Groves makes a great point about no throwing out the kids. I wa strying to make that point earlier, but his antecdote was far better.
Too many hifi shop owners look down their noses at people who aren't spending an arm and a leg on gear, and people who aren't demoing gear with 'audiophile recordings.'
I remember trying to hear an NAD 320BEE when it first came out. One dealer who carried it and had it on the floor told me to buy a Marantz stereo receiver instead because "...at that level they all sound the same." "They all sound like garbage." That's not paraphrasing. When I asked hime why he sold garbage, he responded with "Good day."
A different dealer told me to buy the cheapest gear I could find because my music "...will sound equally awful on anything." I guess Pearl Jam sounds the same on my Bryston B60 as it would on a $99 boombox. Who would have known?
Then there was a great guy who sold stuff that no one I know could afford. I wandered into his shop one day and looked around for about 5 minutes before he asked if I needed any help. I responded by saying "I wish you could, but I can't afford anything you sell." He smiled and said "Either can I." He owned the store. He let me play with a Halcro and Verity system he was getting ready to show to a customer that totaled about $150k or so. he had great insight on gear and told me who to see to demo it. If I win the lotto, I'll buy something from him.
There's too many of the first two guys and not enough of the other guy IMO. What will a 18 year old kid who just saved as much as he could to buy a stereo feel like walking into the first two guys' shops?
Don't get me wrong, there's arrogant people in every field/profession. There just seems to be more in audio stores than most other places.
Too many hifi shop owners look down their noses at people who aren't spending an arm and a leg on gear, and people who aren't demoing gear with 'audiophile recordings.'
I remember trying to hear an NAD 320BEE when it first came out. One dealer who carried it and had it on the floor told me to buy a Marantz stereo receiver instead because "...at that level they all sound the same." "They all sound like garbage." That's not paraphrasing. When I asked hime why he sold garbage, he responded with "Good day."
A different dealer told me to buy the cheapest gear I could find because my music "...will sound equally awful on anything." I guess Pearl Jam sounds the same on my Bryston B60 as it would on a $99 boombox. Who would have known?
Then there was a great guy who sold stuff that no one I know could afford. I wandered into his shop one day and looked around for about 5 minutes before he asked if I needed any help. I responded by saying "I wish you could, but I can't afford anything you sell." He smiled and said "Either can I." He owned the store. He let me play with a Halcro and Verity system he was getting ready to show to a customer that totaled about $150k or so. he had great insight on gear and told me who to see to demo it. If I win the lotto, I'll buy something from him.
There's too many of the first two guys and not enough of the other guy IMO. What will a 18 year old kid who just saved as much as he could to buy a stereo feel like walking into the first two guys' shops?
Don't get me wrong, there's arrogant people in every field/profession. There just seems to be more in audio stores than most other places.