Audio Dimensions? I visited that place many times!
Harry was a great guy. I said was because he was quite old when I last visited but perhaps, he is still around. I'm not even sure if the store is still in business.
ozzy
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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@upshift and @szeidman2002 My shop was in Boca. As for Sound Advice, the guys who started it came into my shop one day--4 of them. They proceeded to laugh at me and my shop and told me that "they will run me out of business" in a month or two. Well, MR X put his profits up his nose, they were so in debt to Sony that they took over the company, and eventually: The company later went public until being acquired by Tweeter for around $150-million in 2001. After two filings for bankruptcy in less than one year, all 94 Tweeter / Sound Advice stores have officially closed down as of today.Dec 3, 2008 They were from Detriot and had been somewhat successful up there. If you lived there in the early ’70’s you might remember them. I don’t. They were "big time" for a while, but they never sold what I did. You may have also visited Sound Components in Miami, started by a man I know who’s father owned a mint in South America. He was better capitalized that I was by a mile! He started recording live music with a Stellavox and achieved some notariety in the "big boy" Audio world. He is now working at some big company--I don’t remember which one. The store is still in Miami, but I have no idea where or who owns it. It used to be in Coral Gables. Hi-Fi Associates was owned by a man who’s dad started a large rental trucking company and he was VERY well capitalized for a while. As I remember, he opened a few more shops and his dad eventually pulled the plug. I could tell many stories of those days down here, but will not. Suffice it to say, it was a VERY small group of us and we all knew each other pretty well, for better or worse. And yes, it was an interesting time in SO FL in those days...we will leave it at that. Oh, for those who wonder, I still listen to my Tympani I-C speakers/ARC gear from the late 1970’s and they are still the most accurate speakers made--the newer ones obvioulsy improved. Put them next to any other speaker and YOU choose. Many don’t care for them, but if they are set up properly with excellent tube gear, well, if you hear them, you will understand. Not for everyone, but for me, as good as it gets. Cheers |
I had read Sound Advice had gone out of business. I left S. Fl in 1980. I appreciate those guys (meaning Sound Advice) might have been arrogant. I rarely went to Boca as I would have loved to have seen your store. I tried to go to and lurk in as many as I could find. I remember Fl fondly because that’s where I first heard what music sounded like on a real stereo system outside of an all in one Soundesign. |
I don't really patronize any dealers where I am now but in the luxe goods market (which is what "high-end" is), I would always call well in advance to set up an appointment. That process itself was often instructive. I dealt with many dealers when I lived in NY metro- some good, some bad, some indifferent. Ironically, one of the best dealers I encountered in my last decade plus in NY was someone who I did business with entirely through house calls-- he brought equipment to audition, did visits to address repairs, brought manufacturers over, etc. It was only when I was in the process of leaving NY that I finally paid him a visit at his facility, which was impressive, but it was more of a social call than anything. A good dealer is something to be treasured--it isn't just about selling something--long term- the support, the knowledge, the willingness to explore other possibilities beyond what the dealer himself might regularly carry make for longer term relationships. I've found this to be true in all sorts of endeavors beyond audio. A good dealer will know that the relationship, the referrals, the repeat business, all count, probably more than ever. Having not set foot in a retail hi-fi store in years, I don't know how much truth this still holds. Most sales people learn how to "qualify" customers pretty quickly. The best "dealers" of any type of good or service will not be rude because you never know.... |
Interesting, I moved to Boca in '82. At that time I had my "dream system" from when I graduated from college. Worked a second job teaching at a community college and that went towards my first big system: Infinity Monitor IIa speakers Phase Linear 700B Soundcraftsman Preamp/Equalizer Rabco Tonearm mounted on a Technics Direct Drive Platter Still in Boca now. |
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