+1 oddiofyl I just recently purchased a preamp from Fidelis and have dealt with them and the other two you mentioned in the past. All were low key ,respectful and polite.
What's your experience with snooty HiFi salesmen?
I began my Hifi journey in 1976 at a shop in Birmingham MI called Audio Dimensions. He was a Magnapan and ARC dealer who was kind to a 15 year old kid who bought a set of MG 1s with paper route money. The ARC amps he carried were about $4K back then- a LOT of money in 1976. In the beginning I drove my MG 1s with an old Fisher Studio Standard integrated amp. Since those lovely innocent days I have encountered some real buttholes. They act like they are doing me a favor as they quiz me about what gear I have and if I'm listening to "approved" recordings. Needless to say I don't buy from those guys. Several wives and businesses later I'm back into the hobby with a much vengeance as a 61 year old can muster given only so many free hours in a day and only so much cash to apply due to my other vices: Classic cars and salt water fishing.
Have you ever encountered a really good or really bad dealer (or employee) that changed your buying actions?
Darko posted a video on this topic which I found really enjoyable. Many of you have already seen it but for those (like me) who discovered it much later here's the link:
https://darko.audio/2022/09/audiophiles-are-snobs-with-money-to-burn/
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Lyric Hi-Fi in NYC and White Plains, NY was the worst. Here is a Steve Hoffman Forum about Lyric: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/lyric-hifi-in-nyc-is-gone.1078578/ My own experience was that the salesmen in both locations were snobby as hell and didn't really know audio. They have been out of business for a couple of years. |
I bought my vintage equipment back in the mid-late 80s and the guys at the store were like my best friends. Never stuffy and we would have listening sessions after they closed. They would let me take home new equipment to demo it for a few days and return it in a week or so. The store eventually closed and we lost contact over the years.I often think of them and wonder where they ended up. Flash forward to 2023---the only hifi store in town is a mess and the staff are just plain rude and show no interest in getting to know their potential customers. I've purchased more newer equipment over the years but travelled 50-100 miles outside my city to places with friendlier, more competent staff. |
I live in a big city and three out of the four places are just horrible, incompetent sales people mainly. One charges for his 'advice' and claims his advice is on the order of a Medical Doctor. Yeah, right. The other won't let you listen to any music but what he puts on. At the last place I was very clear I needed a turntable with an attached dust cover. The salesman then trashed every table he had except for the one that did not have an attached dust cover. Crazy - I mean I told him exactly what I was looking for and he ignored what I said. Lost a 4K sale. Another time the same guy spaced some well-known $12K speakers too far apart, making them sound really bad, when I asked him to place them a bit closer, he refused saying I didn't known what I was talking about. Later he calls me up and says his manager agreed with me and moved the speakers closer together and to come back in. I never did. I have other stories, but will end it with that one. Most audio stores could do twice the business if they knew how to sell - or even just listen! |
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