Yes, quite correct. Thank you. Entirely my fault. I spotted my error too but as far as I can tell, it isn't possible to re-edit the thread posting once it has been posted. Ho hum as some of us say in the UK. Re your observation "The very top has advances but at an extremely high cost" - I agree with you 100%.
Despite being a high-end retailer, I am in the main increasingly frustrated that despite excellent margins on new gear, the true value for money for the discerning buyer is declining year upon year. Commercial opportunism at its most blatant. Some of the techniques used by some retailers to facilitate this are very advanced. Many prospects don’t realise what’s happening to them …. even while it’s happening. And that of course is the art, if not the science – of careful deceit.
I might get around to explaining how these techniques can be applied successfully to the majority of even well-informed prospects. But that’s a story for another day I guess.
Now I do appreciate that I may well be preoccupied by the need for my customers to truly believe, through experience rather than as a consequence of underhand techniques, that they have via me achieved true and tangible value. Sometimes, given their aspirations versus their budget this can only be achieved in part or in main through the sale of vintage gear. This though is not without its own counter-intuitive challenges though.
Naturally, me being atypical in my approach (but I most certainly don’t claim exclusivity in this) does result in occasionally curious responses. It’s a sad reality that the degree of scepticism in the minds of a few is such that they truly wonder where the ‘catch’ is. Sadly and somewhat frustratingly too, this approach and openness still results in occasional incongruence. By this I mean that while they ended up with a sound they love at a price they wanted to pay, the absence of stress and fuss is so disturbing and contrary to their expectations that I know full well that total customer satisfaction is beyond my skills. Sad, but true. This too I guess goes with the territory. Meanwhile . . .
Try as I may, I truly cannot hear the degree of improvement so often claimed by makers and self-deluding importers and some UK audiophile journalists. Sometimes I do and yes, after 34 years doing this I know what to listen for, the improvement just isn’t there. There are differences, yes. However the cleverly constructed illusion foisted on the buying public that a difference is axiomatically an improvement is, no doubt about it, astonishing.
Through a process of skepticism I only now sell LFD and Manley when it comes to amps and only Benchmark for DACS. I do okay. More of a hobby now than a money-making business, but I’m content. I can’t reasonably ask for more than that now can I?
Despite being a high-end retailer, I am in the main increasingly frustrated that despite excellent margins on new gear, the true value for money for the discerning buyer is declining year upon year. Commercial opportunism at its most blatant. Some of the techniques used by some retailers to facilitate this are very advanced. Many prospects don’t realise what’s happening to them …. even while it’s happening. And that of course is the art, if not the science – of careful deceit.
I might get around to explaining how these techniques can be applied successfully to the majority of even well-informed prospects. But that’s a story for another day I guess.
Now I do appreciate that I may well be preoccupied by the need for my customers to truly believe, through experience rather than as a consequence of underhand techniques, that they have via me achieved true and tangible value. Sometimes, given their aspirations versus their budget this can only be achieved in part or in main through the sale of vintage gear. This though is not without its own counter-intuitive challenges though.
Naturally, me being atypical in my approach (but I most certainly don’t claim exclusivity in this) does result in occasionally curious responses. It’s a sad reality that the degree of scepticism in the minds of a few is such that they truly wonder where the ‘catch’ is. Sadly and somewhat frustratingly too, this approach and openness still results in occasional incongruence. By this I mean that while they ended up with a sound they love at a price they wanted to pay, the absence of stress and fuss is so disturbing and contrary to their expectations that I know full well that total customer satisfaction is beyond my skills. Sad, but true. This too I guess goes with the territory. Meanwhile . . .
Try as I may, I truly cannot hear the degree of improvement so often claimed by makers and self-deluding importers and some UK audiophile journalists. Sometimes I do and yes, after 34 years doing this I know what to listen for, the improvement just isn’t there. There are differences, yes. However the cleverly constructed illusion foisted on the buying public that a difference is axiomatically an improvement is, no doubt about it, astonishing.
Through a process of skepticism I only now sell LFD and Manley when it comes to amps and only Benchmark for DACS. I do okay. More of a hobby now than a money-making business, but I’m content. I can’t reasonably ask for more than that now can I?