Polk Audio

Funny how a thread about Polk can morph into a discussion about Best Buy.

But for the record, not all Best Buys have mini-Magnolia stores in them. In fact, most don't. And these "mini" Magnolias only carry limited high end brands and models. You won't find a B&W 802D at a mini-mag, but you will find the 600 & CM series. Electronics are very limited at the mini's too with no McIntosh, Marantz Reference, Arcam, etc. For these you must move up the Magnolia food chain to a Magnolia Design Center (also found in very limited Best Buys) or a stand alone Magnolia Home Theater store which I believe are only on the US West Coast.

Here in the Twin Cities, home of Best Buy, there are about 22 Best Buys stores but only 5 have "mini" Mags and only 2 have Design Centers.

So when someone says Best Buy carries VA, B&W, ML, even McIntosh, it is a very misleading statement. Best Buy owns Magnolia and these products can only be bought at Magnolia. Its sort of like when Ford owned Aston Martin and Jag; you couldn't buy a Vanquish at any old Ford dealer, now could you?

So don't feel bad Audiolabyrith. As for Polk speakers, I never owned a pair, so I can't comment on them.

I really didn't know who started the discussion about Best Buy ZD, but thanks for stepping up to the plate and admitting it.

While I agree with you that sales personnel in the Mini-Magnolias probably don't have the expertise to properly system match and sell someone high end goods, I will not make this same comment of a Magnolia stand alone store since I have never gone to one. Maybe they are qualified to properly guide someone to designing a high end system and I will leave someone who has been to one to comment.

Regardless though, I applaud Magnolia for bringing components of this caliber to the market as more and more B&M HIFI stores are closing due to lack of interest by the consumer and of course ID companies and internet sales in general. I hope they succeed. So even if the sales folks are not qualified at Magnolia, is it any different than buying off the internet that is a trend we are all moving toward? The consumer better be educated and know what he or she wants because it is a self service world we live in! Finally, in my area we once had over a dozen specialty HIFI shops and are now down to three. At least having this equipment available at Mini-Mags and now Design Centers, bring our total up to 4 B&M outlets. For an area of over three million people!

"Those damn BMW speakers are way over priced, just like their cars. The speakers I have at home sound every bit as good.". You have to admit, its a possibility."

Thanks for seeing my points ZD and I can see yours too. Nevertheless, I still advocate Magnolia bringing these brands to market. As a consumer, the more choices and venues the better. So, I'll take my chances that Joe Six Pack may be confuse B&W with the Ultimate Driving Machine and walk out of the Magnolia room to go buy a soundbar in the Best Buy main store.

BTW...I bought my Vienna Acoustics speakers at Magnolia. They were the only ones in my area that carried VA. I had auditioned these after lengthy auditions of a Dynaudio set at a specialty HIFI store. Being a soft dome tweeter guy, it was down to these brands and VA won out even with the mainstream electronics that Magnolia had them hooked up to. And I will admit, the Dynaudio salesperson had a lot more knowledge and much better electronics. In the end though, armed with some favorite music and my two ears, the VA's from Magnolia are the ones that went home with me. For my tastes, I know I made the right decision. If Magnolia did not carry them, I never would have had an opportunity to audition VA's unless I boarded a jet to some other city. Happy listening ZD!