It’s the time of year for saving money!
In 2020, audiophiles often report that they have a love-hate relationship with their local audio salon. That is assuming that they still have one nearby that isn’t predictably named Best Buy or Magnolia. Long gone are the other national AV chains that eased us into the hobby, including the likes of Circuit City (remember when they sold MartinLogan CLSes?), Tweeter (or Bryn Mawr Stereo as I remember them from Philadelphia), and Ultimate Electronics (sellers of an awful lot of Krell in the late 1990s and early 2000s, believe it or not).
These stores got more ink for being mainstream electronics retailers, but they, like the Magnolia stores crammed into Best Buy big-box stores, also sold high-end audio at some level or another. The effect on the overall hobby was a meaningful one, in that anybody with enough nerve (and it didn’t take much) could waltz into the “high end room” and hear some pretty cool audio gear. It might not have been the cutting edge or most esoteric of gear, but it was a start for many of us. Now those stores are gone, as are many of the best regional chains or even mon-and-pop audio salons.
In the comments section of a related HomeTheaterReview.com article a few years back, I was shocked to see the anger many AV enthusiasts directed toward their local AV dealers. These relationships over time haven’t been well maintained and there was clearly some bad blood. There are the legendary tales of pompous Manhattan dealers who wouldn’t talk to a young Goldman Sachs executive who made a $1,000,000 commission on a day-trade because he didn’t have an appointment.
A dealer in the Southeast never forgave one of our legacy writers for doing reviews on HomeTheaterReview.com, thus pretty much told him never to come back to his store (and he didn’t, nor did said reviewer ever send this regional chain another client recommendation, either). Custom installers will “order” you whatever you want, but generally don’t stock racks and racks of audiophile gear like classic audio stores from yesteryear. And online retailers are willing to deliver product right to your door, which has changed the game for many enthusiasts looking for maximum value. It is a well-established fact that things have changed in the world of audiophile retail.
If you have a local AV retailer, even a “hybrid” custom installer/audio shop, do you support them as American Express suggests when they encourage you to “shop local”? Does your local audio salon or AV dealer provide you a specific and unique value? Do they calibrate your new OLED TV for the Nth degree of performance? Do they recycle your old non-4K plasma? Do they have really well constructed audio and or home theater demo rooms? Do they invest the money to actually floor the best brands and models of today’s cutting-edge and more value-oriented audiophile gear? Is the staff friendly when you drop by? Will they spend time with you without an appointment? Will they give you fair trade-in values so that you don’t have to work Audiogon.com for the best price and deal with all of the headaches there? Will they lend you gear over the weekend to audition at home? Do they ever specifically thank you for your business? This is all on them, as some audio retailers can be pretty lazy and entitled. We saw the horror stories in the comments in that old HomeTheaterReivew.com article.
On the other hand, what do you do to nurture your relationship with your local dealer? Do you bring in new clients from your network of friends and family, even if for small AV systems and custom installation projects? Do you ask/demand for more than 20 percent off retail discounts thus leaving the dealer making a sale but a sale with not enough margins to sustain commissions, overhead, and the cost of flooring gear? Do you allow them room to make money reselling your used gear so that it makes sense for them to deal with it for you in a no-fuss no-muss way?
If you have a local specialty AV dealer and value them for what they do. perhaps it is on you to support them so that they can stay in business long term. On the other hand, the remaining dealers need to provide you a better-than-Amazon experience that delivers you not just always-improving performance but ever-evolving value. Because if they won’t, the online guys will. If the online guys don’t float your boat. used resellers on Audiogon.com and to a certain level eBay.com will. There are unlimited places for an audio enthusiast to buy gear to build the ultimate audiophile system. Much like a marriage, work needs to be put in on both sides to make for a successful relationship.
For those who say “forget my local dealer; they’ve done this, that, and the other thing to me,” be careful what you wish for. It doesn’t take much for even the best dealers to close their doors for good. And as we learned with Tweeter, Circuit City, and Ultimate Electronics, they can be replaced with non-experiential retail locations such as at Costco, Target, and Wal-Mart. With all due respect to these warehouse stores and the crude values they they often offer in bulk–they can’t offer the white-glove experience that a true high end audio salon can.
Is it worth spending say 10 percent more on an audiophile component investment versus buying it out of state or from the Internet to support your local dealer? I would suggest that in 2020 it is. It makes sense for you to let your local dealer know that you support them in a marketplace where it is easy not to. For said loyalty, you expect to be treated less like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and more like Richard Gere when he walked into the Rodeo Drive locations with his credit card blazing. He demanded “kiss ass” survive and got it in spades. Shouldn’t you get the same if you are loyal to your local dealer?
We’ve talked a lot about traveling and how important it is to hear new and exciting gear, be it in a new city or at a regional audio show. But what if a little therapy between you and your local dealer can get you back on track and keep the audiophilia hobby alive near you? Is that not worth a little extra effort and money? It sure seems so.
What is your relationship like with your local audiophile dealer? Have any closed near you that you miss? Have you ever gotten really good service and support from your local audio salon or are they hard to deal with? Do you travel for audio and video experiences, be it to shows or to other cities with more demo options? Let us know how you roll in the comments below.
Right to the point Jerry,the absolute truth about the relations between a/v dealers and clients ,I remember my first big purchase from Tweeter back in 2002 when I purchased a AVR507 from B&K components getting it from 2K at that point was almost half of the price as a demo unit I was treated nice and the relation dealer/client was great at that time same thing at Cambridge SoundWorks and that was in Massachusetts ..I missed those years
Perhaps people staying home to avoid contact with the virus..(that Rush Limbaugh denies is real) might show the value of having a good audio/HT system in your home…
Just Best Buy’s Magnolias section. There are still various mom & pop for car audio; but that’s it. Suburban southern NJ near Philadelphia.
My old hood!!!
Dr .Howard’s Audio Center in Deerfield Beach Fl. has advised several generations of my family in his iconic store. Always a trusted professional , hi end audio expert and dealer. Make dr
Thank you, Jerry, everyone needs to read this and take it to heart.
Retailers buy their demo products, those amps and speakers are not there on long-term loan because their manufacturers can’t afford to just send out products to see if they can get a sale. Add in overhead, salaries, benefits, and the costs of providing real service to their customers allows for thin margins. Losing a sale the dealer has worked for, because of sales tax savings or a discount, will put that retailer out of business. Consumers complain, understandably, that they don’t have a place to audition equipment. Well, guess what, whose fault is that?
Good retailers are not there for the quick sale, they are there for the long-term satisfaction and support of their customers. They can sit with them and listen to help decide out what is best for the customer now, and what will be best for them down the road. It is about long-term relationships, that is what quality retailers rely upon when business is not good.
If you are not treated well then tell the owner. Or, deal with another salesperson who you can work with.
And, don’t treat the dealer as your audio slave if you have no intention of buying anything.
No, I’m not a retailer, but I was, and I miss the old days.
Glad to see this. I own an Audio store in Seattle and it’s a lot of great questions to be asking myself. Always looking to improve the shop.
Spencer
Turntables and Trails Store
Good for you man! Its hard stepping back and truly self evaluate critically. All of us should in general but especially in business. I know I’ll pay more for good service 🤷🏻♂️ Good luck to your shop!
Extremely well written piece Jerry!
I used to work at Circuit City. It was my first real job. I hate to admit it, but maybe a brick and mortar store is just not a good business model in 2020. Even B&M retailers of more “mainstream” tech products and TV’s can’t survive. Just look at Fry’s Electronics. Amazon is taking business from many B&M’s. Even online only stores have a hard time competing with Amazon.
I’ve run a small B&M retail business in another industry for 7 years. It was a successful business for me and I earned way more than I ever expected.
I toyed with the idea of starting a B&M HiFi store, but the margins, risk, customer base, and effort involved with making a profit in HiFi just didn’t make sense for me. I already had the space from my old business and still decided not to. I love audio and I could talk all day about it (and do on my YouTube channel) but I can’t risk the livelihood of my family on hoping audio makes a comeback.
I’ve now dedicated my time to helping companies in this industry make moves that I think will boost the entire industry. Many of these companies need to market better and advertise more. This industry needs to grow and thrive before there’s a chance that B&M’s can stay in business. There just needs to be more interest from a new crowd.
Don’t forget Lafayette Radio Electronics. They might not have been audiophile, but they got a lot of us started. Inexpensive amps, speakers, receivers and tuners gave many of us a taste of what was to come.
Believe it or not there’s not much of a choice in Nashville. I go online to Crutchfield, Zzounds and of course Amazon. I’m usually ahead of the curve, so eventually Nashville may catch up….I hope
I’m in Jackson and it’s worse.
A great article for a dying art.
I had an Awesome shop in Sacramento, about 25 years ago… I moved to Jacksonville and longed for that one on one attention and banter.
I finally got the resources and gumption to put together another system, this time primarily for music. Some items I was open to experiment with. My cables and interconnects were gonna be MIT. My power conditioner HTS from Monster. The amp was a tricky one. I had no way to audition it, since it was an internet based company. But, I figured the price point, the return policy, and the reviews would let me experiment. For a solid state amp the Outlaw Audio RR2150 definitely suited my taste.
Now my music source led me to an independent local store where I got to listen to the Jolida CD100A, and purchased one, the sale left a bad taste on my pallet. They sold only high end gear and over priced art… Yes art. As in framed wall hangings and corner inhabiting sculptures. I got a sense that they were happy to take my greenbacks, but also felt like I should have worn a tie and jacket to cross their threshold… Not for me.
When I searched around for the speakers I wanted, I am a BIG fan of Paradigm, there was only 1 dealer near me. Near me is an hour and a half away. I called and asked if I could come in and listen to what I wanted, with My source material. “Sure!”, they said.
I show up on a Friday afternoon, with my hard earned dollars in pocket, reminded the salesman what I wanted. He had already set up the speakers with comparable gear, and turned me loose with the system. It was wonderful… But, wait there’s more! After we completed our transaction, right at closing time, he asked me I had time to play. Having just become the very happy owner of a set of Paradigm’s Titan Monitors and a DSP1000, I said, “Hell Yeah!”.
He then closes shop, and takes me on a tour of an audiophile’s playground. Paradigm’s high end, Def Tech, I think there were some Martin Logans, and crescendoing in a system by McIntosh that was worth more than the house I live in. It was a wonderful experience. And a rarity these days. If you find a place that will treat you like a customer, and not a dollar sign, you should treat yourself, and relish that relationship.
I recently bought a $4,000 component from a local dealer. I paid MSRP because they got it for me in 3 days and gave me 30 days to return it with no charge, and because I want them to survive. Since then, they’ve given me great service.
But I ask, why did I have to negotiate hard to get those terms, by reminding them that Crutchfield would sell me the same component with free 2-day shipping and 45 days to return it? (The local’s original terms were two weeks for delivery and no returns on special orders.)
So yes, I try to nurture my local dealers. I think this one could make it easier for audiophiles to love them. Or maybe manufacturers could make it easier for dealers to make it easier….
I live in the Detroit area of Michigan and we’ve lost a good number of good audio stores. I decided to take a look at this place one day in Farmington Hills called Paulson’s and I was excited because I hadn’t seen a more dedicated type of store since Adray’s in Dearborn closed almost 15 years ago. Well, my excitement quickly turned sour. The salesman obviously only wanted people in his store who had significant amounts of money. First thing he shows me was a pair of beautiful but UNGODLY EXPENSIVE $35000/pair speakers, followed by a “more affordable” $5000/pair speakers. I was getting major vibes of snobby pretentiousness and walked out immediately. I love good audio as much as the next person, but for that price, I could see dozens of my favorite bands live and explore the country at some of the best festivals out there.
I know pretentiousness staff and booking a demo crap is what turns me away from visiting these high end stores in New York city. KJ west one in London is a good shop though they always cut me a deal on ex demo gear, I bought focal diablo utopia and Sopra no 1 for trade price which was nice of them!
I’m new to the game. I’ve been rocking JBL’s forever and have just recently gotten into turntables by buying an older Pioneer (2 of them). I have a local record store I frequent and haven’t even ventured out in search of another store because of the service they provide. Im old school and when I buy I wanna feel and hear…. I’ll support local as often as I can but when it comes to home audio the selection in KC seems weak. I don’t even know if there is a place to go too. Everyone I talk to or know buys online. Surely we can do better then that KC!
Nice read, thanks.
The trouble I have (living in a city of 1m+ in western Canada) is getting in home assistance.
I can walk into the stores and have a decent enough experience spending cash on nice equipment, but what I really want is for the ‘expert’ to spend 30 mins in my home theatre and make recommendations on things like room treatments, cabling, in-wall speaker options, etc.
That’s not easy to find.
Question is…are you willing to pay that commissioned sales person for his time to come to your house…or do you expect free advice like most people.
This is a really interesting idea. Dealers are losing to the Internet, but what’s the one thing a local dealer can provide that an online shop can’t? Service tailored to the customer, his needs, his system, and his room. It’s hard to understand why dealers aren’t jumping on this idea. Charge a fee, refundable if a sale results. But to give the customer really good advice, you’ve got to see (hear) where he’s at now, and more times than not, that means visiting the customer at home.
Audio “salons” (like Lyric Hifi) are places provided for the ignorant rich to be preyed upon by the parasitic salesmen .
We have one if the high end AV stores in Newberg, OR. I wanted to replace my 30 years old speakers and I walked in without an appointment. There were no other customers and consultant was friendly. He showed me a couple of speakers. I really liked one pair and asked him for an offer. Back home, I looked up online and found that other retailers sell the same model for 40%(!) less. I asked if my local store could match the price and from my side I offered additional $100 on top of that to support local businesss. The store refused, explaining that online offers were not from authorized dealers and the speakers would not be covered by warranty. Then I found one online dealer that was authorized yet offering a 40% cheaper price. My local store didn’t respond to my 2nd offer and I purchased speakers online.
I agree to pay a higher price to local business, but I do not think 40% difference can be justified.