Its sometimes hard to separate the quality of a store from the sales staff you interact with, but I find very often that the treatment I receive from some dealers very much depends on the person I speak with. It's easy to point out quality individuals, but much harder to identify quality dealers. One often discovers the difference when problems arise and you need to deal with someone other than "your" salesman. Generally, when attitude and service vary across the staff, my comfort level with the store drops and I tend to base my dealings with them more on their written policies than with our relationship or attention by any individual. Consistency, fairness and personal service are necessary elements in my definition of a "quality" dealer.
That said, I want to mention a couple of stores that I feel fall into the category of high quality dealers. One of these is Bay Area Audio in San Jose, where across the board my dealings with their entire staff over the past couple of years has been excellent. The salesfolks are very knowledgeable, and I've never been treated with anything but the utmost respect on each and every visit. Sadly, their lines don't align well with my tastes, and I haven't bought as much from them as I (or they) would have liked. However, given this reality, and the fact that I'm still treated extremely well by them, I have to include them in that very narrow category of high quality dealers.
Another dealer that has been outstanding is The Analog Room, also in San Jose. As their name implies, analog is their game and based on my visits there, high end audio as a hobby seems to be every bit as important as it is a business. The atmosphere is very relaxed, the lines they carry are top notch, and the (tiny) staff is knowledgable and very helpful. Another quality dealer in my book.
Cheers,
Ken
That said, I want to mention a couple of stores that I feel fall into the category of high quality dealers. One of these is Bay Area Audio in San Jose, where across the board my dealings with their entire staff over the past couple of years has been excellent. The salesfolks are very knowledgeable, and I've never been treated with anything but the utmost respect on each and every visit. Sadly, their lines don't align well with my tastes, and I haven't bought as much from them as I (or they) would have liked. However, given this reality, and the fact that I'm still treated extremely well by them, I have to include them in that very narrow category of high quality dealers.
Another dealer that has been outstanding is The Analog Room, also in San Jose. As their name implies, analog is their game and based on my visits there, high end audio as a hobby seems to be every bit as important as it is a business. The atmosphere is very relaxed, the lines they carry are top notch, and the (tiny) staff is knowledgable and very helpful. Another quality dealer in my book.
Cheers,
Ken