Two questions to help with my sales :-)

[earthaziel]

Ok first I wanted to know what DVDs you would all suggest that really

take advantage of Klipsch. Now I know there are the obvious ones

.like Star Wars and such, but are there some less then obvious ones

outside of the Sci-Fi and Action genres. The reason I am asking

this is because when I sell a big home theater package I like to give

the customer a few DVDs that really make them love their HT

system. Not everyone is a big sci-fi or action fan, so I was

looking for some dramas or even some comedies I do this for two

reasons. First is that I value my rep as one of the best audio

salesmen in Best Buy ( I know doesn't say much, but I'm still proud of

it), also because if the first movie a customer puts into their DVD

player knocks their socks off then they won't return anything.

Its worth the twenty or forty dollar hit to my revenue to keep a $3000

system from being returned, because the person wasn't blown away by it.

The second thing I was wondering was what would happen if

you took a 6 ohm speaker and plugged it into a receiver running 8

ohms. Also vice-versa, what would happen if a 6 ohm receiver was

plugged into a 8 ohm speaker. I figured that doing either

wouldn't be good for the speaker, but how bad would it be? Would

it kill the speaker very soon? Would it sound like crap?

With a lot of people having bought those HTIB pieces of crap a couple

years ago I'm starting to get a lot of customers who want to upgrade.

Obviously you would want to start from scratch with a new receiver and

speakers, but it makes my job easier if I can tell them they really

HAVE to start from scratch.

Matt

[JeffDurbin]

I have heard that the train rolling into the station at the beginning of Polar Express is a great demonstration of bass performance. (I have this DVD wrapped for my kids for Christmas so I have not heard it yet.) But considering the products you guys stock at BB, I am not sure you want to give the customers anything challenging to their system.

As for your second question, I feel like someone lobbed me a softball to belt out of the park. There is no such thing as an 8-ohm receiver or a 6-ohm receiver or a 4-ohm receiver, per se. Speakers have different impedences and even a speaker with a stated impedence of say 8-ohms will not be 8-ohms all the way across the frequency band. It will dip and peak. Some speakers such as Magnapans are known for their generally low impedence rating and will require amps with a huge reservoir of power to drive them. Other speakers are more forgiving. Similarly, receivers can drive speakers with various impedence ratings but to different effect. I doubt you have anything at Best Buy that will drive Magnapans because you probably need 300wpc to drive them. On the other hand, I think a speaker like Klipsch is going to be more forgiving of a weaker receiver.

As for your last sentence, if they stick with a high quality high-efficiency speaker like a Klipsch they can get by in the short term by replacing the speakers but keeping the receiver for a while and then upgrading that later. Sorry that doesn't support your idea of selling them into all new equipment right away.

If you REALLY want to help your customers tell them to shop someplace else.

[ironwoods]

Hey, hows bout some DVD concerts?

Something like Peter Gabriel> Secret World or Dave Mathews> Folsum Field wouldn't scare off any, but the oldest of farts. Or you could just look at someone and tell they would go for Yanni or Andre' Roux.

On the matter of your 2nd question....... you've got some homework to do. But if you can just sell them better speakers...... why not?

[mtber101]

Do you guys work on commission or something? Also I'm impressed that you spend your own money to keep a sale... any reason other than pride?

As ironwoods mentioned... dvd concerts are great. I just got the Eric Clapton DVD "crossroads" and it really does sound good.

[lavinius]

The Incredibles and Finding Nemo are huge for bass and look awesome on most LCD/Plasma's

I'm from Australia and we don't have BB here so I have no idea on what you guy's stock but the scene in Finding Nemo where he knocks on the fishtank glass, at reference level at a friends place it cracked his drywalls literally! (1x tumult 15" tuned at 18hz fed by 800w rms).

Most will like Sci-Fi and cartoons so give them a try, and everyone would return a 3.000 HT system if it don't do what the sales told them it will. I think you should be honest and let the end user decide what he wants and how much he want's to spend as so many times friends went with the sales guy "informative" point that "this" system is better then "that" but it's 600-800 more only to have the system returned as a half price system that their friends bought sounds twice as good.

Some users like the clean sound with clean transient bass, some like just huge un-articulated bass so it's up to you to put a few movies on on diff systems and let them decide what they want. IMHO on a good HT setup everything will sound good and music too regardless what DVD's you put on.

Personally i like to give volume 80% on the pod race in StarWars, crossover the sub at 55hz and let it rip, I got so used to the Klipsch that now i can identify every pod that zooms by and trust me... you won't be able to do that on many HT speakers systems and there is are so many dynamics in that scene if you listen to it at close to reference levels to the extent where an end user will know if the HT system is good or bad.

4-6-8 ohms is nothing more then the impedance of the speaker the amp sees 20% of the thime and should be able to cope with any, some amps thou, cheaper ones will go into bad THD at 4ohms compared to 8omhs as they are driven harder hence most manufacturers will only give the THD at 8Ohms and they stay very clear of giving away the damping factor of the amp/receiver. I have found Yamaha not to lie about it's capabilities hence on the manual of my Yamaha it clearly states the following:

Minimum RMS Output power from Front, Center, Surround, Surround Back : 20Hz to 20kHz, 0.06% THD, 8Ohms ..... 95W

Dynamic Power (IFH) 8/6/4/2 Ohms ..........130/165/195/240 Watt

Damping Factor 20Hz to 20kHz @8Ohms ........120 or more

Total Harmonic Distorsion (THD) F L/R ......... 0.06% or less

You won't find that in a Sony receiver advertised anywhere ...maybe from the QS range or higher, nor in other cheaper receivers

It's very important IMHO to look at the damping factor as that is actually what controlls the speaker suspension which in term is relative to how well it will sound when pushed.

Be honest with your end users and you will never have anything returned unless faulty, and don't be one of the retailers that makes end users spend ridiculous ammounts of $ on cables thinking that will make their system sound better, it won't make a hell of a diference not to return their purchase and you'll only upset them more. I had that happened to me and they expected me to pay 120$ AUD for an optical TOS to TOS fiber optic link when I got a free one from work from a HSG80 or an EVA (san array) that looked 4 times thinner, i have told the sales person that that cable is meant to transfer data at 1Gb/sec with no loss and he insisted on buying the 120$ optical cable, I made him look like a fool when i told him i will buy it and if it don't fix the noise I'll expect a full refund for the Sony amp and the cable regardless if the cable box was opened and/or missing, he imediately refunded the Sony and droped the "buy the this cable". I will never go to that store again even if they fire all their sales persons and employ only sound engineers, I will have this thing with sales ppl, I trust them untill they screw me around from that moment on I'll never deal with them again and getting a refund is easy these days.

Be honest

[picky]

Matt: I see you are a fellow Michigander. Cool.

First of all....ALL DVDs take advantage of Klipsch -IMHO []

Here is my offical Demo list that I play for first-time visitors to our HT:

'Super Speedway' IMAX (Mario and Michael Andretti) - Scene 7

'Master and Commander' - Attack Scene

'Behind Enemy Lines' - Christmas Recon Scene

'U571' - Depth Charge Scene

'Open Range' - Gunfight Begins Scene

'Finding Nemo' - The Abyss Scene (Sub-slide)

'Heart: Alive in Seattle' - Crazy on you, Straight on

'Animusic 2' - Scene 1, Pipe Dream, Gyro Drums

-Glenn

[toddvj]

Dude, if you really want to impress customers, I can make you a customized (with your name and your store's logo, or whatever you want) DVD with a whole bunch of Good scenes for surround sound, Dolby and/or DTS, and Cool, animated menus. I would of course, want to be paid for my time, and if anyone asks, you didn't get it from me.

[CAS]

First is that I value my rep as one of the best audio salesmen in Best Buy

The second thing I was wondering was what would happen if you took a 6 ohm speaker and plugged it into a receiver running 8 ohms. Also vice-versa, what would happen if a 6 ohm receiver was plugged into a 8 ohm speaker.

No offense meant here, but shouldn't the best audio salesman in an electronics store know the answer to such a simple/fundamental question? Kind of like a car saleman asking what the difference is between a 4 and 6 cylinder engine. Hmmm.....

My advice to increase sales: know your product. My personal experience is this: I know an awful lot about a product before I ask a saleman. If he can't answer a question I know should be somewhat fundamental then I walk out the door. Happened just 2 weeks ago. Looking for an eliptical trainer and found the Life Fitness models. Asked the salesman quite a few questions, got mediocre answers then walked out the door with my $2500.00 and never looked back. Visited Precor the next day. The same questions were answered so intricately that I felt the salesman invented the machine. Bought it on the spot.

Just my own feelings.

[wuzzzer]

One of my favorite DVDs is Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera. Incredible vocals, beautifully recorded music.

[sunburnwilly]

Here's a DVD that really suprised me - " House of Flying Daggers " The sound is incredible . Check out the " echo game scene " I believe it's track 4 . It involves 360 degrees of drums . Crank it up and be prepared to be BLOWN AWAY !!!

[earthaziel]

Ok couple of things to respond to. First of all thanks everyone

for their suggestions. I totally forgot about U-571 and the depth

charge scene. That was one of the movies that made me really want

to get into home theater.

CAS - yeah I know this is a fundamental question. Keep in mind

though the level of customer that walk through my door. Most have

never had a home theater system before and if they have it was one of

those HTIBs. Your caliber of customer doesn't come to my store

much. Hence I don't get questions like this all that often

(actually never in 5 years). Its because of this fact that the

best sales guys/girls in home theater at best buy have gotten good at

selling the experience more then the product. Even when I get

someone who knows their stuff by the nature of my store they are the

grab and go customer that frankly I don't need to spend a lot of time

on. A customer who knows just what they want usually only wants

me around to check stock and I respect that. Also I am trying to

learn more about my product....hence why I am here :-)

Lavinius - Thanks for the rundown. Also I am honest with my

customers, which is why my equipment is not returned much. Also

yes I do recomend higher end cables, but only if it makes sense.

I understand that spending $150 on an optical cable for a 5 foot run is

nuts. Similar with DVI and HDMI. Only reason I upgrade

people on optical cables is because I have found the connection on some

of the cheaper cables don't stay in place all that well (hence why I

have to jiggle the optical connection on my xbox all the time)

mtber101 - no we aren't commision...at all. What I meant by sacrificing revenue was sacrificing the revenue for the store.

and finally...

JeffDurbin - you say to recommend to my customers to shop somewhere

else for home theater. Sorry but not everyone has a few thousand

to sink into a home theater system. Best Buy doesn't target your

audience. They will never ever win you over. Most of your

type might even avoid Magnolia Hi-Fi simply because that store is owned

by Best Buy. They target the average person..hence we carry

average person home theater. Frankly I'm suprised as hell we

carry Klipsch, but hey that just gives me something to compete with the

borderline crowd that wants to put a bit of cash into a nicer setup.

Again everyone thanks and if there is anything else you could suggest that would help my out I would appreciate it.

Matt

[lavinius]

...one more thing that no one has touched i think you should try and present the product as best as you can visually, Klipsch are awesome looking speakers but need acurate positioning specially the Reference series (i haven't heard the Synergy). I for a fact know that here in .au Klipsch dealers make a heck of a lot more then you guys but where you see klipsch speakers you will 100% see M&K on the left and B&W top line on the right. Only one company imports Klipsch here and they are very carefull of their resellers hence when i walk into a store that sells Klipsch they are in mint condition, perfectly positioned and it just have a touch of class about them, we have 2 dealers in Brisbane and they are top class.

Another thing most ppl haven't said anything about regarding show off what a HT system can do is the simple things like, the THX intro, the THX intro from Terminator 3, the DTS intro's, play hese at 80% volume and it will put a smile on lot's of ppl faces and they are part of every movie so to them it will not look like you're trying to con them into buying it with only selected scenes.

...the 360degree sound paning in House of Flying Daggers drum beats is absolutely AWESOME with a quartet of RB35's and a RC35 center! and if you want to hear the Klipsch difference in the first battle scene in Master and Commander in DTS, only with Klipsch and M&K did I hear the wood cracking perfectly when the cannon balls hit the ship with every single sound perfectly detailed, it was just amazing .....and the M&K were double the price of my Klipsch.

It's hard to put Klipsch agains anything else in HT really as the high sensitivity and crystal clear sound are a match made in heaven for the dynamic range in HT price wise against anything

I wish you all the best

[Griffinator]

Earth - I feel your pain - I found my way to this forum back when BB

first started carrying Klipsch speakers because I was so excited that

we finally had a couple of really nice products to sell instead of just

one (JBL Studio series) Now, BB is down to just the Klipsch and those

mediocre Athena speakers, as they only carry Northridge, which is the

worst of the JBL line, and not worth the Mexican and Chinese raw

materials of which it's made.

I took such a beating on that thread I very nearly left and didn't come

back. Fortunately, my penchant for arguing won out, and here I am a

couple years later, no longer at BB, but still on the forum.

[sadie]

Much respect to you earthaziel

[rplace]

Add any of the music scenes from Ray to your DVD show off list.

For a slightly older move try any of the outside rain scenes from Se7en. They are very subtle but the rain from the surround speakers sounds like it is coming down on your head and you feel as if you should be getting wet.

U2 Go Home - Live From Slane Castle is a great concert DVD

[CAS]

There's a good list of demo scenes at the "other" website for subs if you know what I mean. Download any of their pdf manuals which has a good list of demo movie scenes on some of the last pages.

[JeffDurbin]

JeffDurbin - you say to recommend to my customers to shop somewhere else for home theater. Sorry but not everyone has a few thousand to sink into a home theater system. Best Buy doesn't target your audience. They will never ever win you over. Most of your type might even avoid Magnolia Hi-Fi simply because that store is owned by Best Buy. They target the average person..hence we carry average person home theater. Frankly I'm suprised as hell we carry Klipsch, but hey that just gives me something to compete with the borderline crowd that wants to put a bit of cash into a nicer setup.

Matt, that was a very diplomatic response to a bit abrupt post. Check out this thread because I think it is exactly what you need.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=567408&page=1&pp=30

He even made a really cool PDF for cover art!

[westcott]

I watched Polar Express with the wife last night on the recommendation of someone else in this forum.

If you want to hear some impressive bass use, the train arriving at the front door step was absolutely stupendous!!! I think it was because it just was not an explosion but a moving object from left to right with the sound of steam, steel on steel, the whistle, etc. They even recreated the sound of a Ford hubcap rattling against a chest as the train first started to approach. The animation was also top notch. The human figure recreation was better than any of the Pixar movies I have seen to date!

Up to that point, "Flight of the Phoenix" had some of the most intense base (when the plane crashed) that I had ever heard. Even better than LOTR, U 571, etc.

Bear in mind, a sound system that is not up to the chore will probably do you more harm than good.

To be on the safe side, I would stick with the classic movies in the top 100.

The new Wizard of Oz is well done.

[efzauner]

DTS makes some amazing demo dvds just for your needs. They come out with a new one every year or so. I am surprised that you store does not have them already.