UPSET: Klipsch in a closet

[Bruinsrme]

Well, it is official Klipsch delisted tweeter as their dealers. I did a search with in 100 miles of Worcester MA. The search covered Boston, Hartford, Providence and New Hampshire.

2 locations; one is a liquidator and the other one is about 4 miles from my house. I went there and there it was the sound room about 10x11. After the projection tv and a loveseat I felt like I was in a bathroom of a boeing 737. the rear surrounds were literately 4 feet from my ears. I asked to turn the rears off so I could hear the fronts. The bass was so in your face it was sickening. After the 3 minute demo of the pod race I was asked; uck uck how about that. I told him, I felt like I had a pair of headphones on.

It's upsetting to see the klipsch tucked away in a corner, I am sorry a sound room.

I still do not see the logic in pulling out of tweeter.

Thank you for reading my babble,

Scott

[Marvel]

While out picking up a router for our DSL connection today, my youngest son and I stopped by the Tweeters in Chattanooga. They still have some Klipsch on display in big rooms. They have some KLF10s for $599. Mostly smaller stuff, like the SB 1, SB2. At least there you could hear what was being played. At Best Buy, there was so much other noise you couldn't tell much difference between the Klipsch and the Sony or Yamaha gear. Really too bad. A big warehouse room with everything turned on is no way to pick speakers.

Marvel

[skonopa]

Yeah, I sure as hell wish Klipsch could have at least kept the Reference in the Tweeters. Since they pulled out, now the closest Klipsch is 45 miles away in Falls Church. Some outfit called Sound Images. From thier website, they look like a pretty nice place. May have to make the road trip up there. I'd like to hear some good amps with the Klipsch. I see they have Conrad Johnson, Adcom, Lexicon amongst a few others. I'd like to see what kind of speakers they have.

[TheEAR]

"A big warehouse room with everything turned on is no way to pick speakers."

One of the reasons I will never,EEEEVER give one dime to a chain store.I do not buy audio at these megastores,only mid-fi can be purchased there.

Quality audio is only purchased thru a qualified authorised dealer who has a real setup(real soundroom with real acoustical treatement and real gear).

Nobody serious will pick any serious audio gear in a departament store or warehouse.Unless they know what they want and the price is cut in half.

[Bruinsrme]

snokopa,

poking around tweeters site it looks like they are forging forward and not looking back.

press releases

looks like tweeter recruited the assistance of

Retail Masters, a group led by Wade Fenn and other ex-Best Buy Executives, will assist our team with the work.

I wonder if they had anything to do with getting Klipsch into best buy and out of the hair of tweeter?

Uhmmmmm

Scott

[Kman]

I feel your pain- not much in the Massachusetts area-was looking forward to hearing the new line. What speakers did you get a chance to listen to anyway- are you looking for someother Klipsch- I know you mentioned before you were trying to sell some of your reference stuff.

Kman

[shoe11]

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On 6/6/2003 9:22:00 PM skonopa wrote:

Yeah, I sure as hell wish Klipsch could have at least kept the Reference in the Tweeters. Since they pulled out, now the closest Klipsch is 45 miles away in Falls Church. Some outfit called

Sound Images

. From thier website, they look like a pretty nice place. May have to make the road trip up there. I'd like to hear some good amps with the Klipsch. I see they have Conrad Johnson, Adcom, Lexicon amongst a few others. I'd like to see what kind of speakers they have.

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skonopa,

Sound Images just recently picked up Klipsch. I've been there a few times. In addition to what you listed amp-wise they carry YBA, Quad, Musical Fidelity, and B&K. The one CJ tube they add was sitting on the floor in the back with the used gear. They are not tube fans. Speakerwise again you have Quad, JM-Lab (very nice). They carry some good gear. If you get up this way, roll up to Centreville and stop at "The Gifted Listener". Very nice guy owns the place. He carries Rotel, Linn, Bryston, Mark Levinson, Rega, VTL for source. Primary speakers I recall seeing there were Thiel and REL. Definitely a high end store, but some of it is reasonable. I will, however, pass on the $20k Linn CD player.

~shoe

[WMcD]

This is what we've been discussing and what must drive the businessmen at Klipsch go nuts in setting up a distribution system.

At the retail level, sophisticated buyers want a nice showroom which naturally figures into to mark up. Then the sophisticated potential buyer will make note of the model number and go to a superstore where there is less of a mark up.

Then also, unsophisticated potential buyers at the super store don't get a fair chance to hear the merits of the system. He buys something else out of ignorance.

Then there is the guy who will not make any purchase unless it is off the internet at the rock bottom price and cries that there is something wrong.

Everything breaks down.

Gil

[Klipschfoot]

Went on a mission to buy Nemesis tonight at BB and saw the Klipsch setup next to KLH(!!) in usual BB style. NO salespeople anywhere. At least 10 minutes went by. A shopper was checking out the on-sale $2K 5.1 system (while his wife was, of course, pointing out the "nice little ones") with what looked like a 20" TV for theater effects esconsed on a pedestal. He couldn't find the surrounds (even after pushing the demo console buttons) until I pointed them out 10' above and behind our heads on a suspended shelf. Don't worry, Klipschguys, nobody was selling/buying the Sony leftovers, or the JBL, or the KLH either. Perhaps Friday night is a bad night for audio buying.

The reference series can be found in a town 18 miles away, and I live in an upscale planned city. I guess Klipsch has to play hardball with fastfood audio buyers. BTW, the boutique audio guys 18 miles away did not seem at all interested in selling the Klipsch "Reference" line above their esoterica lineup - and I am not some whiny derelict-looking kid wanting to test my burned Metallica MP3s.

[skonopa]

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On 6/6/2003 10:11:38 PM shoe11 wrote:

They carry some good gear. If you get up this way, roll up to Centreville and stop at "The Gifted Listener". Very nice guy owns the place. He carries Rotel, Linn, Bryston, Mark Levinson, Rega, VTL for source. Primary speakers I recall seeing there were Thiel and REL. Definitely a high end store, but some of it is reasonable. I will, however, pass on the $20k Linn CD player.

~shoe

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You are just up there in Centreville? I'll have to check that place out there. I am quite familier with REL so I know how good thier stuff is. I wonder if they have some of thier bigger subs like the Stentor III or Stadium III. Would love to hear those. I have also always wanted to hear the JM-Labs stuff. Would be nice if Fredericksburg had something decent besides the Tweeter. There is one other place here that I know of, but I think they only deal with car audio. Maybe I'll check them out anyway to see what they have.

[kev313]

"an upscale planned city"

That sounds kinda freaky.

[m00n]

Yeah.... I miss my Magnolia HiFi. However, there is a shop across town where I piced up my RF7 center about months ago. They were doing some constuction inside their building. They were adding at least one demo room. Setting it up with projection and all that.

[Marvel]

Gil,

You are absolutely correct on the panic this must cause the marketing department. Some things I buy I know are throwaways, so it doesn't bother me to go to a cheap retail store. Some things you know won't break, so the same thing. It all gets down to service. You can't have really nice listening rooms and be pushing the $100 speakers. You wouldn't make money. I would hate to take something back to a mass market retail store that was broken and needed work. Not much different than buying off Ebay.

Marvel

[Griffinator]

From that perspective, what Klipsch did makes perfect sense.

Instead of killing the little guys buy allowing Magnolia and Tweeter to undercut them on the same models (Reference), Klipsch says "OK, we'll sell the entry level (Synergy) at the superstore and allow the small shops to do the nicer stuff without fear of being slaughtered by the competition. Win-win situation. Klipsch gets the mass recognition and increased volume that superstore sales get them, but still curry favor with the local hifi shops by pulling their upscale product away from the conglomerates.

I like the idea, myself. Were I the owner of a small shop, I'd immediately get on board with Klipsch Reference - a product I can sell confidently, knowing that the big boys aren't going to screw me with the price cutting.

[jzoz01]

I can see this perspective. Someone who shops at BB for speakers is not that likely to take the plunge into refrence ar buy from a small shop anyway. The BB shopper now has a higher quality alternative to JBL and blows. The lower budget comsumer that would have normally gone to the high-fi store and bought the synergy now will walk home with the new entry level refrence instead. Seems like a win win for the consumer. The higher end consumer can still buy their RF7s, whose distribution has not changed. And the Heritage guys don't care because they buy used. The only problem lies in the fact that it is possible Klipsch could focus more of it's effort on it's new cash cow at BB and less on R&D on higher end models. This shouldn't be a big concern, because I would hope Klipsch realizes that it is the higher end models that drive the sales of the lower end models.

[skonopa]

I was a little skeptical at first myself when I heard Klipsch was going to sell in Best Buy, but I actually agree with what both "Griff" and "jzoz" has said above. I am still a bit miffed that the dealer that is only about 1 1/2 miles away no longer has Klipsch, but if "Griff" is correct, that could very well be the reason why they did that. I hope another local dealer will eventually pick up the Klipsch. I don't particularly want to drive up through the crappy D.C. traffic just to go look at speakers (not that the traffic right here in Fredericksburg is all that great either). As was mentioned by others, I hope that Klipsch does not "cheapen" thier image by trying to milk the Synergy line for all its worth at the expense of the higher-end lines, especially the Heritage line. There are other companies that have successfully sold a lower end line at Best Buy, while keeping a high-end line at hi-end dealer and still maintain a reputable image. Yamaha and Sony are the two that comes to my mind. It seems that Pioneer is gaining new acceptance, especially with thier Elite line.

[Bruinsrme]

Just to throw another point out there.

I imagine 20 tweeters get more foot audio intereseted traffic than 1 (Kitchen, appliance, washer, dryer, airconditioning, audio video) store.

I can not see the logic in pulling product out of one the most popular audio/video stores in the northeast corridor.

I am open up for any insight/guidance/wisdom.

Scott

[Stephen328]

Sounds like my room. Yeah small rooms suck. Nuttin you can do, except in your case find another dealer. Good Luck.

[dodger]

Hello:

I have been to Sound Images. The statement is correct as to tube gear (my sister-in-law lived in Winchester, VA).

When you go to a Best Buy, you have to realize that they want a quick turn-over, not all of the staff is going to be all knowing about the equipment. As different merchandise comes in and out, the most popular will get the floor space. In my area BB, the Mobile audio room is twice that of the home audio. (Synergys in a car anyone?)

Coupling the facts already stated, the type of music is usually different, the wattage of the receivers and the distortion buyers throw into the speakers will be a riot to hear - and see if drivers fail and the most popular will be the WE SELL KLIPSCH signs and ads. Do you think a number of people will take the time to compare the Synergy line to the Reference line?

We'll see how Reference line sales go - especially when a number of people have to travel longer distances to hesr/see/buy the References and the "average" buyer will say "hey I just saw some Klipsch speakers that are the same size but a whole lot cheaper."

Trickle down econony here we come. Poor bracing, grille covers that have to be replaced, wire that is a monster to look at? I love Klipsch, even with selling 2 pair of LaScalas, I still own 4 pair. But even when I finally brought my Chorus IIs over, I had to repair the "stand" - 2 corners not joined, the glue/adhesive holding the plastic brackets inside the stand had all separated - somehow except for a woofer change because the 2nd pair of LaScalas did not have the same amount of bass - all I had to pay was freight. I didn't have to inspect each speaker so closely as now, IMHO.

How many here remember Fisher Stereo when Avery was around? Or Zenith?

Or RCA ? Indy, Mexico anyone.

Not a shot at BB, they have to cater to the masses who can't afford, or want the lowest price.

BTW: one other thing, with the number of companies changing to 2 way speakers - even if they sound good, is there a real or manufactured reason for the number of sub-woofers and extra cost ?

[Frzninvt]

I don't have a Tweeter store anywhere close to me so no big loss, we just recently got a Best Buy however I have not gone in to check out the Klipsch Synergy layout yet. The only Klipsch dealer that I am aware of in this state doesn't have squat in stock. They did have a pair of RF-7's on the floor but I think they were the only ones they had in stock and he was really looking to get rid of them from the conversation we had. To access an authorized Klipsch dealer with a sound room and product I have to drive 20 minutes, take a ferry for 25 minutes and drive another 10 minutes to reach his store in Plattsburgh, NY. He does have them set up in a very nice room however. I demo'd the Reference system he had in there that consisted of RF-7 Mains, RC-7 Center, RS-7 Effects, RF-5 Rears, and an RSW-15 Subwoofer. He was running it off a Denon AVR-5803 and I would assume a Denon DVD Player. I don't get over there very often since it is a major trip to do so. So I certainly do not have convenient access to a stocked Klipsch dealer.