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DSP and stores - Anyone else get the feeling they might be sweetening?

One thing I’ve been thinking about especially now that I’m streaming and have EQ at my fingertips, is how easy it is for a dealer to sweeten a mix. That is, alter speakers to sound differently in the store. One dealer would not let me play my own music, at all. That was a big red flag. I didn’t have anything troublesome, just some Diana Krall or something like that.

Another made my ears hurt with speakers others tell me are quite neutral.

In another store the speakers were wired out of phase and painfully bright. In this case it could have been in the speaker setup as they had external resistors.

Anyone else have these kind of quirky experiences in a shop lately?


Best,

E
erik_squires
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,458 posts
 
No but anything is possible so always best to ask questions. 
gdnrbob
4,459 posts
 
If I see acoustic panels, hell, that’s another sales opportunity!

Well, considering that trying to get a room in the best acoustic shape, I would think adding panels to be something encouraged. If it adds to the sale, it seems to make sense to me, both in terms of making the sale as well as an add-on purchase.

With regards to DSP, I concur wholeheartedly. If recordings are altered and that isn't disclosed, then there is no way to know how a speaker or system actually sounds. 
(Now that I think of it, just about all the dealers seem to be using music from local NAS's and whatever server they choose. It wouldn't be hard to tweak the settings to make it a bit juicier).
Bob
mike_in_nc
1,161 posts
 
I haven’t had any such experiences. As to DSP, my impression is, the average dealer doesn’t have the patience or knowledge to set it up well. Maybe things have changed.

As to honesty and forthrightness, I guess we have good dealers here (Portland, OR). I have dealt with four or five of them, and I can’t think of one that would want to sell you speakers you don’t like or that won’t sound good in your room. Nor can I imagine any of them tweaking the speakers in a misleading way.

A dealer that doesn’t let you play your own music? Odd, and a red flag for sure!

geof3
1,129 posts
 
My local shop has room treatments, but there are no other gizmos employed. Not even higher end power cords or speaker wires. All pretty basic stuff really. Always tough to demo a speaker in a store of any kind. Room variations are simply too great. Put a deposit down (if required) and take a floor set home... your gear, your music, your room.
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
1,052 posts
 
I think not letting you listen to any of your own music is a key tip off. Not that I'd say you can't do business with them because of that, just that they may not be operating transparently on that score, as you say.

BTW, just wait until the issue of not disclaiming their use of power treatments comes up...half surprised it hasn't already, personally.

Regards.
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