Theta dealers in the Washington DC area?

Avoid Soundworks, I've heard nothing but bad things about them, snooty attitude, etc.

Jond, I disagree. I know Mark Haflich, a co-owner of Soundworks, from over at www.avsforum.com (I moderate two forums over there, including the Special Guest forum) and Mark seems to be a class act. Be careful about what you've "heard" because it may not be accurate. First hand knowledge is more significant. You can e-mail Mark at jhaflich@erols.com and I think you'd find that Mark takes good care of his customers. By the way, I was talking with Lisa at Stewart Filmscreen the other month when she was making the arrangements for our AVS Forum CES Dinner Party sponsored by Stewart Filmscreen, and she happened to mention that Mark and his company Soundworks were one of their best dealers.

I would recommend going over to www.audioasylum.com and doing a search on Soundworks. I don't have any personal axe to grind, but I think you'll find some revealing posts there.

My experience at Soundworks about four years ago was about what the posts on audioasylum describe. The thing that floored me was that they flat refused to let me do an in-home demo. I was in the market for a HT processor, and was considering the EAD, but I wanted to take it home for a few days and see if my wife could figure it out and live with it. They said no way. I asked if I could buy it and have a money back guarantee, and was told no, I could only get credit towards a different purchase. Unbelievable!

Thanks Steve for the nice words. At Soundworks we do lend certain equipment out for trial. This priviledge is reserved for established customers. On new equipment sales we have a staunch no cash refunds policy. We accept returns for 30 days and issue a store credit which may be used at anytime in the future. I guess that's unbelievable. We have been in business now for 19 years. Most audio/video speciality stores last only a short time. We have learned that we can not keep everyone happy all of the time but we keep most of our customers happy most of the time. It is a said said fact but the customer simply is not always right. Transaction must be win/win. A new item taken home to play with for a few days, becomes a used item of considerably lesser value. Our policy of store credits only assures that we will not lose our shirts this way, It assures that we will at least make a sale to offset our new open box return. We sell over 100 different brands and in a credit situation can usually obtain a brand that we do not normally sell. Our true customer is indeed protected. TWe will not be a show room for internet sellers and we certainly are not a equipment lending library. We are here to serve our customers. People who use us but are not our customers once found out are rudely dismissed from our premises.

That said, over a period of years we have made mistakes. Salesmen sometimes have tough periods and may not always have acted as nicely as they should. I am continually working with the sales staff to educate them and to treat customers well. A customer doesn't have to buy to be a customer either. Lots of customers visit to see what's new and to get help with issues they may be facing. My wife and I have become friends with many many of our customers and each sunday during the summer have a barbeque for our employees and customers at out lakeside house in the country.
I think you will find it pleassurable to visit our store and will find yourself nicely treated.