Audiophile dealers talk to much

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Yamahaha, May 14, 2019.

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  1. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Of course a quality minded audio dealer would do this.

    Keep in mind my statement:

    Most average "audio" customer's today, approach audio the way that they also buy a toaster.

    If you are a salesman and want to close a sale, just play them something that is loud, harsh and boomy. That works more often than not.
     
    Doctor Fine and Fishoutofwater like this.
  2. Limelakephoto

    Limelakephoto Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oshawa Ont. Canada
    I have actually been talked out of equipment by a dealer. They told me to look at another brand at a different dealer. I fell in love with a pair of headphone at a dealer a had cash in hand to buy them. The dealer didn't want me to buy them. Tried to sell me Beats Hp instead. I said....Bye bye and bought them else where for a little more.
     
  3. Matt I

    Matt I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    Maybe the seller that is talking AT you is trying to break the ice? Personally, I'd redirect the conversation with specific questions and listen to the responses. If the behavior that you don't like continues it is time to move on. If the salesman responds with answers to your questions either verbally or through equipment demonstrations then maybe he can earn your trust.

    ...and nobody likes to hear how the place down the road is awesome and will put the salesman on the defensive. If it were true you wouldn't be at the crappy new place with the worthless salesmen.
     
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Perfect example of what I mentioned earlier about blanket statements. Is rushing to misinformed conclusions a sport you're trying to win?

    It seems you've opted not to read a good chunk of the responses which indicated that sort of communication and storytelling are not necessarily a selling tactic but rather a way for dealers to interact and exchange with the public. Some are genuinely excited about their gear or the industry in general. Your posting style tells me you're not the smiling happy type and that's fine but to bluntly state anyone who has that demeanor and is thrilled with discussing their knowledge and experiences enthusiastically is looking to fool people into making quick unwise sales is misguided at best.

    Sounds more like you'd be best served by buying online. No shame in that. I've done it plenty.
     
    Matt I likes this.
  5. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Audio is just one department in a BB. Today, there really aren't that many decent even middle of the road, specialty audio stores to audition and purchase from. Which is why, our BB, which recently relocated from their original store to a far larger store, formally occupied by a Sports Authority, which closed. The Magnolia area is several times the size that it was in their previous store.

    Get real, the Magnolia store now sells brands that used to be exclusively with higher end stereo stores. They sell higher end gear McIntosh, B&W and Martin Logan.

    They do purport to be a high end audio store. The general public is apparently under the impression that they are selling the audio equivalent of a french restaurant. The general public these days have such a poor understanding of anything audio, they haven't a clue that these "audio" sales reps don't have a clue either.
     
    Dave likes this.
  6. Yamahaha

    Yamahaha Sir Pepe of LePew Thread Starter

    Location:
    Alberta, Canada
    People continue ridiculous diatribe here that is neither relevant to the original post, nor enlightening. Just a bunch of tread derailing garbage.
     
  7. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    you do seem awesome at conversion. Not insulting, bitchy or condescending in the slightest.

    I really hope this thread turns around for you, fascinating and productive topic.
     
    Ezd, Kyhl, SirMarc and 6 others like this.
  8. Matt I

    Matt I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    I hope this works for you. I can see why people talk at you.
     
  9. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I suppose, that if member's don't 100% agree with you that audio dealer's talk too much, that their comments are therefor irrelevant and perhaps amount to thread crapping?

    Perhaps, you should refrain from visiting audio dealer's?
     
    Doctor Fine likes this.
  10. toddfan

    toddfan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Overland Park, KS
    I feel your pain brother!...and to think that KC used to have stores like David Beatty Stereo! THOSE were the days...now there are none. I'd love the chance to shop David Beatty and have my ear talked off for just one more day.
     
    4xoddic likes this.
  11. Nick Brook

    Nick Brook Forum Resident

    Location:
    Yorkshire, UK.
    My local hifi shop and their staff are great, I've never had a bad experience there in over 30 years. I love to listen to their banter , you get to learn all sorts of industry scandal.
     
  12. lonelysea

    lonelysea Ban Leaf Blowers

    Location:
    The Cascades
    [​IMG]
     
  13. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    We used to have a place like that. I loved going there to learn about stuff. I always tried to buy things there even if it wasn't for big ticket items because I enjoyed the place.
    Until they changed their strategy and moved to the "trendy" district to be located near designers and changed their business to cater to designers and redesigns. A lot of their equipment inventory went away and was replace with things like TVs in a bathroom mirror. Boutique wires were mostly gone. Replaced with higher end bulk to be used in remodels. Used vinyl bins disappeared. Cheap cartridges disappeared from shelves. The consignment room disappeared.
    I stopped going there because I wasn't their desired customer.
     
    Subagent likes this.
  14. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    :biglaugh:

    Thanks for the laugh, guys! :D
     
  15. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    I worked at a price no object high end audio shop in Manhattan.
    We had a constant stream of whiners come into the store.
    "Where is the world's most AMAZING INCREDIBLE $200 box speaker???" they would angrily demand to know.
    As though I was HIDING it from them.
    Then they would want to spend HOURS and HOURS poking at everything.
    They expected me to demo a brand new amp in the box just so they could "analyze" it.
    They would inform me that no speaker or system was worth more than $200.
    "All CD players are the SAME"---they would explain to me.
    I would play the difference for some of them.
    Once they heard it one guy said:
    "Oh my GOD" "Everything I thought I knew about CD is WRONG."
    "I HEAR IT!!!"
    Then they would leave.
    No sale.
    No money.
    Just talk.
    We went broke.
    The store closed.
    Are you guys HAPPY now?
    (Please don't think I am bitter. I don't really care. If people want to act like the salesman is the adversary and show off their "knowledge" that's FINE with me).
    But I'm saying there are REASONS your l0cal salesman is a nervous wreck and he talks too much.
    He is caught in the race to the bottom that is occurring in most price sensitive hobbies.
    America has fewer well heeled customers than we used to.
    The appetite for good music is GONE.
    Americans have too much free time on their hands and they waste a ton of time "just shopping."
    Many people think their car stereo is "great."
    The "customer" is always looking for a cheaper "DEAL."
    HiFi should be reserved for rich people that value their time and don't waste it.
    Once the unwashed "experts" got into it everything went downhill.
    Stores stopped hiring professional audio guys because that wasn't important for "moving boxes of junk."
    You just needed a guy who could close a sale.
    And talk a lot.
    He didn't need to know much anymore.
    If you really care about audio you will get results reading forums like this one.
    Stores just don't know how to sell you anything anymore.
    We had just one real great salesman in our shop.
    He would regularly "throw people out" of the store for wasting his time.
    "You are taking food out of my kid's mouthes" he would explain.
    "Go away. You are wasting time here" he would scream at these people.
    I would get embarrassed but I saw he had a point there.
    Just my opinion, of course.
     
    Dave likes this.
  16. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    I don't shop audio brick and mortar stores anymore. Everything here is HT. The stores here may be a part of an Audiophile manufacturer dealer network, however, they never have stock let alone a demo unit in their show room. Home automation...check. AV receivers, built in speakers, projection systems.....check. Big cushy theatre seats...check. Popcorn Machines and Marqee wall displays for realistic theatre feel....check. Hi End 100 pc tube amp by any major manufacturer........."we can order....why do you tubes. This denon AVR will blow any tube amp away"
     
  17. crazy eights

    crazy eights Truckstop Lovechild

    Location:
    new york
    @Doctor Fine - I bought my denon system at your shop way back in the 80s didn't even audition, told the salesman my budget and he set me up with a tuner an integrated and upgraded me the cd player for the same price as the lower ranked unit i had picked, it was an easy sale for him, a great buy for me and i still have the equipment and use it as my second system quite frequently, i bought it on your guys rep which was well known, it might even have been you that sold it to me - you guys and J&R music world were the bomb back then

    i also bought 2 nakamichi decks from you so i could dub tapes
     
  18. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    The salesman's job used to be to get you the best possible system.
    Period!
    Those were fun days.
     
    Dave, HiFi Guy and crazy eights like this.
  19. crazy eights

    crazy eights Truckstop Lovechild

    Location:
    new york
    and he did, and i'm still happy with it, i'm going to look for the receipts and see if they have the salesman's name on them
     
    Doctor Fine likes this.
  20. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    Toward the end of my career in consumer audio I began to fantasize about the "ideal" Stereo Shoppe.
    I would have just THREE displays---all carefully tuned systems kicking butt at three different price points.
    If somebody asked to "demo" a product I would say "NO DEMOS."
    Either I bring you a system you have bought designed especially for your house and tune it into your rooms ---or forget it!
    The 3 sets were there to prove bona fides.
    If we know how to do THIS you should just TRUST US.
    The three rooms should sound AMAZING.
    UNBELIEVABLE.
    STUNNING.
    There is really no way in the world to "test" gear in the store.
    We are not a "laboratory."
    Our rooms need to be built for YOUR system and they are NOT.
    I heard Mark Levinson did just that in Manhattan.
    Had ONE system.
    A Steinway.
    A recording room.
    That's IT.
    Either you trust Mark or get lost.
    I LOVE IT!
    Too bad I never got my dream to come true.
    Either a store has the TALENT to build great sets for customers or it doesn't.
    Prove it.
    Then take the customer to dinner.
    Then go to their home and LOOK at the room.
    Then sell it and install it.
    AH.
    What a NICE dream!
     
    Dave likes this.
  21. Dream On

    Dream On Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I agree that it is ridiculous to expect Magnolia employees to have real knowledge about audio. Even if they purport to be a real high end audio store and they sell high end components.

    To the average consumer it may appear this way, and Magnolia may sell themselves this way, but on closer inspection - after one spends time learning about this stuff, and when they compare Magnolia to a true audio store - the truth is clear.

    BB workers may have a good understanding of toasters, vacuum cleaners, computers, and smartphones, but these things are all very different to high end audio. I mean just read these forums, with enthusiasts who can't agree about the sound of a component - they have wildly different adjectives used to describe the sound. Or when we discuss system matching, and you get wildly different recommendations about power needs. We can't even agree if cables make a lick of difference. And sometimes we are shocked that a system that looks like a poor match on paper actually turns out to sound great.

    So I feel like even us enthusiasts are clueless much of the time, and a lot of the time you just have to try to know for sure. This isn't like understanding that if setting 5 on your toaster burns your toast you should turn it down to 3 or 4. It's a lot more abstract. There is no way some kid who takes a 1 week BB training course will have any idea compared to someone who dedicates his professional life to audio.

    I have never been to a Magnolia store but on the surface, to me, their best bet is to create some systems they know would work well given rooms x, y, and z. Then ask customers what their room is like, and then recommend the system that would work best for that room. This isn't quite to the level of fine detail that most of us would want but it would probably serve their clientele pretty well.
     
  22. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    Probably Eddie Dees.
    Everybody LOVED that guy.
     
    crazy eights likes this.
  23. crazy eights

    crazy eights Truckstop Lovechild

    Location:
    new york
    i went into a magnolia store once on a whim just to check it out, after about 10 minutes of listening they insisted on selling me a pair of def techs on credit, didn't even like the things I thought they sounded horrible, left the salesman standing there with the credit application in his hand, thanked him and strolled on out never to return, so if you're ever in a magnolia store don't bother looking for me, i won't be there LOL
     
  24. crazy eights

    crazy eights Truckstop Lovechild

    Location:
    new york
    Pete S July of 89
     
  25. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Morrow to the story, they should had escorted more people to the door and stayed in business.

    The reality of life is that you can not please everyone. On top of that, everyone does not want to be pleased.

    That being said, I have only some much time in my life and I don't choose to spend it trying to please everyone.

    Stores that have a knowledgeable sales staff have a valuable asset. A retail store does not have unlimited resources to waste on those who do not represent their customer base.
     
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