Burned out hi fi salesman

Cinematic system's,you asked how i know what i want without ever hearing it,your question would be spot on if we were talking about me trying to achieve a certian type of sound which i am not,for the most part im satisfied with my sound & im not one to pick apart every weakness in a certian peice of gear.

early on in this hobby i discovered that i liked the way mcintosh gear sounded & made a choice to build an all mcintosh rig,after i achieved that goal i chose to build different mcintosh rig's based around xrt 22 speaker's & ive done that several time's using all sort's of mac ss & tube gear alike.

i allready enjoy the way my rig sound's so my searching & buying of new gear is just to try different peice's & have fun at the same time & not to achive a sound i think i dont have or that i need.

dont paint me with the same brush used to describe time wasting tire kicker's or indecisive buyer's, i never ask my dealer what i need nor do i want to be informed by him of anything,i do all my own research before i even visit my dealer so i know as much as i can about the gear in question,i also orient myself as to what other dealer's are selling the same gear for & what that gear will be worth in a year when i want to try something new,when i visit my prefered dealer ive made my mind up on what i want to buy allready & i go there with the intent on laying down cash on the spot,no game's just business.

most of the time i agree with you on most issue's but your way off base here,you point out that putting a $90 driver into a cabinet is not all that time consuming refering to the mark up & i agree with that but dont fault me because i refuse to pay price's for any gear that would allow a salesman/owner to take his entire family to the bahama's for a week's vacation for simply running my visa thru the machine & making a call to order the gear.

a good salesman should know the difference between buyer's that need to be sold & buyer's that come to buy & be able to handle both with courtesy & respect & a smart businessman would rather have a potential customer waste hour's of his time answering question's as oposed to sending him away with a bad taste in his mouth to tell other's how poorly he was treated in that store.

it's called customer service & it's something that audiophile's have grown used to not getting but now over the last few year's with audiogon having such a huge presence for buyers,dealers & manufacturer's alike alot of buyer's are realizing that they dont have to be treated like tird's to enjoy the hobby & the dealer's with poor communication skill's & age old selling pratice's are really feeling the heat.

mike.

To:Cinematic_systems

The reason I was at my local hi fi store was to pick up a Patricia Barber album. The sales guy spotted the "Vinyl" and started talking to me about equipment. I declined an offer to listen to "Whatever I want" because as I said to the salesman "I am very happy with my system". For me it's about the music, the equipment is only a tool.

Cheers,
Nocaster.

I think Cinematic Systems makes a number of good points, and I also think it's important to read the "writing on the wall," as he suggests. If he is saying that trying to please an audiophile community and having little yield is causing problems for retailers/system installers like himself, then there's probably some truth to that. Audiophiles can be a relentlessly unsatisfied group. But not being able to audition equipment can hinder other opportunities to buy as well. It's difficult to buy things on the Audiogon without having the opportunity to listen to the equipment first. I don't think that given the nature of the hobby, given the precision of the selection and the price that people should assume the same kinds of approaches should apply as with normal consumption choices. In an industry where sales involve a lot more misses than hits, I think people should cut the retailers some slack. Do you enjoy being able to go into shops and hear gear whenever you want and then buy on the Audiogon used because the stuff costs too much at the shops? Then maybe offer some gestures of appreciation. Give the dealer a gift certificate to a restaurant. Take him out for "several" beers, or what have you. I really really enjoyed one dealer last year. he gave me a lot of time, a lot of opportunities to listen to music on his equipment. I very much wanted to give him my business, but I didn't like the gear as much as I wanted to with my music. I ended up buying elsewhere. What did I do? I bought this dealer a gift set last December as a Christmas gift for his trouble. In so doing, I got another chance to listen and talk some more. The generosity to be able to listen is a two-way street. it doesn't come free for a dealer. Show them some appreciation and buy them a gift for the holidays if they've done well by you and you didn't end up buying. Their time and effort, even if ultimately for selling, doesn't come free. Bravo CS.

5% sounds like a lot to me. More like .5%. But that's the difference audiophiles pay the most for. I agree: the sales person was not a believer so he should not be in the business of proselytizing.

Washline a well balance post,congratulations and happy
holiday to you, ten years ago I am just an audiophile
who is learning,I am not making enough money to buy
expensive gears,but I have the potential to make more
money,that time many dealers ignore me, and it hurts,
because I do love music,you think the dealers care?
I did not think so.
Ten years after I can afford at least 30K system, easy.
Those dealers who did not treat me right, did not
get my business.I learn so much here a Agon,Emailing
Tireguy,Stehno,and many more friends here,I have learned
a lot,WITH NO CHARGE OF COURSE.
I have to remind dealers if they will treat potential
buyers right,they will remember that,and they will come
back,or they will refer them,It happen so many times,
I know a dealer who is extremely happy because, I send
Him a lot of buyers.We are both happy, because we are
able to help.Thanks