[topround]

Tried to setup up a listening session at my local (sort of) Devore dealer. Hesaid fine but there was a $1500 retaining fee for new customers. Of course this would be applied to any purchases I made.

I said this was a novel approach to business.
He said yes it is and they were trying to discourage retail sales as they were too busy installing home theatres.

Nice way to treat a customer
Nice way to treat a line that they carry, I am sure Devore would be happy.

So blew them off and went to listen to Vandersteens today, heard the quattros and the 5a's, Both amazing speakers. And the Vandy dealer didn't charge me, even shook my hand and said goodbye knowing I wasn't going to buy anything, but maybe I will....

[zybar]

Mike,

Did you hear the Vandy speakers at Audio Connection?

What was the other gear?

George

[Charles Calkins]

topround:

 That sure is a first for me. Never heard of such a deal ever.

                                   Cheers
                                    Charlie

[topround]

Yes with John Rutan
He used a new audible illusions pre with a pass 250.5 amp and a wadia cdplayer with the quattros
it was amazing,, truly. no power conditioning and some treatments

the 5a's had all acoustic research stuff, Big 100 watt stereo amp , some pre with big digital numbers for the volume and a ar cd player, sounded very great. it was perfect in fact, probably the best i ever heard, he had some ar mono blocks too but they were not being used,
he is very good at setup  Richard gray conditioner a more treatments
If I had deep enough pockets they would be mine

mike

[topround]

Well the other dealer near me was Sound by Singer and even they wouldn't charge a person....I think

this may become a trend to get back at us audiophiles for the hours of time wasting we heap on the salespeople

[zybar]

topround:

 That sure is a first for me. Never heard of such a deal ever.

                                   Cheers
                                    Charlie

I know of a few dealers who run their business this way.   

They were never blatantly spelled things out like this particular dealer did, rather they tried to equate the charge to a retainer fee you would pay to various professionals. 

George

[zybar]

Yes with John Rutan
He used a new audible illusions pre with a pass 250.5 amp and a wadia cdplayer with the quattros
it was amazing,, truly. no power conditioning and some treatments

the 5a's had all acoustic research stuff, Big 100 watt stereo amp , some pre with big digital numbers for the volume and a ar cd player, sounded very great. it was perfect in fact, probably the best i ever heard, he had some ar mono blocks too but they were not being used,
he is very good at setup  Richard gray conditioner a more treatments
If I had deep enough pockets they would be mine

mike

Yup, John knows how to set up the Vandy speakers.   

That's where I first heard the 5's and was simply blown away.

Interestingly enough, John has e-mailed me multiple times suggesting that selling my 5A's would be a big mistake. 

Given what I am hearing these days, he just might be right.   aa

George

[JoshK]

FWIW, I think selling your 5A's would be a mistake for you too.  I think you'd regret it. 

[topround]

Yes, he said I should buy a used pair and said there was a pair on audio circle, I said I knew who the seller was. He told me he emailed you to help you with setup.
I don't know why you are selling them, but they might be my last speaker if I had the money.
They sounded wonderful tonite. Given the right amps they would be perfect

[Singapura]

To quote Chow Yun Fat:"Welcome to Singapore!". There's a whole mall with audioshops here and all of them are more geared towards the auditioning experience than selling. They seem to do very well though. I'm a big fan of a small headphoneshop that not only lets you try their cans, amps and IEM's but even provides food and drinks on Fridays.

[topround]

Singapura,
Sounds like Shangri La to me

[Hogg]

There is a dealer in NYC that does this.  I told him he was crazy.  He believes his experience and "ears" are worth every penny.  However, he wanted $150 not $1500.  I wanted to audition the Elac line of speakers.

Mike, you should report him to Devore.  They may not want this type of dealer carrying their speakers.  I heard the Devores at "In Living Stereo" and paid nothing to listen to them.

                                                                                                              Jim

[Bill Baker]

I can understand how dealers may want to deter *tire kickers* but charging someone to audition?? That sound ridiculous. I have spent countless hours auditioning products for people who I never heard from again but they have been far and few between.
 Most of my auditioning customers have driven many miles, sometimes up to 8 hours one way, so you can usually assume they are serious.

 If you are a retail dealer and have a showroom, you simply have to expect this. You are not going to sell to everyone who walks through the door. Hell, at $1500 a pop for an audition, you wouldn't have to sell anything.

[mcrespo71]

Yes with John Rutan
He used a new audible illusions pre with a pass 250.5 amp and a wadia cdplayer with the quattros
it was amazing,, truly. no power conditioning and some treatments

the 5a's had all acoustic research stuff, Big 100 watt stereo amp , some pre with big digital numbers for the volume and a ar cd player, sounded very great. it was perfect in fact, probably the best i ever heard, he had some ar mono blocks too but they were not being used,
he is very good at setup  Richard gray conditioner a more treatments
If I had deep enough pockets they would be mine

mike

Yup, John knows how to set up the Vandy speakers.   

That's where I first heard the 5's and was simply blown away.

Interestingly enough, John has e-mailed me multiple times suggesting that selling my 5A's would be a big mistake. 

Given what I am hearing these days, he just might be right.   aa

George

I don't know if it's a mistake, but let's be honest here, what are you going to buy that's markedly better than the 5a's?  Different perhaps, but IMO they are totally world class audiophile speakers. 

[Audiovista]

I was stunned when Mike told me the $1500 number.....I think I asked him a couple of times to repeat it.....at first I thought it was $15 and I thought that that was crazy. When it finally sunk that it is actually 100x more I was left speachless.....

I work 5 minutes from the dealer and have never seen the shop open. This explains.....

Well Mike, at least you did have a good time today, in better environment.

[lonewolfny42]

There is a dealer in NYC that does this.  I told him he was crazy.  He believes his experience and "ears" are worth every penny.  However, he wanted $150 not $1500.  I wanted to audition the Elac line of speakers.

Mike, you should report him to Devore.  They may not want this type of dealer carrying their speakers.  I heard the Devores at "In Living Stereo" and paid nothing to listen to them.

                                                                                                              Jim

Mike....As Jim mentioned...head over to "In Living Stereo" for your listen....

In Living Stereo
13 East 4th Street
(between Broadway and Lafayette)
New York, NY 10003

Phone: 212-979-1273
Fax: 212-979-1385
e-mail: [email protected]
Store Hours    
Tuesday to Friday:    Noon to 7:30pm
Saturday:    Noon to 6:00pm
Sunday:    Noon to 5:00pm
Monday:    Closed

[JLM]

One more reason why internet direct sales keep going up.  I'm too old to beg anyone to buy a new toy.      

I understand the bricks and mortar costs.  The HT pull is very hard at nearly all "audio" shops.  I only know of two audio shops in Michigan that don't carry HT.

The best retail model I've seen is to audition/sell out of your home by appointment only.  Private sessions, domestic environment, and low overhead.  Plus the proprietor has lots of toys to enjoy the rest of the time.   

[john1970]

I can understand how dealers may want to deter *tire kickers* but charging someone to audition?? That sound ridiculous. I have spent countless hours auditioning products for people who I never heard from again but they have been far and few between.
 Most of my auditioning customers have driven many miles, sometimes up to 8 hours one way, so you can usually assume they are serious.

 If you are a retail dealer and have a showroom, you simply have to expect this. You are not going to sell to everyone who walks through the door. Hell, at $1500 a pop for an audition, you wouldn't have to sell anything.

My thoughts exactly!!  A retail dealer charging someone $1500 to audition a pair of speakers is the equivalent of a car dealership charging someone $2000 to test drive an automobile.  I would take my money somewhere else.

Best of luck,

John

[chadh]

My thoughts exactly!!  A retail dealer charging someone $1500 to audition a pair of speakers is the equivalent of a car dealership charging someone $2000 to test drive an automobile.  I would take my money somewhere else.

But that's the whole point!  These guys aren't interested in getting rich from auditions.  They want to deter people from having auditions.  They're busy doing their custom installations, and auditions are just a hassle for them.  Probably the only reason they give you the audition option (at a cost of $1500) is to be able to advertise themselves as a Devore dealer.  Given that there are other dealers in the area, I don't see that there is any problem with this arrangement.  It would be different if they had some exclusive dealing territory, and everybody in the area needed to buy from them.  But in that case, Devore wouldn't stand for the $1500 audition fee (as it would effectively mean that nobody in the area would buy the speakers).  But as there are other dealers, customers just go elsewhere: this is exactly what this dealer wanted.

The only really surprising thing about this arrangement is finding just how lucrative the custom HT installation business must be.  Essentially, this dealer is telling you that between actual revenues forgone, inconvenience and overheads of maintaining an audition space, the costs associated with taking time away from custom installations in HUGE.

Chad

[fajimr]

hey mike

bring over a six pack and I'll let you listen to my speakers... and I'll even share with you 

wow- although hardly anything surprises me these days.

cheers
jim