what is it in audio that you dislike most?

skyscraper
Fortunately I don’t have small children to starve to afford further upgrades.

blindjim>
so.... we're supposed to feed children?

. Well, that sorts out a few things but its gonna destroy the current food budget .

no sale, or walks, as they are called by the dealership/salesmen are lost revenue. plain and simple. gone money.

Dealers can't sit on the notion the 'wild and wooly web' is killing them all by itself. The web is just another competitor, not THE assassin.


larry
Most dealers operate on a shoe string. They don’t have inventory to demo and if they do, they assume you will not buy the higher end lines.

blindjim>
Definitely understood.

I know for a fact its tuff to have upper range inventory at all times. I know as well upper end pieces can be brought in so a demo can be arranged and then offers on it/them, considered if or when a buyer is serious and that goes back to qualifying. the dealer's relationship with the manufacturer, or other dealers carrying the same or similar brands.

In fact if some sort of 'rent an in home audition' affair can be agreed on, and I were serious about moving up or into some higher end device, I'd be willing to pay for it. within reason, of course.

surely enough to over come shipping and add in some value for the good faith aspect.

I mean, there are those folks in audioland who are getting pieces in their homes for indiscreminate periods of time so they can review it/them without any preconception the piece will be purchased once the article is drawn.

what happens to those pieces after their interview?
same thing for show ponies, er, pieces. do these just go back in the box and await another packing and shipping maneuver?

I've little problem with buying a demo piece if it is sold with the same asurances a new piece would come with albeit at a lower price of course.


markcdaniel
My personal rules -
1) Always be respectful
2) Never poo poo other people’s gear
3) Listen to other’s questions without bias
4) Answer with your knowledge, not your sales quota or personal agenda
5) My Mom always taught me that if you don’t anything nice to say, don’t say anything

blindjim>
Mine were enjoying eating and living under my own roof, so I would do within reason, everything possible to close a sale and often that merely meant being knowledgable about the products on hand, its competition, considerate, thoughtful, and able to meet the needs/desires of the buyer.

I never wanted anyone I could not sell to feel they should never come back for something else later on. that is purely bad business, and unforgivable to display abismal public relations.


keegiam
The extreme expense and added complications of reproducing the bottom octave.

blindjim>
you are preaching to the choir. well said.

sibilance is a pet peeve of mine too.


sleepwalker
are as meaningless and awkward as an elephant riding a unicycle on a high wire.

blindjim>
LOL
not everyone is a wordsmith but product knowledge does seem to be pretty important when one is asking for large wads of frog skins from strangers.


audioguy
The high and mighty snobs that berate those that can’t afford $10k Magico speakers...and then private message them to continue to make said person feel like a loser....

blindjim>
ouch.
I've run into one or two of those myself.
with one such seller I had to call the cops to get him to cease and desist as the situation descended well below civilized correspondence and well into ridiculous threats. of bodily injury.



unison
easy to buy to hard to sell...

blindjim>
Been there. Done that. I call those items my 'trickle down pieces, or antique collecting in advance.


bdp24
1- Not currently having a music room big enough for my Magneplanar Tympani T-IVa loudspeakers.

blindjim>
a former statesman once said, "tare down that Wall!
but then, you're probably not in Berlin are you? lol


technick
Then the owner came over, looked at the screen, and said, “Oh, Tekton, the new Bose of this year

blindjim>
I would have replied, Only this year?

an audio salesman once asked what would I have if I could have anything in terms of powewr train (line stage and amps) for a stereo rig.

I said VAC, VTL, BAT, or Thor,. He looked at me like I was speaking Mandarin so I asked, Haven't you heard of these?

he shook his head, No.

Ayre lynn, and Krell were his Gods at the time, nothing else existed apparently, nor was he predisposed to research the true scope of his career and the major players therein.

as for sonic annomolies I hate,, it has to be bright, etched top ends...

OK, and sibilence.

and yes... poorly resolved, flabby, and or weak bass.

alright... you've dragged it out of me, too polite a presentation.
a reproduction which is so easy to listen to you fall asleep in the doing.

Great topic. I wish Hifi audio was more diverse in its followers. I'd like to see more young people and people from different walks of life in this hobby. We all listen to such a diverse amount of music but the typical audiophile profile doesn't fit that. I also detest the snobbery---there are so many audiophiles out there that will never be able to afford a Macintosh or Audio Research amp. So what? They have a nice Yamaha integrated amp. OK. They're still audiophiles. 
I miss having good Hifi stores in my city----there's 1 (at best) where there used to be many back in the 80s-90s.
And I wish I had more audiophile friends. I'm trying to get them into the hobby by showing them how good music can sound.

Would be nice if more people were interested.

The Loudness Wars, i.e., heavily limited (compressed) recordings. It just pisses me off to put on a CD that sounds like it was probably a nice recording but I have to turn down the volume to "2" because they smashed it all to hell and it just blares out of the speakers. Particularly egregious is "Remastered" versions of old classics where they obliterate all of the original dynamics and pretend that they've released a better version. I've been spending a lot of my music exploration time seeking out mid 70's through early 90's recordings because that is before this horrible trend. There is a huge reservoir of great music that I previously never stumbled upon, much of it recorded to tape, that sounds so much better than 90% of modern releases. This is also the reason I kept my vinyl and turntable. Those old records sound way better than many of the same titles on CD.

a greater proliferation of audio dealerships and the consequent increased visibility of various maker's gear, is only going to happen with increased support by manufacturers.

the difficulty there is obvious. the audio industry is proliferated by 'cottages'. a cottage industry at its finest is how many label this realm. as such, sheer production is going to be a limiting factor... at least initially.

a handful or less of folks soldering this to that is never going to generate the numbers needed to begin 'floating' dealership inventories so the makers entire line up gets the visibility it/they need to entice or educate the buying public.

money, either desire for it, or the lack of it is the moat around many castles preventing them from becoming Metropolis.

a new perspective on a dealers inventory status is needed.

Reforms on present 'floor planning' agreements is necessary. Floor planning is keyed to financing product via a third party so product can simply sit on a showroom or in a dealer's back room still in a box and essentially as an unpaid unit.

it reasures the maker and enables the dealers a window for possible sales without paying everything FOB, or immediately when it comes off the truck.

FP provides an agreement is required somehow so makers gear can get to, and reside in this joint or that for a period of time before it is either paid for, or sent back to its maker or some other dealer's showroom.

this is a dicey prospect at times.

the maker agrees this dealer or that can possess the thing for X amount of time then pay it off, or a maker forces a dealer to put in place a third party which will indemnify the dealer for payment.

this is not a free thing for the dealer unless the dealer can move the stuff within the span alloted before the 'vig' is applied.

the reason Best Buy, formerly Sears, Macy's, your local auto dealer, etc. have the enormity of product in house is because of floor planning. very little of that inventory is already paid for 100%.

most of it is on 'loan' so to speak using in part agreements with the maker and as well entities like GECC which get a percentage of the cost of each piece of any makers gear which has not been sold after some predetermined period of time.

These 'finance' companies wil send reps to do the actual inventory at every location a dealership runs to log what is or is not on hand routinely.

if not accounted for they will also ensure payment for it has been transmitted or demand it then.

the FP agreement may be as long as 180 days, or as little as 30 and this period is between the maker and the seller.

then too just good sense will dictate how long something could sit statically as development, and manufacturerring steadily roll along despite sales... to a point anyways.

either makers of gear will begin to step up production so more gear will be available for distribution to which ever dealership, or makers will begin opening their own doors here and there to promote their product and acquire greater public visibility and interest, ala, BOSE, YAMAHA, SONY, JVC, ARCAM, MARANTZ, MCINTOSH, FOCALE, B&W, KEF, SONUS FABER, AR, KRELL, etc., all of which have the wherewithall to produce stuff in great numbers so it can sit at national chain stores such as the former Sound Advice.

these windows guaranteeing inventory beyond usual financial limits of a dealership also promotes sales where profit margins are diminished so product can be moved without penalty of tarriffs from the FP agencies. this also helps the industry and buying public at large.

here is where in production terms, the one guy, several guy or gals oriented makers will not be able to compete. they will either keep the status quo and make new arrangements for getting paid soem time later from a dealer, keep sales strickly in house on a direct to consumer basis, or acquire likely off shore plants which can make the goods as per the designs so production is escalated, ala Prima Luna, silverline, etc..

maybe too makers will entertain partnerships within the industry and open their own doors in more exclusive arrangements, ala Martin Logan & Krell, BAT & Avalong, etc..

one thing for sure is so long as production and consequently visibility shelters high end audio within the shadows and peripheries of mass retail markets, it will continue as a minor, eclectic, niche market whose development will never achieve the status and wide spread appeal it might.

remember, there was once upon a time an enterprise named BOSE and another one called SONY that no one knew anything about. through innovation and marketing, became giants in the audio industry.

naturally some makers will stick to their self imposed 'exclusivity' they have formulated into their brand and keep the status quo, therebh  existing as egnigma more than tangible. dreamware rather than hardware. 


and yes... a flat, dry sterile presentation makes me walk away almost immediately.