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Voodoo in Ann Arbor

I am spending the weekend at a friend's house. He recently purchased my JMlab Tantal 509's and is in the market for a power amp. Since he lives close to Ann Arbor we decided to go shopping there--supposedly, good high end stores are located near major universities.

Anyway, we called Audio/Video Showcase and it was such a fiasco! What a salesman they had--he was trying to sell us *watts*...he wanted us to buy a Denon power amp (which to my friend and I looked questionable) without auditioning it and at full list price! Although the store claimed to be high end (Conrad Johnson, Bryston, Musical Fidelity, Denon) he was reluctant to have us audition equipment. Finally my friend asked this salesman to rig some JMlab Cobalt (2-way) with a Musical Fidelity dual mono 85WPC integrated and the MF CDP. The salesman used Tara Labas snakes, from power cord to speaker cables. IT SOUNDED HORRIBLE!!!!! It wasn't the JMlabs, as we're familiar with their sound.

Unbelievable! This was an absolutely awful experience. Why did this happen, we ask ourselves. Was it because we're not Anglos? Anyway we would give this store a 3 out a possible 10.
psychicanimal

Showing 1 response by karl_desch

karl_desch's avatar
karl_desch
422 posts
 
Hello psychicanimal,

I've been in Ann Arbor for a year now and have been to all the local "HiFi" shops. Your experience is unfortunate but not too surprising. The store you mentioned is actually owned by its neighbor "Big George's Appliance Store" So their orientation isn't necessarily HiFi.. Too bad too cause they carry some good Sonic Frontier and Dynaudio gear, just don't know if they know how to sell it.

Next time you're in Ann Arbor try Paragon Sight and Sound. They have a high end orientation and know how to set up a room for an audition. Also an older hi-end store on S. Main, Overture Audio, has great service/knowledge.

I had a similar experience at some stores in Chicago (Burbs), trying to sell high-end stuff without the knowledge or effort to set up a good listening room to audition gear.

Better luck next time.

-Karl
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