Upscale Audio and Primaluna

@femoore12 +1

@emergingsoul Primaluna doesn’t make speakers.

 

@fredcdobbs Maybe all audiophiles should band together and cease support for any country which oppresses dissent, makes missiles, builds bio weapons or forces workers to pay taxes. I think the Ivory Coast and New Zealand are safe.

Prima Luna, Upscale Audio and Kevin Deal are all terrific partners. The gear is wonderful and a terrific value. I dont presently own any but I could live happily ever after with a system from Upscale and Kevin. Over the past 20 years I have pirchased alot of tubes, accessories and gear from Kevin. He has always been honest and square and made things right whenever it was required. Jared is as well.

Buy from him or dont but he is a straight shooter. Ive heard through the years that he might be short if someone is looking for a conversation or a debate rather than advice or gear. YMMV

@rocray You are indeed correct, that is the right way to be a successful sales person. BUT, for the sake of the discussion, what if someone called their audio dealer and said "I have a Humperdink Integrated" and I am interested in a pair of the "XYZ Amazing speakers". What if the Humperdink is a marginal amp? Sure there are ways to say it better or more elegantly but the last thing we would want a reputable dealer to do is sell the speakers to the customer when there is no hope of driving them appropriately with the amp.


Maybe some of the problem is the person who takes it personally that they are trying to match something to an ill advised previous purchase. Talk to enough audio dealers and they would likely admit that is the call the hate the most. "Make this work for me but I'm tying your hands behind your back because you must work with the weaknesses of the system the customer is inflexible with".


I've seen some of the dealers I do business with extend such a gracious amount of time to people they know will never purchase, listening to the stories of how perfectly they have put together their system. One dealer friend shared with me that the problem with hobbyists is that they think its a hobby for everyone involved...like the purpose of an audio shop is to be the local clubhouse for the hobbyist community. Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not.

@jumia

Its ok if you don’t want to do business with Upscale, Kevin or even if you just don’t want Primaluna. There is some better gear out there and there is a whole lot more gear out there that is inferior to Primaluna. It’s very unfair though that you continue trying to paint Upscale with your one-off purportedly poor experience. There are many here who have been happy repeat, multi decade customers of Upscale so chalk it up to you and they just weren’t meant for one another. Primaluna is really good gear (I have Boulder, Audio Note amps presently) and most could live happily ever after with it and been dollars ahead. I have taken the time to compare Primaluna side by side with other high quality gear and Primaluna slots in nicely. Its pricepoint quite frequently delivers much more bang for the buck and the after sale support is exemplary, in the unlikely event it is required.

Your posts (its your thread so its your right I guess) seem to be seeking support and to rally the troops to your cause that you didnt like how you were treated. Thats fine but you are just bashing them repeatedly and the vast majority of Upscale’s customers are happy. Same goes for Primaluna. Kevin supports the magazines through ads, he never misses taking space at audio shows, he chose to sell Primaluna through a traditional dealer channel(rather than direct only, which would have been more profitable) when he didn’t really need to and he actually opened a brick and mortar store AFTER building a very successful business on line.

The Kevin/Upscale bashing is just uncalled for. I kind of miss the old days when it was just a small group of people who irrationally resented Kevin for buying up vast quantities of NOS tubes all over Europe before it was the rage. He traveled, he dug, he was like a detective and had to go far and wide to find them and he did. He then made them available to hobbyist like us rather than us trying to figure out how to access them. He was patient, stayed in his lane and made a fortune reselling them. I recall many posts back in the day slamming him for doing better than the rest of the industry at the time (he did). I have seen his warehouse which rivals a small Costco, I have seen some of his cars and motorcycles some years back and he enjoys his life. He’s earned it. I’m not his accountant nor his financial advisor and he has never said a word about his financials to me nor should he but Kevin could have retired to the French Riviera years ago and never looked back and never had to bring the balance down in his checkbook. But when you see him working with his team, the longevity and convivial relationships on full display toward those with whom he works it is admirable. He also pays better wages and hires great people. They can afford to have a good life working in the audio business. WOW, imagine that! He enjoys his business and if you get down to it, the industry needs Kevin/Upscale more financially than he needs it.

Your continued complaints have now veered firmly into the irrational and "I’ve got a bone to pick" territory. Like Kevin/Upscale or dont but consider moving on from it. Kevin likes Kevin (as do most who know him) and while he will bend over backwards for almost anyone (both business and personal) he won’t take any shyte from anyone. I kindof like that and I certainly respect it.

@upscaleaudio Even though it takes waaaay too much time for someone trying to run a business, I know I speak for others in thanking you for your posts.

I don't know about everyone else but I wouldn't have the patience to be a high end dealer like Kevin does. I remember just shaking my head after attending an audio show and there appeared to be a great many old caucasians in dad jeans badly in need of a "manzierre" communicating with amp and speaker manufacturers why their very own amp and speakers were the best. Alot of lonely people I guess.

Keep it up Kevin and thanks for all you and your team do to keep the hobby going. Once again, @upscaleaudio takes space at audio shows, invests in his people, hosts local audio clubs, they take trades, they are both online and brick and mortar. I don't have what it takes to do what they do. The unique combo of having bottomless patience and broad audiophile shrink skills is truly rare.

@decathlon1991 If you are going slam a manufacturer, at least go to the trouble to get the names right. The late David Wilson was not a pushy person, enthusiastic yes, pushy no. I havent witnessed the bahavior you describe by Daryl Wilson either. Oh well, at the end of the day, its the end of day right?

@decathlon1991 Man, my apologies, who knew you were posting about an obscure brick and mortar dealer in New Orleans on an Upscale Audio/Primaluna thread. What on earth was I thinking? I obviously thought you were posting about the only Wilson Audio that most people on audiogon would have likely known of and assumed as well. You and I both have the right to comment on any thread we choose. Peace.