Klipsch and Magnolia... (hey Amy).

[DrWho]

I'm sure you've already heard from Colter, but thought I'd post on the board too...

We were in a Best Buy in Indy (dunno which one specifically) and were

surprised when we didn't see any klipsch in the magnolia

room...especially considering how crappy everything in there sounded

(no, not being biased either - I was actually interested in hearing

some of the new fancy expensive speakers...it's been a while since I've

done that since getting caught up in the klipsch heritage).

I was also a bit shocked when the salesman seemed to believe the

opposite of everything we believed and he so wanted to share his

"wealth of audio knowledge" which included bashing klipsch and

promoting the other items. We were definetly rocking his world...or

more in fact Colter was rocking his world and I was having such a hard

time not busting out and laughing and the dumb responses.

It was also dissapointing because we went in hoping to demo the Sub-12.

I know Colter has been considering upgrading his subwoofer and was

leaning towards the sub-12 for quite some time now, but the Klipsch

demo area was off in a corner on some cramped isle and not only sounded

like crap...but you couldn't even demo the sub-12! The salesperson

tried fiddling a bit to get it working, but obvioiusly had no clue what

he was doing and I don't think he would have approved of us fixing it

for him - of course he tried to inform us that these weren't hi-fi

anyway and that we should go swing by the magnolia room.

He then demo'd for us the two most expensive speakers (at least I think

they were)....retailing at $1400/pair. It was quite annoying because

they had some crappy one note wonder sub wobbling in the background -

Colter asked the dude flat out what instrument was making the "wub wub

wub" sound and the dude couldn't even hear it, lol! Man it was awful.

We were then greeted with some music that was anything but rock and he

kept playing the same track over and over and gosh it was so awful.

Anyways, we were left very unimpressed with the whole experience. I

have heard the synergy system at the pilgrimage including the sub-12

and that narrow little isle certainly didn't do them any justice

whatsoever. One comment though....the speakers in the Magnolia room all

had much nicer wood veneer finishes and the lighting in the store made

the synergy look like plastic toys (especially the woofers). For the

sake of the klipsch image I think it would be very beneficial to either

boost the aesthetics of the synergy or to come out with a magnolia line

(would the reference series be sellable in that environment with the

current dealer arrangements?) Would it really be that much more

expensive to have a wood looking veneer instead of the more futuristic

plastic look? Or perhaps just require them to put on the speaker grills

(as black on black never looks that bad).

Just trying to drop some constructive criticism and perhaps that

particular best buy store will get it's rear in gear. I will be

visiting the best buy when I go back home for thanksgiving break and

see if they have the magnolia and if the klipsch will be in there. I

remember they used to have a sort of dedicated area to the HT systems

and klipsch really blew them out the water and had there own dedicated

corner. Seems the magnolia is more of a step backward unless they would

get the klipsch in there.

[D-MAN]

I'm confused about the complaining that follows "We were in a Best Buy...". - What exactly do you expect?!

What about "Best Buy" didn't you understand?!

It's not like the old days... Dead and gone, my friend.

Complaining to Klipsch about it isn't going to fix A THING! They have NO PLACE to go!

It's the WalMart syndrome.

DM

[wuzzzer]

Sounds to me there may be some sort of incentive or spiff that the other companies are giving out. I used to work with a lady whose boyfriend worked at Audio King (Ultimate Electronics). She said with all the spiffs and bonuses that companies give out, you could go in the store 5 times and ask the same guy which brand of whatever you're looking at is the best one, and you may hear 5 different answers depending on which company has the best spiffs at the time.

[DrWho]

Well you certainly don't ever see any problems with the Bose stations

(which btw was standing right next to the klipsch station). And why is

that? Because Bose would never allow it - ya, they probably have a

stronger muscle to push around their dealers, but doesn't mean Klipsch

can't expect the same. Becoming aware of the problem is the first step

in improving the situation.

And I really don't think I'm complaining at all - I'm just sharing a

Best Buy experience. Magnolia is Best Buy's way of realizing higher end

audio (relative term) and Klipsch needs to get on the bandwagon. I was

actually surprised by the layout in that room and the rather good

acoustics. They also had a very nice switching system so that you could

demo any combination of products in the store (and the way the room was

wired, it would be really easy to rotate products and not have to redo

everything). I'm certainly not expecting a good salesman, but I would

also not expect one that feels free to bash a product that someone is

interested in! Would you want to have your product on the floor where

the sales people will be bashing it? Heck no, you would move the

product to another store where they will actually try to sell your

product!

I may have no interest in ever purchasing from Best Buy, but at the

same time I want klipsch to stick around as I plan on buying some of

their real speakers in the future. And I'm actually going to buy new

and support the company instead of trying to save a buck by going used.

So many complain about the "wal-mart syndrome" and want klipsch to

market the higher end stuff, yet how many would actually go out and

purchase a new pair (when there is a perfectly good used pair available

or when they already own all the speakers they could want). I'm just

trying to point out a new area where Klipsch needs to step it up a

notch and get back in with the competition. I bet a pair of those

SF-3's would have blown away any speaker in that Magnolia room - and

would have cost much less while doing so! (the entire basis of klipsch:

bang for the buck).

So to sum it up:

-unable to demo the klipsch

-salesman bashing the product

-not in the magnolia room

-and a product that might be perceived as "cheap" looking

So two counts of a crappy dealer that Klipsch will want to know about and two counts of constructive criticism.

Side note: Did the price of the Sub-12 go up? For some reason I remember it costing $350 and now it's listed at $500?

[m00n]

Would it really be that much more expensive to have a wood looking veneer instead of the more futuristic plastic look?

Don't mean any disrespect to Klipsch, but that is putting it rather nicely.

[D-MAN]

Well you certainly don't ever see any problems with the Bose stations (which btw was standing right next to the klipsch station). And why is that? Because Bose would never allow it - ya, they probably have a stronger muscle to push around their dealers, but doesn't mean Klipsch can't expect the same. Becoming aware of the problem is the first step in improving the situation.

DrWho, I'm not down on you. You're EXACTLY right.

Even as the PAYING customers, we are rendered less capable of decision-making by this C.R.A.P.

DM

[Indyjeep]

The whole point of the magnolia store is for the high end stuff. Not saying Klipsch isnt high end its just not the Synergy stuff we carry, you go into the room of course they are going to recommend the high end stuff. You go to any other store and they are going to recommend Klipsch or JBL. My store (E Washington) has a complete Working F-3 system and a SLX system both with a Sub-12 on them. And the price has always been $500. Not even the KSW-12 was that cheap. Dont get me wrong they shouldnt be bashing them and there are no spiffs or bonuses, its all non commision buddy.

[kenratboy]

Guys, I'll share a little fact - no retailer really cares about Bose. Seriously. The reason Bose, or Sony, or

Samsung, or any product gets the big fancy displays is BECAUSE THEY PAY

FOR IT. Period. Anyway, is standing in the middle of a busy

isle the best place for a demo?

It has been like this forever. Some guy at Circuit City does

not sit down and say, "Hey, Bose is cool, they get their own

display." It is more like Bose says, "Hey, the only way we are

going to sell our stuff is if we have a dedicated display in the store."

The sales person you talked to is supposed to sell their stuff first,

if you worked at Wells Fargo, would you tell your customers Bank of

America has better auto loan rates? Nooooo...

[Amy]

DrWho,

Please let me know which Best Buy store you visited, and I'll pass this along to our rep.

Thank you!!

[Tom Adams]

I'm confused about the complaining that follows "We were in a Best Buy...". - What exactly do you expect?!

What about "Best Buy" didn't you understand?!

It's not like the old days... Dead and gone, my friend.

Complaining to Klipsch about it isn't going to fix A THING! They have NO PLACE to go!

It's the WalMart syndrome.

DM

Dead and gone??? I think not! Read Brothers is alive & well. Unfortunately, they aren't a Klipsch dealer anymore. []

OTOH....I have Audio/Video Warehouse which is locally owned & operated. They are a Heritage & Reference dealer. Hell, they even carry tubes & turntables in a dedicated 2-channel room. The downside is they don't stock Heritage. [] The up side is that they have the full Reference line in several demo HT rooms. []

But I hear you DM....Read Brothers and A/V Warehouse are the exception nowadays. []

Tom

[bigrol21]

It's been quite disapointing since Ultimate Electronics pulled out of Texas. I used to go there a lot to sample the Reference line. I was hoping that "The Magnolia" store would pick them up. I heard Tweeters used sell Klipsch but no longer do. When I was first turned on to Klipsch through an Ultimate sales rep I loved them the first time I heard them. I even went to other stores who did not carry them and nobody had anything negative to say about Klipsch. In fact it was on the contrary, the Tweeter guys actually said they wish they still sold them. That how I ultimately came to build my current system. These stores are nice becuase they are everywhere in the Dallas area. I wonder what it would take for Magnolia to sell higher end Klipsch speakers.

[m00n]

Magnolia used to carry the reference stuff. I purchased some of my reference speakers there.

[kelA]

I really dont think it matters what Best Buy store he was in. Every store I have been in the last 2 months has the same setup now. From Iowa, Missouri, and Kentucky. Klipsch in an aisle, very hard to demo.

[Shade]

The Best Buy in Downers Grove has the Magnolia room as well. Would be nice to see some Klipsch in there.

And regarding the Klipsch being hard to demo, most of the time they are

impossible to demo. On most of my visits there the speaker selector

that the Synergy series is connected to doesn't work. This is usually a

problem in the computer section as well with the promedias. Although

generally none of the other PC speaker brands are working either.

Although I'm not in the market for the Synergy speakers (own a

Reference setup) I still wander over to them when I'm in a Best Buy.

The promedias however I have been interested in for work. Unfortunatley

it's hard to sell speakers to the general public if they don't get to

hear them first.

[filmboydoug]

This is usually a problem in the computer section as well with the promedias. Although generally none of the other PC speaker brands are working either.

Unfortunatley it's hard to sell speakers to the general public if they don't get to hear them first.

Same here with the promedias. Display has not worked for MONTHS! Went to look at an Igroove, found nothing but a sealed box.

The Best Buy here (not a magnolia) does a great job with the Synergy display tho. You can punch up some music, enjoy it a while, then go punch up the same music on the Bose display. (Hey, How come you can't turn off the sub on the bose display? heh heh)

[colterphoto1]

Amy,

I was there with DrWho. It was a dismal experience. I know we have the Ovation stores here in Indy with capable salesmen demoing the Reference. However this Best Buys/Magnoia experience was nearly painful. I absolutely shredded this guy and he didn't even realize how badly I was dissing him. DrWho could hardly keep a straight face. When this dude turned some lame pop singer on the Def Tech speakers and some sub started wubwubwubbing, I asked him which instrument made that sound, he said it must be coming from the other room, I opened the door and there wasn't a sound outside our 'hifi' room. THese idiots can't even set up a system right. Why do all stores put the subs on max output?

The Synergy was crammed into a nasty metal shelving unit with the Bose and HIFIBOX junk. The neato comparator panel didn't work SB12 wasn't even hooked up. The guy didn't even want to talk Klipsch. Really disturbing. Dude had a box of CD's none of which was even our style of music. I mean just take one look at me and you know you've got to demo hard classic rock, hands down. Idiots!

If I was a rep for Klipsch I 'd get these guys in shape. Good luck with the new Reference

I'm open to questions or even being a Klipsch 'Secret shopper' if it'll help the cause in any way...

Michael

[DrWho]

Do you remember which store we went to? I haven't the faintest idea.

And don't forget those def tech's had clear diaphgragms! It defenitly resulted in a much more transparent sound! bah, rofl []

"wub wub wub wub wub" goes the sub []

(man that was hilarious)

[kenratboy]

Colter - YGM (I have a question)

I keep the volumes on the Def Tech's at 1/2 or BELOW. They have a

TON of power if used properly, and sound like a$$ if used

incorectly. Every single person I work with know that subwoofers

need to be kept down to a reasonable level.

Sigh...

[DrWho]

The subs were by no means "too loud." They were just sloppy one note wonders that resonated for hours after the signal passed.

I took a peak at the reciever and the volume was up to 0 and they

weren't even filling the room with sound. I can't imagine how anyone

could rock it out to that.

what brand were those elctrostatics? man those were awful sounding -

like I would have taken bose over them awful! guess which speaker the

sales dude preferred? [] hahahahahahaha

[colterphoto1]

That was Best Buys/Magnolia at Castleton Square, Indy.

The electro stats were some smaller Martin Logan's. Horrible, even the Def Techs sounded better, but at like $1400, it was crap.

That sub was hilarious. The guy didn't even apologize or blush or anything. Like it was supposed to sound that way. Male vocal and piano. wubwubwubwub- what instrument makes THAT noise. I'll say it again- IDIOTS!