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/
hilde45 If you have any influence wiht the Directors as CAS. I refuse to deal with PayPal they are a crooked corrupt org that steals people money. I can’ make arrangements for a check or pay cash in person as long as I can get an official receipt. |
@esarhaddon This is a very relaxed group of people. Just tell them you want to join and will bring your membership dues to the first event. Or work something out. They're not in it for the money. |
@upshift Interesting system. Very pleased that the PL700B is still running. Our experience with them back then was that the owner would manage to make them fail pretty much every time. CONGRATS! The rest of your system sounds fine, and if YOU like it IN YOUR ROOM, you are good to go. I wouild make suggestions, but you didn't ask for any, so... There is a small shop just over the line in Deerfield on the East side of the street that you migh want to visit. You might have to make an appointment, but I think they are the closest "high-end" shop if you are interested. Audio Center is the name, I think. I retired and moved from Boca after 49 years there. I just couldn't take it any more. I am in Hobe Sound now, and it reminds me of Boca back then when there were about 20,000 people living there, and only about 10,000 during the off season. Nice town in those days. Cheers! |
Thanks, I did have the 700B worked on once but it and the Infinities are in semi-retirement now. I rebuilt my system a little over a year ago. I was familiar with the Audio Center.and bought some things there over the years. I was in contact with them when I was first in the market a year ago but he had to move out, after the covid shutdown the landlord jacked up the rent so he had to move out. I know what you mean about the changes here, between the taxes and the insurance we're contemplating a change. Back on the topic, I rebuilt my system over the last year ago. I had my Carver Siler7t amps rebuilt as the base and worked with the folks at Crutchfield. They have knowledgeable experts in many areas and will spend the time with you to get to the right components plus they have a 60 day return policy. To start off I bought a Rogue Audio Sphinx V3 off of Audiogon to go with the Carver amps. Then from Crutchfield I filled out the rest of the system with a Pro-ject Turntable, BlueSound Node Streamer and a pair of Wharfdales. Everything was good but I was not totally pleased with the vocals on the Whardales so I returned them and moved to a pair of Martin-Logan ESL X speakers. They are fantastic! I'm now in the market for a tube based preamp but Crutchfield does not handle any tube equipment so I'm still doing some research and looking around. |
Great advice and trips down memory lane for Audio shops. I Miss Tweeter. Do not waste time with poor performance Dealers/Retailers. Eventually, those operations will fold. Instead, seek out Music lovers that are still into CD and Vinyl playback systems. Servers and Streamers need not apply. Second, steer clear of operations that engage in silliness such as Social Media scores. You know who you are.
Happy Listening! |
