It does rather seem that a great many stores operate with a ‘sales prevention force’.
I definitely do not subscribe to the ‘you should have made an appointment’ view. This is a hobby over which we connect with like minded people, who then help each other.
*
In my stone broke 20s I walked into a HiFi store to look. The owner engaged me and spent several hours with me listening to CD players, low power amps and small bookshelf speakers. He took me from reading What HiFi reviews to listening and distinguishing based on sound and synergy.
That day he sold me a Marantz CD player, a Creek Audio 4040, a pair of Royd speakers and some Kimber cable. It was a humble but very musical set up that saw me into my forties. I recall it cost less than £800. A lot of hours for not much profit.
Immediately after I had arrived at my selection though, he said ‘of course digital is not where it’s at, listen to this…’ He then spun the last test track we had been listening to again. This time not a CD but on vinyl on a Michell Gyro with an Ittok arm with a Troika cartridge, played through some exotic system with a total value of over £30,000 I seem to remember. As you might predict, the soundstage exploded all around me. I was awe struck.
Why bother? No way I could have even begun to buy any part of that system. There was no money in it for him. And yet, today I own an Orbe, SME-V, and Cadenza Bronze, precisely because of that joyous moment.
That chap who owned his own shop, was an enthusiast, willing to share his passion. He set the same fire in me. Sure, someone else in his profession reaped most of the yield from his groundwork, but what goes around comes around. And even then, I honestly believe that we both enjoyed those hours together.
These are the people we should do business with. There is so much more to the experience than just hardware acquisition.
* There’s another point here as well. Which I am afraid brings out the irascible old man in me. When I go somewhere to buy a premium item, I expect a commensurate experience. I do not want to be fawned upon - no sucking up required. However, I will not queue outside a watch shop. I will not see if there is a convenient date on which I can buy an expensive car. I will not establish my credit bona fides before entering a HiFi shop. There is a school of thinking that operates in America that seems to believe customers need to be made to feel that they have been granted the privilege of being allowed to enter a shop selling items one can buy anywhere. Nonsense! Genuinely top end establishments treat paupers and kings both with good manners. It’s the right thing to do, and they know that very often one cannot tell these two people apart just by looking.
