Q-Man Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 My two sons and I started installing a kitchen yesterday and went back to finish it this morning. On the way home we drove by a rather new AV store that opened in our area that I've been meaning to check out. I turned into the empty parking lot which had a few nice cars in it. I parked next to a new Mercedes SL600 and down a couple of parking spots there was a Cadillac CTS and a Porsche Carrera. That gave me an idea what I was going to run into inside. That's all that was in the lot besides my 4x4 truck which had the back end over flowing with tools. My sons almost refused to go in, because of the way that we looked. I had to twist their arms a little and tell them that my money is the same color as the ones inside. We made $3,800.00 on this job and it was about what I need for an A/V processor. Before any of you think that that is a lot of money for a couple of days work, I'm always at least $1,000.00 cheaper then Home Depot and Lowes and most cabinet shops in my area. I also help them with alot of the design work before hand. I don't gouge people. I still had air in the compressor so we took the time to blow the saw dust of ourselves and went inside. It was like walking into a movie theater. It was so dark that I had to wait for my eyes to adjust before walking in too far. I just stood there for a few minutes and listened to the subwoofer rattle objects near the front door. I said to myself that this place has potential. When I watch movies and listen to music at home I keep a small flash light next to my chair. We proceeded into a large room where most of the sound was coming from and we were guided by the light from a big screen using a Ronco projector. My son asked if the Ronco (sp?) was any good. I told him that we would have to do about 10 more kitchens to pay for one of those. No one was in the room so I made my way to the AV rack by means of the glowing lights from the equipment. We were listenig to an Anthem AVM 20 processor and an Anthem PVA 7 power amp. There was also some Marantz and Sherbourn equipment in the rack. I walked around the room some more to see what speakers that we were listening to. I think we were listening to some B&W speakers. Arn't they the ones with that tear drop shaped tweeter sitting on top of them. They were around 40" high. The center also had the tear drop tweeter. The matrex was playing so after about 15 minutes of walking around the room I found the remote to the processor. I then sat back on the sofa and cranked it up a bit more. We watched the movie for about another ten minutes and then I turned it down and asked my sons what they thought. They said the Ronco and the screen were nice, so I asked about the sound. We all agreed that it didn't sound nearly as good as what were used to listening to. The midrange was terrible, and I guess the highs were too. Maybe they had it adjusted wrong, because I think the sub was over powering the speakers. I said before that I live like a hermit and don't get out much. So I rarely ever get to listen to another HT system. I went to find a sales guy and I had to pull him away from one of his customers. There was only one in the store but we talked about the Anthem processor for a while. I went to a computer , got on line and printed a picture of my front end from the Klipsch Forum for him. I circled my LaScala front effect speakers and told him if anyone in the store could figue out a way for me to use them with the Anthem that I would buy the Anthem from him. I told him that he could use a Y splitter from the main out-puts or the Zone 2 out-puts. Then maybe to some type of reverb amp before going to the power amp. I wrote down my phone number on the printed picture and told him to call me if they could figure it out. Now I'll see if I ever hear from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 cool story! i like the part about your money being the same color as theirs. i always get crazy disrespect whenever I go into a higher end AV store. cause salespeople look at your shabby clothes or my peach fuzzed face and think you can't afford nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Great story Q-Man. Educational for the kids too. Shows them that higher prices don't always mean better quality. I have a high-end shop nearby. The one time I did go in, they chuckled when I mentioned klipsch. They are an authorized dealer but don't have much in the store, maybe 1 pair of RF5s. The salesman was a total snob and I'll certainly never do business with them again (bought a $15 AQ brush for my TT). Once I mentioned klipsch, the quality of service I got dropped dramatically. Most so-called high-end speakers today are very odd looking, don't you think? Seems like they spend more on exotic wood then they do on components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweek Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 i personally don't like the look of thoes new B&W speakers with the fancy shapes and junk, i'd take the Reference series over thoes any day. i can relate to what you said about your your sons that didnt want to go in because the way they looked, i'm 19 almost 20 and look about 15, its hard to go into high end audio stores and test out the equipment without having some salesperson bugging me because i'm sure they dont want kids playing around with the high end electronics. I went into Sears once and i was asked to not play with the equipment, at time i was 18, i didnt wanna start anything so i just left, then a few minutes later when i walked past the A/V department, there were some other people, probably mid 20's that were cranking the stereo's and nobody even cared... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I am lucky that I am tall and look like a 'respectable' adult, so I can get away with a lot - if I put on some Dockers and a polo shirt, I could go to the Ferrari dealer and take a nap in a Enzo (well, maybe not...) - reguardless, I find that if you make your presence clear (as in, 'Why are you here?'), people don't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruinsrme Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 Ken that is funny. Although I disagree for knowing what an union plumber makes they can easily walk in after some 1 day jobs and snag an amp or receiver. As my brother told me, never ever judge a customer by the clothes they wear. He is a very successful salesman. Having some very expensive toys in my HT, it brought me great pleasure this past week when I stop in for a visit to one of the dealers that snubbed me because i was in jeans. He did not recognize me so I explained what I had, showed him pict of the HT and I could see him adding up all the gadgets. He rattled off a number and I said yeah and it would have been all yours if you didn't snub me in the first place. the first time I left the store I made a remark to my firend as we were leaving as we passed the counter. The comment is gross and definitely unforgettable. He remembered and gave some lame excuse. when he figured in the prices of the klipsch, pioneer 49txi, parasound halos a23 and 52, pioneer dvd 47ai and 59ai, LG3200A dtv/ota hdbox and the NEC plasma I could just see the commission dollars flying out of his pocket. so one might ask how I got his attention this time around. I went into the sound room and put in barry manilow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 I remember the days of electronics sales.....and the "cherry picking" that the salespeople would engage in. I learned in audio not to judge books by the cover from selling grungy kids car stereos day after day. Nobody else wanted to mess with 'em. I did, and made money when the TV guys' biz was dry. I recall a day that a middle aged farmer walked into the store, boots smelling from cow dung. I see this fella standing in front of a 60" Mitsubishi (da bomb set at the time), obviously looking for a salesperson. I greet him and he says "I've been in here three times to buy this thing, and can't get anyone to write it up"! I happily did, arranged his delivery, and sent him home happy. The video salespeople, OTOH, were mad as hell. In that store, video salespeople sold video, audio salespeople sold audio. When the video guys went crying to the store manager, the manager told the video guys to greet ALL of the customers - that the only reason that the store manager didn't greet that customer first was because I beat him to it. The moral of the story: Be sure, as a salesperson, to greet every customer with cow dung on thier boots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 I'm fixing to make my first visit to a high end audio store as soon as I get a Saturday off. It's April so it's Sunny and in the mid-80's every day here in FL, but I guess I'd be better served not to wear my usual get-up of shorts, t-shirt and sandals. Gonna have to get out a pair of my Dockers or I'm liable to be ignored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluless Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 SteelerFan- Dress up like a woman. You'll have free reign of the store. It's much more fun, and it really scares the snot out of the salesmen when you start moving to the BACK of the equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 ---------------- On 4/24/2004 5:15:48 PM nicholtl wrote: ...cause salespeople look at your shabby clothes or my peach fuzzed face and think you can't afford nothing. ---------------- You mean can't afford anything. If you can't afford nothing, that means you can afford something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 Clueless, you're priceless. But none of us are going in drag to get proper treatment. I will confirm that some salesmen; ahem, sales people; do turn up their nose of people who look like they don't have money. A buddy, who had the intent to buy, went into a BMW salesroom and was snubbed. But that was many years ago. Today, it may be that salepeople are sensitive to something else. Those who come in to browse and will then go to the internet to buy elsewhere. I can't blame the sales force for that. Nonetheless, I'd think the sales force can be understanding, give the buyer a business card, and say that they're willing to deal a bit on prices. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 Cluless----I think lots of Steeler fans already dress like women, actually male Pro football fans in general are known for their....hmmm, how do I put this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 What I don't get is why people (sales) find it so hard to say "Hello, may I help you with something?" I do that HUNDREDS of times a day at Best Buy, and in many cases, the answer is yes. In most cases, it is a 27" TV, antenna, cable, but today, it was a lady that walked out the door with a $6,000 Sony plasma! It ain't hard!!! Come on, maybe its my work ethics, but I don't mind saying 7 words to land a big sale, or anything! Money for my department is money none the less. Geez!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 DP, my bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholtl Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 ---------------- On 4/25/2004 7:17:54 PM toddvj wrote: ---------------- On 4/24/2004 5:15:48 PM nicholtl wrote: ...cause salespeople look at your shabby clothes or my peach fuzzed face and think you can't afford nothing. ---------------- You mean can't afford anything. If you can't afford nothing, that means you can afford something. ---------------- Quite right, I do apologize. You are indeed right. My educated grammar slipped a bit and out came my street talk. my bad, bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 ---------------- On 4/25/2004 7:00:51 PM cluless wrote: SteelerFan- Dress up like a woman. You'll have free reign of the store. It's much more fun, and it really scares the snot out of the salesmen when you start moving to the BACK of the equipment. ---------------- Wow! Talk about a "crossover tweak!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ez8947 Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 I thought it was interesting that the Best Buy by my house started carrying the new line of Klipsch. Only the lower models of the Reference though. They said they cannot order any higher models. Thats the first time I've seen them in a department store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBB Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 O.K., Dear. Now point out the salesman that refused to help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 ---------------- On 4/25/2004 10:02:55 PM TBrennan wrote: Cluless----I think lots of Steeler fans already dress like women, actually male Pro football fans in general are known for their....hmmm, how do I put this? ---------------- That's Redskin fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweek Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 I like your post BBB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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