I have nothing but praise for my two local dealers in South Florida: Let There Be Sound! in Broward, and Soundlux Audio in Miami Dade. Excellent people, excellent service, fantastic products, broad knowledge. As for for negative experiences, suffice to say that the store that almost swindled me out of money for a PrimaLuna integrated amp in 2017 went out of business. I was able to get my credit back for my product. They took my money for an an amp they had never ordered. A nine week nightmare. The most mendacious, dishonest, and despicable salesmen I’ve dealt with in my almost 50 years of buying gear.
What's your experience with snooty HiFi salesmen?
I began my Hifi journey in 1976 at a shop in Birmingham MI called Audio Dimensions. He was a Magnapan and ARC dealer who was kind to a 15 year old kid who bought a set of MG 1s with paper route money. The ARC amps he carried were about $4K back then- a LOT of money in 1976. In the beginning I drove my MG 1s with an old Fisher Studio Standard integrated amp. Since those lovely innocent days I have encountered some real buttholes. They act like they are doing me a favor as they quiz me about what gear I have and if I'm listening to "approved" recordings. Needless to say I don't buy from those guys. Several wives and businesses later I'm back into the hobby with a much vengeance as a 61 year old can muster given only so many free hours in a day and only so much cash to apply due to my other vices: Classic cars and salt water fishing.
Have you ever encountered a really good or really bad dealer (or employee) that changed your buying actions?
Darko posted a video on this topic which I found really enjoyable. Many of you have already seen it but for those (like me) who discovered it much later here's the link:
https://darko.audio/2022/09/audiophiles-are-snobs-with-money-to-burn/
Showing 2 responses by audiovideonirvana
The shop I mentioned in my comment, with the swindling salesman, was indeed, Sound Advice, in its second incarnation in South Florida. They had re-opened three stores. I went to the Miami Dade store to buy the PrimaLuna integrated amp. Unfortunately, it was right around the time we got a visit from Hurricane Irma so I lost about two or three weeks. However, once settled back to normalcy, I verified with Upscale Audio, the distributors of PrimaLuna, that they had never placed the order for my integrated amp. I wrote about my experience here: https://themightythunderer.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/sound-advice-has-left-the-building/ |