Upscale Audio and Primaluna

Anytime I hear a salesperson bad mouth another product,the red flag goes up,and I head out.  Years ago I worked retail sales,and whenever a customer came in looking for a product I didn’t carry,the FIRST thing I would say was”GREAT product”! Why on earth would any salesperson start off with a potential customer by insulting them??  Once you compliment someone on the product they are looking for,now you can start to qualify them. 

Whether it be audiophile gear, cars, real estate, religion or politics... Life's too short to endure pushy sales people.

@rocray You are indeed correct, that is the right way to be a successful sales person. BUT, for the sake of the discussion, what if someone called their audio dealer and said "I have a Humperdink Integrated" and I am interested in a pair of the "XYZ Amazing speakers". What if the Humperdink is a marginal amp? Sure there are ways to say it better or more elegantly but the last thing we would want a reputable dealer to do is sell the speakers to the customer when there is no hope of driving them appropriately with the amp.


Maybe some of the problem is the person who takes it personally that they are trying to match something to an ill advised previous purchase. Talk to enough audio dealers and they would likely admit that is the call the hate the most. "Make this work for me but I'm tying your hands behind your back because you must work with the weaknesses of the system the customer is inflexible with".


I've seen some of the dealers I do business with extend such a gracious amount of time to people they know will never purchase, listening to the stories of how perfectly they have put together their system. One dealer friend shared with me that the problem with hobbyists is that they think its a hobby for everyone involved...like the purpose of an audio shop is to be the local clubhouse for the hobbyist community. Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not.

The first thing I would say is the Humperdinck is definitely a wonderful integrated! However,have you ever listened to the Spitsalottasmoke??  I get your point. There is always a diplomatic way of being honest without turning a potential sale into an audio forum rant.  Let’s put it this way,right ,wrong or indifferent, I wouldn’t spend my cash with someone abrasive. 

I'm not an Upscale fan. Apart from the dubious provenance of the rectifier I mentioned earlier (and the even more dubious explanation offered by Kevin), I don't like their Prima Luna hustle. I called recently to ask about some speakers and was pitched Prima Luna. This was before the hustler found out anything about me or my systems, or even asked about my current amps. Amazing.