promoting your products and the possibility that said product in discussion is being offered as being perhaps a better or well suited product for that person.
You will note that when we discuss products that we carry in a post we tailor the product we are suggesting to the discussion, this is very different than many posters who are always suggesting the same product in every situation.
We carry many different loudspeakers, Kef, Quad, Elac, Paradigm, Dali, Legacy, ATC, and a few others for that very reason. Each person has an idea of what they are looking for which includes, finish, bass output, total spl output, resolution, imaging, etc.
In one contentious thread Troy our weekend help, mentioned how the Persona 9H sounded fantastic in a small hotel room because it has room correction and that speaker was $30k less expensive than the other set of loudspeakers the gentleman was considering.
Boy did we hear all sorts of nasty comments from people who said we were trolling a "Wilson thread."
Hifiman we can all learn from one another we just picked up the best vibration/isolation product we have ever tested because one of our clients was raving over it.
If we didn’t have an open mind we would never have gotten to the Critical Mass Center Stage footers which are just plain amazing!
So Hifiman don’t judge an Audio Doctor by just what you’ve gleaned on a forum.
Having read all of the previous posts about the Audio Doctor, I took a lot of the concern to be that it seemed they used Audiogon to advertise their wares in the middle of threads about equipment. I am not a fan of that practice as A'gon should be for enthusiasts to discuss relevant audio issues without self-serving dealers chiming in to promote their wares. Not an accusation from me, rather an observation of previous posts regarding them.
I'm glad to hear you had a positive experience! It's always beneficial to the community to share positive interactions such as your's. Thanks for posting!
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