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Certified Klipsch Heritage Dealers


Chad

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Stereo Stores are kinda scarce in my neck of the woods.

But the state population is small with only 2 "cities" of 50,000.

I'd have to go to Columbus or Ohio to audition something.

I know I've said it before--Stereo here, comes from Wally World.

But if I buy again, I'll buy used and I know Klipsch sound great

so I won't worry.  

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6 hours ago, Chad said:

Here's a workaround, until I have a chance to code in some more search radius options. Let's say you do a search within 20 miles. On the results page, look at your browser address bar. You'll notice:


&r=20

Change that to: 


&r=600

if you want to expand the search to 600 mile radius, and hit enter. 

I had to go out to 275 miles out from the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex to get a result (Hot Springs). 

 

From Google: "Dallas–Fort Worth is the fifth-most-populous North American metropolitan area by population (7,102,796)."

 

Seems like a great opportunity for someone here.

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1 hour ago, Zen Traveler said:

I googled to see where this stat came from and found that actual  Album sales dropped considerably from 2007 to 2017. Also, if 14.3 million vinyl  records were sold in 2017 that's out of 169 million albums sold: https://www.statista.com/statistics/273308/music-album-sales-in-the-us/

image.png.6e96ed5d41df546c4092ac83d3dfbd69.png

Their data doesn't look quite right.

 

The definitive source for music sales in the US is the RIAA.  It is free, and you can get alerts.

 

The peak for record sales was about 2000, since then downloads have taken over along with streaming.  They track all of it.

 

https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/

 

The point on vinyl sales is that it continues to grow (up another 5%) while the CD continues to plummet (down another 10%).

 

Here is the key, there is a direct correlation between the continued vinyl surge, especially during the last 5 or so years and the sales of speakers of the golden age like Klipsch.

 

That is why KGI did joint limited ed. speakers with Capitol Records

 

https://www.klipsch.com/capitol-records-speakers

 

Look at the price point of those products and who they are trying to attract.  Look at their powered speakers and which ones offer built in phono preamps.  Their first turntable project was with Pro-ject 4 or 5 years ago and they sold out in a week.

 

This is all studied, all tracked and looked at and they make adjustments.

 

Keep buying new vinyl, it 8s fueling the market for new Klipsch Heritage buyers

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Showing dealers closest to "94619"...

No results found

 

Yet there are 3 people with Cornwalls and 1 guy with Klipschorns within a 5 block radius of my old home there.  Their replacement generation has no store in which to hear them, so unless they know of those 4 houses ...

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1 hour ago, dwilawyer said:

Their data doesn't look quite right.

I was just going off the data from the source that CEC used. I have no idea but know of only people I've met her on the Klipsch Forum that listens to vinyl. My point was that most people buy speakers for Home Theater and those that listen to stereo don't buy big speakers compared to how they used to--Not even close....

 

That said, the most awesome Home Theater I've ever heard was at the HQ in Indy using 3 LaScalas/ 2 Belles and a pair of the THX subs and if could manage it that would be where I would start if I had the room. :) We auditioned a DTS disk along with an Animusic DVD that was AWESOME! I purchased it for everyone's Christmas present that year! 

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1 hour ago, garyrc said:

Showing dealers closest to "94619"...

No results found

 

Yet there are 3 people with Cornwalls and 1 guy with Klipschorns within a 5 block radius of my old home there.  Their replacement generation has no store in which to hear them, so unless they know of those 4 houses ...

Keep talkin' them up on the internet! That is the only effective strategy where most people get their information! 

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16 hours ago, avguytx said:

 

I don't envy dealers now...the customer is much more "educated" these days (in their own mind).

 

It's like that on everything, and yeah the internet is to blame.  I feel sorry for doctors where every other patient has a medical degree from WebMD.  

I taught myself how to sell by being a trailer dealer for 16 years.  That scene has the same things going on but is way worse.  Welders are the worst trailer customers you can imagine, they will nitpick everything about the product, and everything you say turns into a "gotcha" game where they're luring you into saying something wrong so they can point it out, all of which revolves around making themselves feel smart.  I've never seen anything like it.  Stereos are a cake walk compared to trying to sell a trailer to a welder.  :)  Second worst is independent transport companies, like these "hot shot" guys that haul small loads everywhere, they know everything.  

The worst I've had with stereo guys are amp snobs.  They'll call you up seemingly just looking for somebody to argue with.  

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No certified dealers within 250 miles of me.

 

My wife and II did travel 50 miles to a Klipsch dealer a few months ago to audition the Forte III. The setup was horrendous and I actually had to instruct the salesman how to better set them up so we could listen. We had to move them from the foyer of the showroom into one of their HT sound rooms. No one in his right mind would drop the cash to buy those speakers the way they were being demoed. There should be some sort of screening process to ensure that dealers take the time to showcase products with some semblance of thought, even if they are not "certified".

 

Shakey

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2 minutes ago, Rob K said:

Hi folks, can anyone offer advice as to which forums to post a set of nice walnut oiled Belles for sale?  Built in 1992, all original, very good to exceptional shape. I’m in the Chicago area.  Thanks 

You can list them here. Pictures, price and location will help your sale.

Welcome and good luck.

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/forum/63-garage-sale/

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On 6/20/2018 at 11:22 AM, Zen Traveler said:

It's all about a footprint to price ratio for Home Theater and that is what all of these stores are catering to. Hey, I'm an "old fart" and I can guarantee most folks my age aren't buying speakers for stereo. 

 

Because we "old farts" have been around long enough to have found speakers we are satisfied with?  The problem is getting the younger generation an opportunity to hear Heritage.

 

I can't believe that many independent dealers are so cynical as to go by footprint to price ratio for all their speakers..  Maybe for the majority of the speakers that they carry, but not for the special ones.  In the old days there were plenty of "footprint to price ratio" speakers in most stores -- AR, KLH, ADC, Dynaco, Sony, etc., etc., but dealers saved space for special products, like the cream of Klipsch, JBL, etc.  People wandering into a glassed-in demo room would look at one of these monsters, and say, "What's that?"  If these speakers were playing, they would drain the rest of the store of customers, as people crowded into the demo rooms and said "Wow!"

 

People would send their friends, just so they would have the experience.  Maybe they would buy nothing this year, or the next, or the next, but eventually buy one of the monsters, or buy a pair of small ones (Heresy?), then graduate to ones that take up a lot of floor space later.  Customers can be loyal, if enticed.  I stayed with one sales/music/engineering guy for 24 years, until we moved away.  At our first meeting, nearly every combination of decent amps and speakers were compared, so far past closing time that both our girlfriends were worried about us.   I wasn't rich, but didn't smoke, drink, etc. so I could buy so much: JBL horn loaded, Klipschorns, Heresy IIs, two Teac reel to reels, two Crown reel to reels, free standing Dolby and DBX, two Thorens turntables, SME arms, Ortofon cartridges, McIntosh preamp and two power amps, Luxman integrated, Lexicon cp1, etc., etc. My guy at the store built me a custom mixer from scratch.  I recommended all that I was happy with, including many Klipsch models to everyone from the barber (until I gave up haircuts) to carpenters on two music room/HTs, to the physical therapist to many film students & psych students/faculty.   I hauled Hersey IIs to work (SFSU) to demo them, and brought people home to hear Khorns.

 

When we finally moved, I struck up a relationship with an equally cooperative sales/engineering guy, an ended up buying a Belle Klipsch, a Klipsch sub, two processors, two NAD power amps, etc.  He consulted on my home theater, and he, too, built a custom component for me.

 

My friends, starting in high school, all through college, grad school, and careers, did the same thing.  They, too, heard the amazing  demos.

 

 

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45 minutes ago, garyrc said:

I can't believe that many independent dealers are so cynical as to go by footprint to price ratio for all their speakers..  Maybe for the majority of the speakers that they carry, but not for the special ones.  In the old days there were plenty of "footprint to price ratio" speakers in most stores -- AR, KLH, ADC, Dynaco, Sony, etc., etc., but dealers saved space for special products, like the cream of Klipsch, JBL, etc.  People wandering into a glassed-in demo room would look at one of these monsters, and say, "What's that?"  If these speakers were playing, they would drain the rest of the store of customers, as people crowded into the demo rooms and said "Wow!"

I don't think it's cynicism  as much as real estate is expensive and I still contend most people don't buy speakers for stereo anymore...Also, when you get to the price point of Heritage speakers there are other contenders and then comes profit margin comes into play. 

 

8 hours ago, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said:
On ‎6‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 7:07 PM, avguytx said:

 

I don't envy dealers now...the customer is much more "educated" these days (in their own mind).

 

It's like that on everything, and yeah the internet is to blame.  I feel sorry for doctors where every other patient has a medical degree from WebMD.  

I am not going to make fun of the internet because I have learned a lot online, but agree it has hurt brick-n-mortar sales. Otoh, it  probably doesn't hurt the bulk of Klipsch products except for some of their distributers who don't sell online....Btw, @MetropolisLakeOutfitters don't you do a lot of online sales? I would think the internet would be good for your business, especially people recommending you here and on AVS. 

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2 hours ago, Zen Traveler said:

Btw, @MetropolisLakeOutfitters don't you do a lot of online sales? I would think the internet would be good for your business, especially people recommending you here and on AVS. 

 

Eh, depends on your definition. :)  I don't have an online store but yes I do well with referrals from my friends and am eternally grateful for them.  I actually have zero complaints about the internet, the existence of it is nothing short of a miracle and because of it we are living in the golden age of entrepreneur-ism if that's even a word.  I don't even agree that it in itself hurts brick and mortar stores. 

 

The only thing that hurts stores in my opinion is rampant abuse of advertisements with discounted prices including B-stock and used equipment, especially on portal sites like eBay and Amazon.  Some manufacturers are improving this quite a bit, some not so much.  Denon for example is so bad that I don't even try to sell anything below $1,000, I just tell them to go elsewhere typically, which is a ridiculous thing to have to do but it's happened multiple times just this week alone.  Accessories are horrid, they aren't as protected and you can get them dirt cheap if you buy a ton of them, so things like projector mounts are often on big sites for cheaper than cost if you go through a distributor.  I mean ideally you'd be able to tack on a few accessories along with a larger item and make extra money but some of these sites make that extremely hard to do.  Realistically speaking though, these things are not problems that are inherent to the internet, the same thing could have potentially happened with mail order or a simple magazine ad with a phone number.  Consider that Sony is actually really good about policing these things, Sony dealers can still make good money due to a lack of some of the aforementioned issues, so I don't believe it's inherent to the internet itself.  

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21 hours ago, garyrc said:

People wandering into a glassed-in demo room would look at one of these monsters, and say, "What's that?"  If these speakers were playing, they would drain the rest of the store of customers, as people crowded into the demo rooms and said "Wow!"...People would send their friends, just so they would have the experience.  Maybe they would buy nothing this year, or the next, or the next, but eventually buy one of the monsters, or buy a pair of small ones (Heresy?), then graduate to ones that take up a lot of floor space later. 

That's what struck me almost 40 years ago, when I was auditioning Polk, Magnepan, AR, JBL (L100), Yamaha and many more brands, it was the Klipschorns with center Belle along a longer wall in a glassed-in room that absolutely captivated my attention.  That sound and listening experience never left my memory.  It's not difficult to hear the difference.  Having plenty of listening time with A-B comparison can help, but I personally found that the A-B comparison wasn't needed the moment the Khorns were turned on with a good recording playing.

 

Nowadays, I think that many potential buyers are still looking for a stereo setup because that's what 99+% of the music sales and all viable streaming/download services are producing.  By and large, people are still listening to stereo as the basic hi-fi format. 

 

Playing back movies in a multichannel system today is typically viewed differently (by most buyers).  In my opinion however, simply adding a center (like the Belle used to do) and surround loudspeakers/subwoofers is the way to go...staying hi-fi all the way.  With the Khorns/Belle, the only addition needed was surrounds and subs, and an AV processor/preamp.  PWK was probably the earliest proponent of multichannel (by 35 years or more)...and he was right.

 

Chris

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