Music Matters at Definitive Audio

Jerry Del Colliano and I have been harping on the fact that if specialty retailers hope to survive they have to offer their customers more – a more satisfying shopping experience, better-educated sales-people, and better products.

The “Music Matters” events are the sort of thing that help manufacturers and Definitive connect with their customers. Sort of an open house with direction, these events feature gear from multiple manufacturers along with top staff from each company to demonstrate their products and answer questions. It’s sort of like a mini-CES http://www.cesweb.org/ without the elevator problems. For up to 500 local audiophiles and music lovers, it’s like a trip to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest http://audiofest.net/2010/index.php without the long commute.

Definitive Audio based in Bellevue, WA. is holding a “Music Matters” event on February 9th from 5:00 to 10:00 PM. It will feature gear from Audio Research, Ayre, Bowers & Wilkins, Classe Audio, GoldenEar, Finite Elemente, Linn, Meridian / Sooloos, HRS, Peachtree Audio, Transparent Cable, and Wilson Audio in six calibrated and specially set-up rooms.

John Giolas, Director of Sales and Marketing at Wilson Audio said, “I can’t think of an event title that better summarizes Wilson’s core culture than Definitive Audio’s Music Matters. It is Definitive Audio’s skill and expertise — and passion for music — that turns a mere collection of great equipment into a synergistic system that transcends the parts and becomes a conduit to the musical experience. We can think of no better way to celebrate our love of music than spending an evening with our friends in Seattle — listening.”

Audio Research will debut the Reference Anniversary Pre-Amp for the general public. Gilad Tiefenbrun, Managing Director at Linn, is coming all the way from Scotland to introduce the updated Akurate DS system. Bowers and Wilkins’ Senior Development Engineer Dr. John Dibb will traveling from Sussex UK for the event. Classé will debut the new CP-800 digital preamplifier. HRS will present the MXR Reference stand and GoldenEar will demonstrate the Triton Two loudspeakers. Other highlights this year will include Wilson’s Sasha, Meridian’s new DSP 3200 digital active bookshelf speaker system and the Media Core 200 digital music system, as well as the new VXR stereo amplifier from Ayre.

Definitive president Mark Ormiston is looking forward to “the ability to experience high fidelity music with the best manufactures in the world is a very unique opportunity for attendees. I’m pleased to have these manufactures commit to the travel and expenses associated with putting on an event of this caliber at a time when the economy still isn’t perfect. I know our customers recognize that too.”

Going that extra mile to give customers the experience of music played through a true high-end system is what specialty audio retail needs to be all about…

Additional resources:

Big Box Stores Finally Figured Out How To Make Money Selling Video – Can Mom & Pop Keep Up?