Is your local high-end store still able to survive in this economy?
- Thread starter DaveyF
- Start date
In LA, I enjoy going up to Weinhart Design---David is a good guy and since shuttering Ambrosia, is more focused on 2 channel. He is the big Magico dealer in Los Angeles.
Most of the good dealers in LA offer themselves up for LA Audio Society which is smart on their part---David is even on the board I believe.
Most of the good dealers in LA offer themselves up for LA Audio Society which is smart on their part---David is even on the board I believe.
garylkoh
WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Which was reprised by Bo Derek in the movie Tarzan the Ape Man.... the original was definitely better.
I prefer "mature", though that may be a bit optimistic.
He's a bit of a drive, for me, but I made the trek up there a few weeks ago to pick up a sub. Spent maybe half an hour listening to the Q5's while David took care of some other business. Yes, he does seem like a nice guy. Chris Hansen used to be "the" guy when I lived in west LA, but appears to have transformed into HT/Home automation/Security.
Seems like a good survival strategy. But many dealers don't really get involved in their local audio societies. For high end speakers and heavy amps, you probably need to get some experienced movers involved.
It was simply idle time listening to music with which I'm not familiar, and the room acoustics were not such that I'd care to express an opinion on the speaker, itself. Clearaudio Statement, EAR pre, don't know what amp was used.
In an absolute sense, you are 100% correct. If you are getting great service, this is shameful behavior. But the interesting cases are not all black and white. What if the dealer is wishy / washy about setting up an auditioning session, and cancels or changes it a few times? What if the dealer doesn't really want to let you audition the gear in your home for whatever reason? What if you just don't connect with the dealer?
I agree completely and the cases that you mention, along with a host of others, are ones in which you are getting no support from your local dealer. If that dealer carries something you want, but doesn't appear to be very interested in actually selling it then there are always other options out there. Furthermore that dealer will likely be in a world of hurt if he isn't already.
I've witnessed first hand, on several occasions, customers who have done extensive demos of my dealer's equipment and then gone out and purchased it elsewhere. It seems that they were so proud of how much that they were going to save that they made some gloating comments to me about the great deal that they were going to get out of state.
I envision only the largest cities and smaller cities with large universities having dealers with retail locations. These dealers will only carry mostly well established brands such as ARC, CJ, Wilson, etc. The home dealers will carry the fringe brands and "flavors of the day" hyped up by magazine reviewers.
I also see a "traveling dealer" emerging. This guy will probably be a retired hobbyist driving around the country or a region in a large conversion van setting up speakers and amps in peoples home. This can be very effective for people who cannot hear many of the dozens of brands out there (that may be better or just different) from the main stream brands. And if someone comes over to your home, sets something up, gets it to sound good, it can become awfully hard to say "No thanks. Hit the road, Jack."
I also see a "traveling dealer" emerging. This guy will probably be a retired hobbyist driving around the country or a region in a large conversion van setting up speakers and amps in peoples home. This can be very effective for people who cannot hear many of the dozens of brands out there (that may be better or just different) from the main stream brands. And if someone comes over to your home, sets something up, gets it to sound good, it can become awfully hard to say "No thanks. Hit the road, Jack."
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