Audiophile 'Attitude'

Don't cross Martin Logan Speakers off of your list just because a sales person was a real jerk. They did not own the company, just the store and there are several examples of store owners or dealers that were pompus or jerks. However, I simply searched and found very good stores and dealers that were "human" and treated me as I expect to be treated. If you like Martin Logan sound, then go audition them from someone else. Same is true for any other piece of equipment. Discrimination take shape in many forms. Race, sex, religious, audiophile store dealer discrimination, etc. I refuse to pay anyone for bad service. I simply go somewhere else. I experienced similar treatment from a dealer that sold Martin Logan speakers. They sold many other high end pieces of equipment also. that didn't turn me off to Martin Logan, just that dealer. I still bought my Martin Logan speakers and the Mark Levinson 23.5 that he also used in the demo. I just found a friendly dealer that I have been going to for many years now. Stereo Design in San Diego is great.

Here is the problem with purchasing on line due to a bad experience with a sales person. On line purchases eliminate brick and mortar stores. Shoes, computers, clothing, electronics, etc. The stores go away and so do the jobs. So when we are all complaining about this country (and others) and the loss of jobs, remember that pretty much every time we (I, you, us) purchase on line it may cause brick and mortar stores in your neighborhood to simply disappear and jobs lost. It is really that simply. So, as I said previously, if a sales person (auto, especially auto, electronics, clothing, etc.) is rude, inconsiderate, etc. to me or mine, we simply do the following. We write a letter of complaint to the parent company and mention the name of the rude person and threaten to shop elsewhere. This serves many purposes. I know for a fact that most companies have performance evaluations for employees and they are based partially on written or verbal correspondence received about that person. Check it out, it is really true. So, if you simply walk away and don't write a letter, you have done nothing and served no good because no one knows why you left and they can't and won't do anything about it because you left no record. The employee performance evaluation is really huge in most companies. Also, they will most of the time compensate you for your experience. If you are humiliated or hurt or angry. Take action and compain in writing. It really works. But, taking your business to on line retailers, means that I or you won't have stores to go to where you can try thing on or hear equipment, or see the television because you , I, them, have put the neighborhood business out of business. Yes, I do shop some times on line. so I'm not perfect. But large ticket items and clothing,I go to my neighborhood stores, or drive to San Diego and listen and buy from them. going to a store to try something on to see if it fits or whether it sounds good and then ordering on line means in the very near future, you won't have that luxury because the store simply won't be there. Sorry for the soap box, but to me this is really important. One exception however, as mentioned earlier, if the manufacturer (not the salesperson) such as Vandersteen insulted me or mine, then I wouldn't give them the time of day anymore, and I would still write and complain.

enjoy

I didn't mean to start a wind storm regarding on line purchases. Most on-line companies don't have the staffing of brick and mortar stores. Nor do they have the overhead. You know, salespeople, demonstration people, people that talk with you, set up equipment so you can hear it. stores, where you can walk in and see and hear it. So, yes, there really are differences between brick and mortar stores and on-line retailers. Very low overhead and no taxes, so prices are naturally lower. this is not a level playing field for brick and motar store owners. On-line retailers take advantage of the brick and mortar stores and personnel doing their job first so you get to try it on, or hear it and then seek the lower price on line. Why do you think the price is lower in the first place? 1) no sales tax for the state (avoiding that overhead), 2) no sales people, 3) no physical stores, 4), no advertisement costs, 5) no benefits that you have to pay your staff, such as medical, dental, etc. need I say more. It is simple math and is really not fair to those hard working people. Also, many on line stores don't even have staff in your state let alone in your country. so when you find yourself saying "I need to go try on this piece of clothing, shoes, etc. or I want to go hear these bogama maximus speakers" and you find that there are no stores near you where you can do this. Don't complain, because you know why. It is also the fault of the manufacturers that allow their stuff to be sold on line also. So there is much blame to pass around. But the big bucks saved are avoidance of state taxes (this hurts your state and eliminates much needed resources) and the overhead that brick and mortar stores must pay that on line retailers don't. I guess maybe it is just me. But I will save a little longer and spend at my neighborhood stores to keep my favorite stores in business. Also, I am willing to pay a little more for better service and won't pay for bad service. I have seen far too many stores and their employees out of business lately. Remember the memorable scene in Pretty Woman? where she goes back to the store on Rodeo Drive dressed to kill and shows the snotty salesperson what she purchased at a different store? that was classic!!! I guess you lost that commission didn't you?? Now a days, one really can't tell who is who and whether you have money or not just by looking at how you are dressed, skin color, etc. So, they are learning to treat everyone well. Well, not everyone as is the case here. But, like buying a car from a pushy salesperson, I know how to get up slowly and simply walk away. But rude people? oh yeah, I will write a letter.

Most serious dealers have demonstration equipment which is basically brand new equipment set up in their stores for people to listen. I know the market is slow right now for many reasons. price that some people feels is wayy too high is one reason. So, allowing customers that are serious to take a piece home for a week or so to demo in their home is a great idea. Again, this is for serious customers. To prevent looky loos, charge a nominal fee for such service if necessary. For your regular customer that you know are good, serious customers, this isn't an issue. For high priced equipment, even for used equipment, my favorite store allows me and others to take demonstration equipment or used equipment home for in-home audition. this is a direct quote from my salesperson to a friend of mine in the store. "He said that he heard that (my first name) "I'm not spending anymore money" Minorl was in the store over the weekend." this is an inside joke because I tell him every time I visit that I have no intention of spending money and many times I walk away with something. Anyway, without such brick and motar stores to provide this much needed service, people would purchage on-line, have the equipment delivered to only find out that it really doesn't work well in their system, and they made a serious mistake. In the past many "high end" stores carried upper mid fi, lower high end and high end equipment to give people choices. Many times manufactures would insist that if you wanted to carry my stupidly expensive high end stuff, you also had to carry my crap equipment. Now this has changed, where the store can dictate many times what level of a certain manufacturer's equipment they want to carry and they also transistioned over to really popular home theater equipment to cover that market and stay in business. There are many high end stores in the Los Angeles area, however, over the years I have had tried them and found that traveling to San Diego is fun for me and the store I frequent there is much more accomodating and friendly.

enjoy

It's not the specs that matter as you are relating them. It is the R&D work, parts, construction, overhead, amount of units you expect to sell, market, etc. that establish the price. Specially made parts that costs way more than off the shelf parts. these all contribute to the price. I was told recently that Boulder markets their equipment, not really for the American consumer, but for overseas consumers that want huge, monsterously large American equipment. Therefore, they are constructed and sold that way for the overseas market. At least that is what I was told. Now, I do like Boulder equipment, but, yes, in my opinion, they are seriously overpriced. However, I can tell you that I can see and hear audible differences between low end and high end equipment. I'm not justifying the prices, but Take Boulder's $40,000 amp vs a $299 Yamaha low fi amp in a revealing system and there will be a jaw dropping difference in sound. The real question is what level of sound reproduction do you want? What makes a person want to get up from the listening chair and leave the room? Listener's fatigue? What causes it? On a good recording can you close your eyes and tell where the artists are on the stage? how large the stage is? dimensionality? space, depth? Or can you tell you are listening to speakers? is something or somethings missing? This to me is the difference between background music and actually listening to music. I enjoy music and music reproduction enough that I want a system that is as realistic as I can get.(that I can afford). this is why many of us upgrade a piece at a time until we are "there".

enjoy