mightyhonda Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 The day after Christmas I went to our local Klipsch dealer, Ultimate Electronics, to listen to the reference 35 set. I have posted before that i have auditioned the RF-35 and loved them. The RC-35, on the other hand, sounded quite poor. My goal was to re-affirm my love of the RF-35 and hopefully the other RC-35 was just a bad speaker. What happened was that as soon as i said i wanted to listen the the Klipsch, the salesperson wants me to compare it to the Infinity Beta 50. But instead of the RF-35 he uses the RF-7. He kept saying how much better the beta was handleing the high notes of Nora Jones. I said that i thought the 7's were much better but i really wanted to hear the 35's. Even then the 35's killed the betas in my opinion. I might of even liked them more then the 7's, but regardless the salesperson seemed pissed. As we listened at loud volumes on the 35's another customer walked in with a friend and after a second stopped in his tracks and wanted to know what speakers these were. He claimed they were the best he ever heard. Salesperson still very pissed. I asked to hear the RC-35 alone, i now could hear the horn and detail but there was no bass. The salesperson asked another what was the deal and came back and said that center channels dont use bass. I told him that possibly they had it set up as a small speaker. I don't think he understood. I guess i am not suprised why they are having business problems. A customer asks for one thing only to be told the design is poor, and when the customer doesn't agree with the salesperson he holds a grudge. Anyway the only way I might be able to figure out if the RC-35 is okay or if i nedd to upgrade to the RC-7 is to put it in my house. Oh the frustration. mightyhonda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 hey, I thionk I know that guy, he goes from stereo shop to stereo shop doesn't he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apac020 Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Does your UE have a 30-day return policy? I have not heard the RC-7, but my RC-35 set up as a large speaker sounds quite good. I do have it amplified +2 over my RF-35s but thats mostly due to the 6.5" woofer vs. 2 8" woofers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightyhonda Posted December 27, 2004 Author Share Posted December 27, 2004 apac020 Yes they do, I guess i am just blowing some steam because it gets frustrating asking for one thing and being shown something else. I might go to another location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoker Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 That's always been my experiance with Ultimate. If you have a audio/video specialty store use them instead. I have spent hours in those Ref.Dealers and got to really audition the speakers. At UE after about 10 minutes I leave just to get away from the Salesmen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 As we've read before it's not uncommon for salespeople to steer business towards higher profit margin items. Many are more interested in the deal at hand and not the prospect of return long-term business. Then, also, some are just plain idiots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Time to find a different dealer. Sorry about your experience. That's pretty bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 That reminds me of my first Klipsch purchase with a twist. When I bought my KG4's back in the early 90's the salesman at Sound Advice was pushing THEM and I insisted on comparing them to a pair of more expensive Infinitys (I don't remember the model#) that were 3 way with a 12" woofer. That's what I thought a speaker was supposed to look like at the time. I wasn't fond of the look of the 2 way KG4 with it's horn tweeter, pair of 8" woofers and weird 12" passive radiator on the back. As it turns out the Infinitys sounded like they were playing in the bottom of a well compared to the KG4's. I went with the Klipsch speakers and have never looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apac020 Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Unfortunately he is probably in the same scenario as I am, where Ultimate Electronics is the only Klipsch Dealer within 100 miles. It's why I buy most of my Klipsch used from people who've bought their equiptment at an authorized dealer and have it shipped to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 There's nothing wrong with the RC-35. It should sound almost the same as the RF-35. They probably had it wired out of phase. Ever ask for a different salesperson? I have. The guy you're dealing with will become very friendly and cooperative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightyhonda Posted December 27, 2004 Author Share Posted December 27, 2004 My plan is to go back in a month or two when i plan to buy and let someone else earn the business. My plan is to buy the RC-35, RF-35 x2, and RB-35 x2 plus a rsw-12. You would think when someone tells you they want to spend that much money they would work for it. Yes UE is the only place to buy new i know if in the Twin Cities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bchild311 Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Holy cow a bad experience with Ultimate? I've never heard of such a thing. I thought those guys were sweet. Someone should have posted something about how bad their customer service and knowledge of their sales team is. Geez ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 Heh, I guess I am a good salesman. When people want speakers, I give them a pep talk about buying what sounds good to them, but that I am more than willing to help them decide (what I think is good). Then, we listen. If they like Vienna's, fine. If they like Boston's, fine. If they want Klipsch, fine. Most mid priced (Klipsch Synergy level of product) and above speakers are better than most people know what to do with, and they walk out happy. I am not on commision, but kinda with I was just because everyone I deal with (people who actually want help, advice, want to look, not jacka$$es) is VERY happy and wants to deal with me. It ain't that hard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 Heh, I guess I am a good salesman. When people want speakers, I give them a pep talk about buying what sounds good to them, but that I am more than willing to help them decide (what I think is good). Then, we listen. If they like Vienna's, fine. If they like Boston's, fine. If they want Klipsch, fine. Most mid priced (Klipsch Synergy level of product) and above speakers are better than most people know what to do with, and they walk out happy. I am not on commision, but kinda with I was just because everyone I deal with (people who actually want help, advice, want to look, not jacka$$es) is VERY happy and wants to deal with me. It ain't that hard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 ---------------- On 12/27/2004 11:32:01 PM bchild311 wrote: Holy cow a bad experience with Ultimate? I've never heard of such a thing. I thought those guys were sweet. Someone should have posted something about how bad their customer service and knowledge of their sales team is. Geez ... ---------------- Hold on a minute... He said he had a bad experience with One salesperson. I don't think it is fair to say that The entire staff of all Ultimate Electronics stores is incompetent and rude. I could refer you to several salepeople at Ultimate who are Very Knowlegeable, and very enthusiastic about their jobs. I know a few of them that are sleazy as well, and a few that really aren't interested in helping customers. The guy that helped him might have been any of the categories above. He also might have thought he was doing you a service by showing you his favorite speakers, or he might have been interested in an incentive program that Infinity was running. The point is we'll never know. He definitely sounds like he was inexperienced, though. The fact is, he didn't make a penny showing you speakers, the salesmen at UE are not paid by the hour, they are paid strictly on 100% commission, so one thing I can Guarantee you, he was not trying to piss you off just for the sake of pissing you off. That being said, if someone comes in and asks to hear RF-35s, show them RF-35s. Hell, if someone comes in and asks to hear Bose, show them Bose. As far as your other question, the RC-35 is a fine center channel, you could be proud to own it. The RC-7 is a LOT better though, and worth the extra money if you can swing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 Well put, Todd. In any retail outlet, you will have a certain percentage of idiots who don't know anything about anything, a certain percentage of commission hounds who want to push, nag, and cajole you into buying whatever will make them the most money, and a certain (typically much smaller) percentage of knowledgable salespeople who genuinely want to help you make the right choice for you. I had a very similar experience several years ago at a Circuit City here in town - I came in looking to buy a pair of Cerwin Vega 15" towers. I brought my own music to listen to them and a couple other speakers that peaked my interest. Salesman comes in and immediately switches the panel over to the Infinity towers, which sounded very, well, Infinity-esque - no significant midrange, excessive mid-highs, excessive mid-bass, and in general not a very pleasant sounding speaker, especially as I a/b'ed them with the Vegas. I informed the salesman of my impressions, and he proceeded to argue with me for 5 minutes over which speaker sounded better! Appalled, I took my CD out of the changer and left. Came back the next day and spoke with the store manager and told him what had happened, and that I bought my Vegas from another local shop that didn't have such audacious salespeople. I've maybe been in CC twice since then, haven't bought anything from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bchild311 Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 That post was for everyone that read my 2 month ordeal with Ultimate. If you guys missed it then you missed the joke entirely. I'm not that narrowminded. I know there are knowledgable people out there. Just not at my Ultimate dealer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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