Would you trust a local dealer to help you put

hi seattlehifi;

here is the problem :

suppose you set up a stereo system, based upon what you think constitutes great sound. then i set up a stereo system based upon what i consider great sound.

i will probably prefer my stereo system to your stereo system.

what a dealer can do as far as "value added" to achieve the type of sound i want, i feel i can do myself.

i consider myself sufficiently educated to figure out how to reach my goals and can do so, by dealing direct with manufacturers who provide an in home audition.

a dealer can suggest and recommend, but the consumer is in a better position than a dealer to know what he wants and be willing to get the necessary information to achieve his goals.

if a person doesn't want to expend time, effort and emotion, then a dealer may be the answer.

if a person doesn't want to expend time, effort and emotion, then a dealer may be the answer. 08-11-12: Mrtennis

These are things I have spent, including money. But now I'm considering a different path to get some assistance, since doing this with no friends or associates in audio and in a vacuum has not provided enough musical enjoyment, and it's always been about the music for me, not the gear.

Mr. Tennis,

If you and I, together, attended a concert where the sound was clearly off, we would most likely be in agreement. It wouldn't be a case of where I thought it was great and you were looking at me in bewilderment as if I was tone deaf.

In my experience, 99% of the time when I heard a sonic improvement, the client heard it as well. Sadly, clients don't trust their own ears enough and I wish they would. I am not keen on selling people individual components based on a review that the client read somewhere. A systems approach is what we both preach and practice.

You and I (and others in this thread) ALL AGREE that only the client knows what sounds most pleasing to him or her -and this sound can change over the course of one's life, too.

There isn't a perfect speaker that suits all. Everyone has a favorite flavor of sound. If they know which flavor and can communicate it to me then great - I will know exactly how to advise them.

If they can't describe what they are looking for then I start from ground zero - asking them what speakers they have owned - what they recently heard and liked and by playing for them 3 different sounding systems (warm, neutral, bright) to determine their preference and then fine tune from there. When I sit down with clients to design a system around their lifestyle - I design it with them in mind - not me.

I do not have to sell what I have in inventory - this is old school thinking. When you deal with the very best in hifi - special orders are a must. I cannot stock every custom finish that Verity offers for every model in their line-up. I stock one finish and if the customer likes what they hear from my demo pair then I special order a pair in their preferred finish. I never understood why some dealers went to the trouble to open a speaker, dial it in, break it in, and then just sell it at a discount to then have to unbox another and start the process over. We keep our demos on hand and view that inventory as the cost of doing business.

Please understand that from my point of view, based on years of experience, there is no hard sell to high-end AV. A-B-C doesn't apply (always be closing). The equipment sells itself. I make a recommendation and demo a system or I bring an individual item over to the client's home - we listen to a few tracks prior to installing the new item and both the client and I know if we have a winner. It doesn't matter how much or how little the component retails for - I was making house calls with $500 dacs and USB to S/PDIF converters.

Finally, many of my clients are close friends and they are welcome to spend many, many hours chit-chatting about hifi with me but we do it outide of the shop - as friends should. We talk during hikes, over a game of chess, fishing on the lakes or rivers of Washington, during long lunches, or weekend dinners, etc.

I own the company so I am, in essence, a commissioned salesperson, right? However, I do not see the dealer to client relationship as one vs. the other.

Mr. Tennis:

I'm quite fond of ARC though I do not represent the line. ARC is not available to me in this market. But it's great stuff as is Nagra which I do represent.

If you had called me and said, "hey Burt, I've got this ARC amplifier that I absolutely love - what should I mate it to as far as a preamplifier?" You would have heard me respond, "ARC."

There is absolutely nothing wrong with sticking to a single brand of electronics in order to achieve great results if you are happy with the sound.

Best,
Burt

I mistakenly said Mr. Tennis but I meant to address my last few comments to Bifwynne.

The only thing I can say to Mr. Tennis is that you are severely limiting yourself and the potential of your system if you rely solely on manufacturers that allow consumer direct in-home auditions. It is more than just opinion that you'd be missing out on the majority of the best in hifi.