|   Snobby salespeople or How I Grew to Love the Bomb | Widowmaker
Feb 22, 2002 10:27 AM | | Is it just me or are there a lot of holier-than-thou salespeople in the speciality audio sales field? I ask because recently I've been to several "high-end" audio/video stores and when I mention that I am looking at Polk Audio or Infinity as alternatives, the salespeople either roll their eyes, look at me as if I have seriously bad B.O., or a combination of the two. They then say words to the effect of, "... Polk/Infinity could not hold B&W's, Boston's, Denon's, etc., jock strap." But I've compared the specs of the high-end speakers to brands such as Polk and Infinity and more often than not, they are the same or sometimes the "lesser" brands' specs are superior for a lower price. Is this because they are paid on commission (I never ask because it really isn't my business)? Are there any current or former salespeople who have any thoughts on this?
P.S.: As an aside, for anyone thinking about it, don't ever waste your time/money/effort on Bose. There is a reason why they don't release specs on their products. Trust me on this, you'll thank me later. |
| I hear ya.... | Old_lane
Feb 22, 2002 10:47 AM | | Yeah salespeople can be pretty ignorant and annoying. Some are good but then there are others who are just shady. But in their defense (kinda) the specs for speakers don't correlate with price. I mean...what are good specs and bad ones. Other than frequency range (the wider the range the more expensive)most of the specs won't have a direct relarionship to price. There are expensive low sensitive speakers and expensive very sensitive speakers. there are expensive biwireable speakers and then there are expensive monowire (have no idea what to call this other than monowire or normal speakers). Wattage handling ability is basically a nonissue. BTW I've heard some pretty bad sounding Boston's and some very nice sounding polks and infinities. It most likely is commission. Most of these places work on commission and the one's where they don't (ie Best Buy) the salespeople seem to be morons who'd be better off serving the electronics section of a grocery store. |
| Couldn't agree more.... | nick4433
Feb 22, 2002 10:57 AM | | Salespeople have their own interests before the interests of their customers. The more high end shop you go to, the more "rolling of eyes" and other such behavior will be evidenced. Ever asked these people why they think brand A is better than brand B? Depending on the answer you get, you'll either laugh or cry.
Now some of these dudes are knowledgeable and know what they are talking about but will still discredit the so-called lesser brands out there. |
| In their defense (sort of)... | Woochifer
Feb 22, 2002 8:58 PM | | You gotta sympathize with the poor sales reps that have to field 100 or so "Is this speaker better than those technologically advanced Bose speakers?" inquiries everyday! Just in my speaker audition tour, I overheard this question at least four times! I can only imagine the horror of how that translates into a 40-hour work week!
A couple of the stores I visited carry the Gallo Acoustics mini speakers just for those customers that insist on going with a cube/sat system. The sales rep I overheard demonstrated how Bose AMs sound by talking to the customers while covering his mouth. Actually, that offhand demo bore a surprising resemblance to a HT demo that I heard at the Bose store! Man, those speakers are accurate after all! It's not that the Bose AM systems sound muffled -- those movies were recorded silent and in the dubbing stage, all of the actors recited their lines while covering their mouths! Bose don't suck, all other speakers on the market are just too bright!
One store where a friend of mine used to work went as far as purchasing their own Bose AM system just to let customers hear for themselves how "technologically advanced" those speakers are! (Pretty good way of securing a sale since Bose dealers never have other brands in close proximity to the AM setups in the demo rooms) |
| Bose reps used to drive around in a modified truck... | yogo
Feb 23, 2002 4:00 PM | | and park in front of Best Buys, etc. for auditioning their stuff. No chance for A/B demos. |
| Hmmm, so that really was Dr. Bose in that white van I saw ... | Woochifer
Feb 23, 2002 4:33 PM | | trolling around Cambridge, Mass.! I dunno, I think that you can do AB comparisons with those ultra kewl Omni, Acoustic Monitor, and Dynalab specials -- just kinda difficult to do those kinds of comparisons out in parking lots, while trying to elude cops -- the sirens tend to drown out the source material. |
| re: Snobby salespeople or How I Grew to Love the Bomb | sam9
Feb 22, 2002 11:03 AM | | Yup. You've got two extremes with very little in between. On the one hand there is the Circuit City crowd that doesn't know a boom box from MacIntosh and on the other are the joints that snear if you wallet isn't bulging with 1,000 dallar bills (and that's just for the speaker cables). |
| re: You get snobbery in MANY hobbies... | Woochifer
Feb 22, 2002 11:37 AM | | Audio is one of those things that you can't always entirely judge based on specs and measurements. Emotion is inevitably a part of the equation. I kinda liken snobbery in audio to how things are conducted in the wine trade. You think audio sales reps are snobby? Wine snobs are even worse!
I think inevitably it comes down to people wanting to be above the mass market, that identifying with a highly specialized niche product elevates you above the masses. But, you'll get that in just about any hobby -- comic and memorabilia collecting, dancing, etc. In the case of audio, I was lucky enough to have friends who worked in mid to high end audio stores, so I got to spend a lot of time listening to expensive and not so expensive equipment. Pretty much what I learned is that a lot of budget products perform VERY well, while a lot of expensive products perform quite poorly. Once you get into that esoteric high end, you're no longer making entirely rational choices -- more and more, they're driven by emotion. For example, tube equipment will almost always have inferior specs to solid state, but tube advocates generally tout their more "musical" and intangible qualities. Since music is often a visceral experience, the choices in what we prefer in playback equipment often reflects that. If the masses can't relate and you know something they don't, that's where the snobbery can start. |
| WWOOOOOOOCCHHHH!!! I hope I got your attention... | Terrible Terrence
Feb 22, 2002 11:51 AM | | My good man, can you email me, I want to ask you some question regarding the audioperfectionist issues 4-7 deftguy@hotmail.com
Terrence |
| Specs mean squat | Bryan
Feb 22, 2002 12:04 PM | | Odds the B&W, Def Tech, etc. will sound better than the Infinity, Polk, etc. However, you may prefer the Polk sound over the others. My question to you would be what is your source equipment and your speaker budget? I'd be an idiot to show you B&W Nautilus 805s if you are planning on using an Awia receiver to drive them. I'd also be a fool to show you Cerwin Vega LS-15s if you hate boomy bass. Additionally I wouldn't want to show you the CVs if you wanted bookshelf speakers rather than floor standers.
Odds are most salesmen are paid a combination of an hourly rate/salary and commission. They care about their pocket more than your happiness and tend not to use common sense. |
| Specs mean squat, or less; commission isn't a bad thing | spacedeckman
Feb 22, 2002 1:18 PM | | You don't keep it, he doesn't get paid. Nuff said there. If he doesn't get paid often enough, he is either fired, or quits because he isn't making any money.
I used to sell audio at the retail level, and, yes, some days, you really do get sick of people telling you how good their really horrible speakers are, or electronics. |
| Specs are evil, they deceive the uninitiated and little more | spacedeckman
Feb 22, 2002 1:22 PM | | Specs don't tell more than they do. Add to that the complications of some manufacturers, "fudging" a bit, or maybe being a bit too optimistic.
Maybe I'm a bit of a snob too, but I don't think Infinity has made much of anything for a decade or more. Polk...don't get me started. They used to be able to brag on crossovers, now they can't even do that. They sold their soul to Circuit City. No, they aren't competative. But you wouldn't get another set of B&Ws into my house either. |
| Can't even audition a pair of Paradigm's below $1800.... | yogo
Feb 22, 2002 4:41 PM | | at the local Paradigm dealer. Called before I stopped by to audition and they only carry the $1800 and up pairs. I wanted to check out the Studio 40's. What the hell is that? A profit margin situation? My wife works for a bunch a dem evil lawyers and backruptcy's and the like are on the rise. You'd think that a Paradigm dealer would want to a least stock what the unwashed, unrich can afford. There's some money to made there I would think. Is there a midfi gap? |
| It really depends on the dealer... | Woochifer
Feb 23, 2002 5:43 PM | | I've been to at least five Paradigm dealers, and only one carried the entire lineup from the Performance series up to the Reference Studio 100. I think that the Studio series is carried by a separate network of dealers (i.e. not all Paradigm dealers can stock the Studio models). Sounds like your local dealer's got some other lower end product that they'd rather sell (for whatever reason, they don't like the lower end Paradigms or they can make more profit on other speaker models).
Most of the Paradigm dealers I've visited carry the Performance and Monitor models as their entry level speakers, and go with other models for their higher end stuff. For example, one dealer I visited only carries Paradigm models up to the Monitor 5, and after that price point they go with B&Ws (and they don't carry B&W's entry level speakers). Another dealer only carries the Monitors, and they don't stock the 11s because (they claim) they just don't like how they sound. So, it really varies a lot! |
| I try more dealers, Thanks. | yogo
Feb 23, 2002 8:12 PM | | |
| Can't even audition a pair of Paradigm's below $1800.... | aroddy
Feb 23, 2002 11:09 PM | | Certainly Cherry Creek Audio in Denver has everything from the Performance & Monitor series, up to the Studio 100 & Studio CC. They seem to specialize a lot in Paradigm stuff. You might try them if they're in your area, or see if they ship. |
| i hear ya | Adam
Feb 23, 2002 2:06 PM | | personally I think that B+W is garbage. I went to some hi-end audio stores a few weeks ago and was treated like a 2 year old. I was being watched and examined as I demoed equipment, it was very very annoying. thus i didnt buy anything from them |
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