Is my Salesman telling the Truth?

CORRECTED POST
3chihuahuas: if you believed "your sales guy" was spoutin' bull dung, why didn't you tell him? i find it fascinating that so few consumers - of damn near anything - are willing to confront uppity salespersons, even politely and diplomatically. my view is that silence in the face of bullshit begets more and smellier bullshit. unless you're in the fertilizer biz, speak up or stay away. otherwise, you're gonna' wonder one of these days why everyone's avoiding you while simultaneously holding tight their nostrils. just my opinion, FWIW. -kelly

Kelly, sometimes I have to "hold my tongue" and walk away in many cases because if I get started I may not have the control to hold back if things get heated and the bullshit is flying out of some fool's mouth. I am very passionate about the truth, and have a bad temper that I am not proud of. (My silver hair used to be red.) Salesmen who call on me in my vet practice are very, very careful. I have been known to excort them to the front door and somehow that word spreads. [:)] I wish I had thicker skin, really. Charlie

Some salesmen are very honest - usually the ones making either a lot of money, or barely any money.
A year or so back I visited a local high end dealer. I said I was buying a set of speakers and an amp. I mentioned that I had my heart set on a Wadia 850/860 w/direct outputs, so I would not be needing a preamp. The guy ripped up my choice in front of me, insisting that Wadia was garbage & that I should look at 'good' players like the ones he sold. I read his store newletter which had a similar bitter diatribe against Wadia. I thought 'why?'. Anyway, a few months later I mentioned the 'odd' experience to a local friend/audiophile. He told me this guy used to be the area Wadia dealer and had gotten into a fight with Wadia. My friend had actually purchased a Wadia player from this man, and was given the holy hosanna's about how great Wadia was at the time. Goes to show.

I would really like to see some of these obnoxious windbag 'experts' like him lined up and asked to identify, unseen, the equipment they sell. Honestly I find it sometimes takes me a few days to determine if something is better or worse.

Of all equipment I feel that cables are indeed the most system dependent. Try a few out, and see what you like !

Yes he is absolutely telling the truth. Just kidding, although I do own Tara Labs, I would never say brand x sucks. That's total sales bs. If a store rips a product they do not carry I totally disregard any comment. I've even had a high end store tell me one line was garbage and we don't sell garbage. Well six months later they sold garbage. Not all sales people are bullshitters,but just like any other profession, people that do bs seem to get far. I think many people like sunshine blown up their ass. I don't play that, many questions I ask I already know the answer to by doing research. That way I find it easier to identify whether a salesman is knowledgeable or just a bs-er. When it comes to opinion, I'm strong enough to believe my own. I even disagree with the ultimate salesmen who write for magazines on many issues. Hell, it's my money and I'll spend it on what I like. I don't care who approves.

Interestingly, an experienced Audiogon member (who has researched and auditioned many wires) is very likely to have much broader, and more in-depth knowledge than many sales people about wires, IMHO.

I've done a lot of business at my nearest hifi shop but they only carry Tara and Kimber "wires", and I wanted a broader choice so I went through The Cable Co. and in the course of auditioning and selecting ICs and spkr cables, I actually learned more, about many more wires, than a small store sales guy could. I now consider myself much more knowledgeable about wires than many sales people.

And the interesting thing is that they know, that I know more than them, about many more "wires". Of course the exceptions are sales people that are also heavily into audio and thus may have broad knowledge about wires, but usually, because of price breaks, they will use the store brand(s).

It's not my intent to insult sales reps. here-- many are knowledgeable and courteous, but they still want to sell their store products, and in fact they may well believe that their wires really are best. But are they best for everything? I trust my ears when it comes to "my" system. Cheers. Craig.