BestBuy doesn't deserve to sell Klispch!

[Jay481985]

at my bestbuy everyone just cranks it until they die...... usually the

computer speakers or htib. But umm I was once auditioning the rf-7

where I was in a listening room where the guy just would not stop

putting the volume up! I mean i tried to keep lowering it while he

raised it..... I mean were talking about sustained 115 db.... ouch!

[IndyKlipschFan]

Just for the record.. Up in the Carmel Best Buy store Trey, I re hooked everything up (I offered... they were busy... I said it was all goofed up and offered....with the managers approval too) of the audio department last month.

The wires were out of Phase..the center was in the right speaker.. Took me all of 5 min.. WOW, what a difference. The guy (young kid next to the manager comes back and goes "Wow, this dude knows what he is doing, we should hire him!) LOL

The manager said he promised when they hook these up the first time, they are correct. He said some people like to come in and sabotage other manufacturers speakers. I laughed, and said sounds like a urban legend on the internet to me.

Then got me thinking. I would never do this to someone else's speakers or set up. But I will NEVER walk away if it is not right with the Klipsch line. People need to hear what they have been missing!!! This new line really does sound pretty darn good!

[DrWho]

The one with the Mag HIFI inside did all they could to talk me out of Klipsch and into the ROOM WITH THE GOOD SPEAKERS.

Lol, Colter and I had the exact same experience...except it was even worse. We were talking with one of the sales dudes and were wanting to hear the sub-12. We even told him that we were klipsch fanatics and the dude straight up told us that klipsch was the worst brand they sold and that we should go listen in the magnolia room....my goodness that was an awful experience, except for the fact that Colter was totally dissing the dude to his face and the dude didn't even realize it! (the best was when colter opened the door to the room and said "nope, that one note bass crap isn't coming from outside" I about died from trying to hold the laughter in).

We of course made sure to let the sales dude know that everything in the mag room sounded like crap before we left []

But it's one of those things where you shouldn't try to fight the market...seems like klipsch needs to come out with a model to blow away that crap in the mag room.

[Trey Cannon]

Remember the Mag HIFI room was a whole store.

The did sell Klipsch Reference. The way they did things and the way Klipsch does things were not the same.

Klipsch pulled there dealership.

Then they sold out to BB.

Now we are between a rock and hard place.

We have a deal with BB to supply the Synergy product. they can not have the Reference.

I keep telling them to move the Synergy gear into the HIFI part of the store. But they have not done that.

You know how big bussness works.

You find something that could help and 35 folks have to bless the idea before it can happen.

kind of silly, but that is the way it works.

Hey Dr Who.

Next time your in town you and Mike give me a call.

Maybe you guys can come over for a bit.

[DrWho]

Remember the Mag HIFI room was a whole store.

The did sell Klipsch Reference. The way they did things and the way Klipsch does things were not the same.

Klipsch pulled there dealership.

Then they sold out to BB.

Now we are between a rock and hard place.

We have a deal with BB to supply the Synergy product. they can not have the Reference.

I keep telling them to move the Synergy gear into the HIFI part of the store. But they have not done that.

You know how big bussness works.

You find something that could help and 35 folks have to bless the idea before it can happen.

kind of silly, but that is the way it works.

Hey Dr Who.

Next time your in town you and Mike give me a call.

Maybe you guys can come over for a bit.

Interesting, never heard of Magnolia until it started showing up in

best buy...but the fact that it was previously a chain would explain

why they are pushing the name so hard (it's almost like a store within

a store). So how does the dealer chain work for magnolia? Is it still

run as a seperate entity? I don't see why Klipsch can't just come out

with a pretty wood veneer version of the F3 and sub-12...same

drivers, just a new cabinet with a new name and a much higher price

tag (and no need to do the other smaller siblings, cept maybe the B3).

The current silver/black look and low price tag of the synergy

just doesn't jive with the atmosphere they're aiming for in the mag

room.

So does Mike have your number? It would be a real treat to swing by sometime.

[Jay481985]

The synergy F3 have veneer or vinyl wood like pattern for outside america as told to me over and over by rttr! lol

[RTTR]

The synergy F3 have veneer or vinyl wood like pattern for outside america as told to me over and over by rttr! lol

[jt1stcav]

I work as a warehouse manager for our local Guitar Center. Like Best Buy, Guitar Centers throughout the country are split into regions; unlike Best Buy (it seems), each region has their own regional sales rep from all the manufacturers we carry in all the stores. Each rep will visit any given store, prepare new displays for their line, and cover with every sales associate that sells that particular line any new developments that are forthcoming or how best to display and pitch any of their items. These reps, whether they're from Zildjian, Korg, Yamaha, JBL...whatever, they want each store to represent their products in the best light, with groovy displays that are all hooked up and operational, so a customer can walk right into any Guitar Center throughout the nation and handle the merchandise, even try it out (we encourage anyone to play the gear)! It's been a successful system for both Guitar Center and all the brands we carry.

It's a shame Klipsch doesn't have a system similar to this with Best Buy. Even our local Best Buy has a halfhazard setup for their Synergy Series (half work, the other half don't, etc.)...it's a shame.

[pmsummer]

Going into "big box" discounters killed at least two quality speakers

brands in the US by damaging their reputation among the "audiophiles"

while producing a product that mullet wearing Gall-Mart shoppers either didn't

or couldn't appreciate.

EPI went that route in the early eighties (they formed their "Epicure"

line to stay in the boutique stores), and it put them under. Mission

did the same with BB in the early nineties. Adios Mission, for all

practical intents and purposes (both names lived on as little more than

re-labled product from another manufacturer).

Dangerous waters, but mass-consumer marketing is usually dangerous.

[Guest BobG]

Indyjeep and IndyKlipschFan - Thanks for caring how Klipsch product looks and sounds at Best Buy. We know it makes a huge difference in sales when the product looks good and works properly. Even the finest merchandise will sit unsold if it's presented poorly. This never changes. When the store cares, it shows. When they don't, it also shows.

I ran hi-fi stores for over 20 years so I know hard it is to keep a store looking and sounding good. I never worked at a store as large as a Best Buy but I expect that keeping it looking good and functioning properly is exponentially more difficult. Having been in Best Buy for a while now, we understand what happens if we leave our displays up to the company to maintain. They have limited amounts of labor and cannot keep up with the erosion caused by customers. Klipsch has used the services of two different outside resources to deal with this, but we've not been satisfied so we are taking matters into our own hands. Things will improve, but not overnight.

Feel free to tell us (me by PM if you like) of particularly bad or good displays. I'll work to get our folks in to address the problems and recognize the quality efforts.

Indyjeep, pm me as I'd like to express my thanks for your work.

[Jay481985]

Feel free to tell us (me by PM if you like) of

particularly bad or good displays. I'll work to get our folks in

to address the problems and recognize the quality efforts.

Every bestbuy in New Jersey! Let me at them and I will whoop em back the shape!

[thebes]

Bob, glad to hear you are making the appropriate moves. Also, it

probably wouldn't hurt to show BestBuy the three or four threads there

have been on this exact same subject over the last year or so.

After all, we all know about how well they are doing, or not, with

Klipsch because we shop in their stores. We are part of their

customer base, and certainly the HT guys here must drop a ton of dough

in their stores. We on this forum are their type of

customer. We like electronics and buy a lot of it.

Also I think BestBuy should give me a hugh plasma screen by way of apology.[]

[Indyjeep]

Hey how bout this you come on over to Indy and Ill get you set up with a Plasma mounted on the wall if you want it. And We can see about Klipsch setin me up with a hook up on the Ref Series, new or old lol I just want something to replace the JBLs....lol

[sesante2000]

I know this is an old thread but i thought Id put in my two cents. As working for the company in question I can say this. On one hand it is difficult for our store to maintain our display for two reason: 1. customers always screw with our setups. 2. The switch box that controls what speakers is putting out sound is a steaming pile of.....

And on the other... It's the store responsibility to represent EVERY product it sells in a presentable light for the customer to make his/her decision to which is best.

Also, Our store has made some sweet changes to our "listening room" We now have a audio room that is sound proofed off from the rest of the store so that customers can really crank it without disturbing the rest of the employees and customers.

So i guess my point is that (at least in the case of my store) things are looking up to help get klipsch on the map of every day joes.

[Indyjeep]

MHEET? or HEET? My store got shafted.....we aren't either of them.....stupid corporate...bah......lol but things are looking up....2-ch with sub in the middle of the HT dept of F-2s and a sub-12....booyah and still have the f-3 setup in the back with all of the TVs...great stuff...

[colterphoto1]

Best Buy 232 E. Washington St, Indianapolis IN....Fully working Klipsch F-3 display, fully functioning Klipsch Speaker Room, Fully functional (and only) SLX system w/ Sub-12 mounted on wall with Samsung Plasma. Boo Yah! lol sorry, just gotta say not all stores are the same.

you will be receiving a 'secret shopper' within the week to confirm this rumour.

M

[sheltie dave]

Trey, when you said Klipsch is the top selling line at BB, did you mean unit sales volume, revenue, or net margin per unit?

If this is true - and BB only handles a limited product line of yours - then there should be little problem to get them to both stock and display Klipsch with the full reverence and high profile they deserve.

In the absence of shinola going in the manager's pocket and concentrated sales effort, if a certain brand is the top seller due to high consumer demand, then the primo display and endcap displays should be jammed with their product. Based on the five BBs I cruise in St. Louis, Klipsch is in 3rd place. Bose and JBL both have more, and better, displays and product placements.

Give me some hard numbers, and a part time gig chasing the BBs in a fifty mile radius, and St. Louis would be in the top ten metro areas in the country! []

[Indyjeep]

Changed out the SLX system in favor of the F-2 system.

[colterphoto1]

Dave may have come across quite an idea. How about using a local Klipsch fan / Forum member in each major metro area with BB stores as a 'shopper' to check the condition of displays and salesman knowledge from time to time.

I'm sure that Klipsch representatives in the field don't have the time to check in as often as seems necessary. They might appreciate the feedback and then could give kudos to store managers or correct deficiencies.

Michael

[RTTR]

Dave may have come across quite an idea. How about using a local Klipsch fan / Forum member in each major metro area with BB stores as a 'shopper' to check the condition of displays and salesman knowledge from time to time.

I'm sure that Klipsch representatives in the field don't have the time to check in as often as seems necessary. They might appreciate the feedback and then could give kudos to store managers or correct deficiencies.

Michael

Sounds like a good idea, but I can't be that person in my area, I don't have a BB. Moved to the sticks.