What's your experience with snooty HiFi salesmen?

That attitude rends to lessen as we acquire more gray hair.

This is a story I've told just about all of my audiophile friends over the years:

It was a beautiful sunny spring or summer afternoon in the late 70s or early 80s, as I recall. I was in a small city, had a day off and wandered into the highest high-end shop in the city just to look around. I had no intention of buying anything. I just wanted to see what this shop offered. It was a weekday, around lunch time, and I was the only person in the shop, other than the owner.

After a few minutes of nosing around, the owner approached and asked if there was anything he could help me with. I immediately and politely said "no", explained that I was just looking around to see what was on hand and wasn't in the market for anything at the time. He responded with a congenial smile and said:  "Ok. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." as he walked away and left me to my own musings.

After about 20 minutes or so of checking out the merchandise, I headed for the door. At that point, he intercepted me and we engaged in a brief but very enjoyable conversation about stereo toys, as audiophiles are prone to do. Since it was such a slow day for him, he asked if I might be interested in listening to the best sound he had in the shop. So, we sat and listened to a pair of electrostatic speakers that were at least 6" tall (can't recall the name), a beautiful B & O linear tracking TT, an amplification system I can't recall the name of and some wonderful LP recordings. The cost of this entire system was well over my annual salary, at the time.

After about10 minutes or so, I thanked him for his hospitality and explained that I should be on my way. He asked what I thought of the system we'd just heard. I said it was very nice and was content to leave it at that. However, he insisted upon detail, an honest critique. So, I told him I thought the TT was very nice, loved the amplification and recordings but was somewhat underwhelmed by the speakers. He pointed out how much they cost, said they were the best in the shop and asked if I'd heard anything better in that price range. So, I mentioned 2 or 3 alternatives that appealed more to me. At that point, he became visibly miffed, even upset, and, basically, tried to convince me my ears didn't really know what they liked. I was more than a little surprised by this reaction and politely explained how some folks, no doubt, would probably like those speakers but I was not a fan. Surprisingly, this only served to irritate him further. So, I just smiled, thanked him again for his hospitality, made my way to the door and never went back to that shop again.

@oddiofyl those are great shops, with great people! I've frequented all 3 of them. If you don't mind a little more travelling, I can strongly recommend Safe & Sound in Chicopee, MA, as well. Q Audio in Cambridge, MA is also great shop!

@richopp 

I lived in Ft Lauderdale in the 70s. What was your store? I bought my first hifi system in ‘73. Well, it was hifi to me. All I could afford was a Nikko receiver, Smaller Advents, Garrard turntable that I bought from the first Sound Advice store on Federal Highway. My first experience was great and that set the standard. I ended up lurking in all the hifi stores I could find. Unfortunately, SA got too big and lost what made it fun.

I remember Luskins, HiFi Associates and of course Sound Advice. 

I find the smaller the shop the better.  More personal service and attention.  The tradeoff of less choices is worth it.  There are many duds out there just trying to move merch but I've had some very pleasant experiences with like minded people who love music.  About a year ago I was demoing a pair of Amatis in NYC and through the entire demo the salesman was standing close by tapping his feet and enjoying the playlist.  Very enjoyable hour with these folks.

Usually one knows very quickly if the person they're dealing with will be a good match.  I've never let a mismatch get to the point where some salesman has the chance to talk downhill to me.  Cheers

hilde45
It isn't the quality of the equipment that these store have. It was their equipment that brought me into the stores. It was My Preparation to make sure they could accommodate me, their arrogance, their inability to provide a professional experience and finally paper thin walls between listening rooms. That just doesn't fly with me. I cold have gotten a better experience at Radio Shack. At least there you know what to expect and can accommodate for that i you own mind.
Another store that yo did not mention and notice again I am not going to say it. Their sales man after hearing about my previous experience went all the wany to ask me what I had for a system so that he might try to match it. Only he connected some tiny 2way bookshelf speakers to a Mac and though he would reproduce my home experience with full sized towers. Also when he couldn't produce anything that I had on a lengthy music list or means to play either a CD or DVD Also, those 2way bookshelf speaker were EXCELENT speakers in their own way. I would love to put some of their towers next to mine and compare them. but a tiny 2way is never going to sound like my towers. Had he chosen to connect to proper speakers that he had in front of him and been able to play something I know! He probably could have made a sale, but I ended up getting a far less expensive AV Receiver just becasue I know what to expect for NAD instead of something that NO ONE was able to demonstrate to me. WhY else would I g to a brick and mortar store?