@jallan I remember Sound Machine in Charlottesville. I graduated in 1977 and stopped by the store a number of times. My preferred store though was the one in the Barracks Road shopping center near the movie theater. The name escapes me now but they were there the entire time I lived in Charlottesville.
Visited a Store and was shunned
I live in an area where brick & mortar stores are not easily assessable to demo equipment. While traveling for business, I decided to stop by an establishment on the U.S. West coast. My interest was in the Dynaudio Confidence 20 since I’m looking to upgrade from the Contour 20i. I’m not here to name names or throw anyone under the bus, just purely to voice my frustration and disbelief on how I was treated.
I was greeted with skepticism and a general lack of interest in discussing the product. There were two gentlemen working that day and neither had any interest in answering questions or providing a listening demo. As a matter of fact, when I asked to listen to the Confidence 20 speakers one of them immediately said “no way”. Both speakers were on stands sitting next to several amplifiers so it wouldn’t have taken much time to setup.
I was intent on making a purchase that day and having the speakers shipped to my residence, but decided to leave the store based on my experience.
It’s a shame that most of us have to relay on equipment reviews when establishments such as this lack interest in the customers that support the hobby.
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@salectric that was a very nice store one block from ours. We salesmen were friendly and listened to each other’s systems. I listened to eight Sonus Blue cartridge styli to pick out the best sounding three as they were prone to collapse, and used them in my turntable until about 1983. I can still taste the Grillswiths and ice cream fried on a donut , the name escapes me. We probably knew multiple people! |
I don’t deal in the same level of gear as many people here do, but I have to say, my one and only visit to a dealer was exceptional. Audio video excellence is located North Scottsdale and Bob Koopman is the owner. They were advertising a customer returned to benchmark DAC2 and I went To check it out. Not only did he take time telling me about it, but he ended up spending a lot of time with me, talking about music, systems, and took me up to the room where they demo their highest end products. He asked what music I like and when I told him he just started playing it. It was such a cool experience, and he was so open to share information and his time. When the time comes for me to make a higher and purchase than what I have in the past, it will certainly be there. |
There's nothing of note here in WNC to bother with visiting, when Best Buy and Guitar Center is the best you've got. A couple of AV installers for the 'flush crowd' looking for that sort for the new manse. There's a good reason I'm pretty much online for even gender-benders of late. Best sale ever...a new microwave from Wayfair. Unknown in audio.... |
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