Walking Into A Brick & Mortar High End Audio Store


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I am currently pretty satisfied with my system the way it is right now. I am not in the market for any new purchases right now, mainly because I don't have the discretionary income to make big changes. However, sometimes I get the urge to want to go into a hifi store just to look. Eventually I will upgrade my speakers, cd player, preamp, a new dac for sure and may give class D amps a shot...but not right now.

Is it cool to go into a store just to look around, knowing you don't have the money or immediate need for an item?
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128x128mitch4t
I had a completely different experience with Audioconnection. Mr. Rutan, after trying to sell me a soon-to-be discontinued Primare amp (he did not mention it at all), refused to take it back when I tried to return it. In addition, anyone in this business can easily understand that Proac + Primare combination can sound very lean and bright. When I shared my views on this combination, he started sending me cables and DACs (like REGA DAC which was supposed to add more bass and meat which was not nearly enough to change the foundation of the sound I was getting).

Finally, I had to put all the components together and went to his store. He simply did not get it and he accused me of, are you ready to hear this..., "trying to buy things that I could not afford!!!" After hearing that I just left the boxes there and attempted to leave. He then accepted the return but kept $250.00 for his spending pleasure (he had also kept another portion of the purchase but later called and refunded).

So Mr. Rutan might be a "man of integrity" when it comes to ringing the register but all that integrity vanishes when you are not happy with what he is trying to sell you.

p.s. by the way...I had been a customer there for some 15 years and introduced him friends who purchased $25,000 worth of equipment. After working in a hedge fund as a PM I was not exactly the bum he was imagining in his pathetic little mind. After I recovered from that trauma, I purchased Devore 3XLs and a Cayin A88T amp and enjoyed the my music collection. I will never ever set foot on that store, ever again.
Catama

Just had a bad experience in Berkeley. I was interested in a $1200 phono stage. Wouldn't demo it, just kept saying I should buy it's the last one in stock. Left without hearing the phono stage or anything else. This was on my birthday and a weekend vacation no less. I have yet to have a good B & M Experience.
Many/most B&M stores left are run by trustfund ego-trip types who are not all that worried whether you buy it or not.
I have not had access to a dealer in almost 40 years. The nearest one is a hundred miles away and I'm not certain they are still in business. In the 1960s I had three dealers in a community of one fourth the size of my present community.

The internet has all but killed local audio dealers. It is a very hard task to be one now days. Audio shows have somewhat replaced dealer and most repairs entail FedEx shipping.

I suspect that the future will see all local dealers of everything other than groceries and restaurants will vanish and chain stores for everything will replace them.
You sure fooled me that you were happy read your own words... Glad you found it JohnnyR
"""02-17-11: Ticten
I own a Primare I21 married to a pair of Proac Reference 8 Signatures. I can tell you with full conviction that the amp is a fantastic product with exceptional resolution, transparency and tonal quality. I am so happy to find this amp as I stopped searching and just enjoying my music collection. It is also amazing to realize that whether you listen to Alice in Chains or Patricia Barber or Mozart, the listening experience is always rewarding and revealing. I think a lot of people point out that the sound is on the polite side but I actually associate the politeness with a sound stage that is not thrown on your face like a cheap amp would do. Imagine a sound which is very transparent, airy and resonating, with lots of depth and deep base when it is called for. That is Primare.
It is in fact not surprising that BOTH Primare and Proac are not easy to find on Audiogon.
Ticten (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"""