Is my Salesman telling the Truth?

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.

Are his lips moving? Then no.

Best way to buy speaker cables is to stroll into the audio "salon" with a 10 foot pair of large gauge radio shack speaker wires rolled up in your hand. Tell him you are looking for something that sounds better, but costs less. This will get his attention...and let him know right up front that YOU know what you are doing...and that YOU are not a person to be lied to. Seriously...all salesmen are trained to explain the features/benefits of the products they sell and explain why they are superior to the competition. This gets harder to do when their product is not obviously better...or is in fact obviously worse than the competition. Even harder still when the differences (as is the case with audio cables) are highly subjective when used with so many different componets. At this point, the salesmen with less skill and /or product knowledge will then tend to "dis" the competition. I personally would not buy from a salesman that does this...but being a salesman myself and knowing the hobby pretty well, will usually end up speaking with the manager or owner. When buying IC or speaker cable I always ask to take demo pair home to try in my system at home. If I decide this is what I want, I go back to the store, without the demos, and offer him 70% of retail for the demos or offer to bring the demos back tomorrow. NO ONE has ever asked me to bring the demo back. At the very least, this will establish a relationship with the manager/owner of the store and remember...he is a salesman too. The best way to keep from being lied to is to do your homework and be a knowledgeable buyer. Over time, when you walk into the business...the less-than-knowledgeable sales folks will head to the back of the store. If they don't, I ask them to replace the "big buck" speaker cables in their most expensive "reference" system on display with my radio shack wires and ...