McIntosh and Klipsch
You own a store, you sell 2 brands, which?
Thought experiment:
You run a store which sells used and new gear from any point in history. The catch is you can have exactly 2 brands. One of electronics one of speakers.
Defunct brands are OK as are those current with long histories.
What brands are they?
You run a store which sells used and new gear from any point in history. The catch is you can have exactly 2 brands. One of electronics one of speakers.
Defunct brands are OK as are those current with long histories.
What brands are they?
168 responses Add your response
Even though, for speakers, my personal preference is electrostatics and ribbons, from a recognition and marketing stand point, reliability and a broad range of price and performance choices, would be Vandersteen. For electronics, for all the same reasons plus having a full gamete of analogue and digital components, would be either Linn or Rega.....Jim |
Lafayette & Ohm Walsh. Especially the Lafayette KT-550 tube power amp. Had these in college in my dorm room. Everyone hung out there! Still have the Lafayette KT-550 but converted the tube compliment to a current tube. Everything else is stock. It is a beast of a stereo amp and still sounds better than most tube amps manufactured today! Happy Listening. |
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I had to chuckle when I read this. We operate a small service shop that also resells some vintage gear. We do however carry a little new audio, and exactly two brands! They are Rega and Fyne Audio. They have both been a great fill for those who either don’t want either a vintage, amp, or speakers, or just want all new. Very pleased to offer both. |
For me, for fun: Snell and Tandberg Excellent styling and performance, and I did hear them both together, but I am very curious about Snell with Luxman to be honest but I never heard that combination. With so many tube amps in their history so I think I’d absolutely adore trying out vintage 35W/Ch tube amps as well as the big SS beasts of today. |
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@teo_audio et al Of course the OP premise was silly, but he asked a question, so give an answer or move on. You all remind me of people who can't simply take an idea and run with it rather than spending your time tearing it down and ridiculing the person and the concept. I worked with a lot of you all at the large computer company I spent my career at after selling my "high -end" audio shop. Some things are just simple and straight-forward and don't require tons of dissection and discussion. Either name the two brands, like most of us did, and move on, or take Bambi's mom's advice. You remember Bambi, right? Oh, my, he was not REAL, so let's not talk about pretend cartoon characters. Harumph! This is a SERIOUS Forum! We only deal in measurements and numbers and quantifiable information that noone except a PhD in physics and acoustic theory can discuss. (Joke's on you. In audio, purchase is usually based on what YOU like.) Good grief! Has light humor left the planet during the previous 4 years of total insanity? |
to return the point, the OP is fundamentally flawed. It is a poser that is meaningless and has no relation to the working functional world of such endeavors. We'll put you on the island with like minded people with souls who have long ago lost their ability to use fantasy and imagination as a way of talking about things they are passionate about. |
Having been involved in businesses that sell to the public in some manner since I was about 9 years old... The point is that the basic premise of the OP, is a no show, period. Full Stop. Sales to the general public, in audio, via a ’store’....does not work that way. All scenarios are different, all scenarios change. If the store owner does not grasp that and grasp it correctly, and move with it correctly...then they die on the vine. It will be tough sledding regardless. Eg, in older times, an ’entrepreneur’ was considered to be about 50 years old. A point where a person was considered to be matured, tested, and varied enough to be trusted with the complex act of being an entrepreneur. To run, or head -a complex attempt. Nowadays... we somehow confuse this with 20 year olds, as if it is all gumption and running in place, expending energy. Walking down the hill (so to speak) is the best way to get it done. Still, to this day. Finding the right level and quality of maturity in one’s self or another, is more the problem. Eg, you want to open a music shop, a record shop?... you want Richard Branson to run it. He has no more mistakes to make. At the same time he is learned enough to know he still will make them. Which begets the ability to correct with his vast knowledge base of how things can go wrong, a base of knowledge built out of massive levels of scar tissue. To return the point, the OP is fundamentally flawed. It is a poser that is relatively meaningless and has no relation to the working functional world of such endeavors. |
OK, accepting the premise of the question, and having co-owned a HiFi store back in the day, the brand selection process is not one takes lightly. Leaving aside the Parent Company Ploy that gets you a whole basket of brands (clever, but not the point), picking two brands that can cover a lot of territory and thus give you the best chance of surviving, is actually pretty simple, Marantz and Monitor Audio. Both are long-time brands with a lot of credibility, both have vertically stacked their product lines e.g. Bronze,Silver, Gold for Monitor Audio. As well they have horizontally diversified their offerings, Monitor Audio has bookshelf, floor standing, in-wall, on-wall, pre-packaged surround and even soundbars. They have really covered the waterfront, with no apologies necessary at any price point you care to pay, and a couple you probably wouldn't - the OK, accepting the premise of the question, and having co-owned a HiFi store back in the day, the brand selection process is not one takes lightly. Leaving aside the Parent Company Ploy that gets you a whole basket of brands (clever, but not the point), picking two brands that can cover a lot of territory and thus give you the best chance of surviving, is actually pretty simple, Marantz and Monitor Audio. Both are long-time brands with a lot of credibility, both have vertically stacked their product lines e.g. Bronze,Silver, Gold for Monitor Audio. As well they have horizontally diversified their offerings, Monitor Audio has bookshelf, floor standing, in-wall, on-wall, pre-packaged surround and even soundbars. They have really covered the waterfront, with no apologies necessary at any price point you care to pay from under $700 a pair for the Bronze 50s, to the PL500-IIs at a cool $35,000 a pair. The $699 Marantz NR-1200 is the modern take on the classic Marantz receiver that pretty much defined our hobby with streaming and Bluetooth added as well as phono inputs; the PM7000N, a true middleweight contender and very integrated amplifier, and the muscular Ruby 200W/Ch 4 Ohms, no less than 6 AV Receivers, AV separates, a stellar selection of disk players, and a couple turntables, with the TT-15S1 being a legitimate high-end offering. So yeah, I could make a pretty good run at it with those two lines, and tell a pretty good story to my customers about the legacies they're buying into. |
The OP did not say the goal of the subject matter was to select the two products that would be the most profitable. Suppose you are independently wealthy and opened the store for personal enjoyment. In that case I would select two products that I would enjoy selling and have confidence in their quality and musical enjoyment. |
Really tough question as there are many great electronics brands that I would choose but very few that also have a turntable line. Would probably have to second a previous choice with Linn due to their product categories of electronics, turntables, speakers and price ranges. Speaker manufacturer is an easy one. Vandersteen hands down. |
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@erik_squires Thankyou, however I think that’s just geography. I’m not sure Wiki clarifies my pedantic point but only serves to deflect - it is talking about two types of electronics - active (powered?) and passive. Non-active speakers use passive electronics, by definition. I’m not convinced that makes them non-electronic. |
Can someone explain to me why speakers are not electronic? @noske Make Wikipedia your friend: [Electronics use] active devices to control electron flow by amplification and rectification, which distinguishes it from classical electrical engineering which uses passive effects such as resistance, capacitance and inductance to control current flow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics So unless you have powered speakers, they are not electronic. :) |