Sign of the times: local High-End audio dealer is out of business

OK, so you make my point. The person who went online wouldn't spend $300 to $500 for a home visit to optimize their system.

 

There are two problems that I've encountered (where I live in the UK).

1. The price premium for B&M vs online is very high. Maybe 30% for the kind of thing I might buy. It's hard to justify. I agree with the ethical point about not wasting the B&M's time, result being that I now rarely visit the hi-fi shops.

2. The quality of the advice in B&M shops is variable. There are some fantastic dealers who will give you great advice and not try to sell you stuff that you don't need. There are others who are far less well informed and/or willing to help than the folk you will find in online forums (fora?) such as this one.

That said, if I had more money for this I'd go back to the B&M shops; the experience of a patient demo + someone to come to your house to do the setup is worth the extra. I am not surprised that they are suffering though.

I am sure that the changing shape of home entertainment + recession has a lot to do with it as well.

Tim

 

I think it is all in the marketing... Say to come to your house and do one hour of consulting and optimizing... you have a baseline performance to guide you from there. Sure, $150 sounds like a lot of money but you know what? You'd probably might spend $1000 for a turntable to improve your system... which may still be compromised by improper placement of your stereo equipment and settings.

Not everyone has golden ears and time to tweak the system by doing online search and hours of listening. Look at today's kids... I want it NOW! Download MP3 and bam! I am listening already.

How about $50 for 30 minutes of at-store consultation? You bring diagram of your room... list of all equipments... including wires and have the tech sort out position of speakers... furniture placements... room treatment suggestions... window treatments suggestions? Pictures of the room would be great help in this case.

 

Yeah, the pricing is horrible and it really doesn't make sense not offering some discounts... say you buy one equipment... I give you 5% off... and you need accessories? I'd give you 20% off if you buy at the same time.

Even my current dealer doesn't offer any discount at all. I think it is time that they think of moving products and get incomes rather than full price gamble with a lot of no sales. If the buyer has intent, why not make it more incentive to purchase? So you give back $100 on a potential $600 profit... isn't that better than zero sale?

 

LOL... AM listening...

 

I see the B&M prices as necessary to pay for overhead like salaries, rent, utilities, web sites, etc. Generally B&M will provide some discount but they should get a decent margin so the business is worthwhile.

I like online stores as well but I fear a world where only online stores exist. The after-sale service would suck and there would be less exposure for me to new gear and less exposure of the public to high end gear.

 

Your last point is intriguing but even less plausible. The high end stores have a hard time getting customers through the doors now and it is free to just walk in and talk to the salesman/owner. Imagine how you would feel if the second you walk through the door and ask your dealer a question, he tells you that the meter is running, so you better get your credit card or checkbook out!

 

I am a little confused. On the one hand you feel you should get a bigger discount from your dealer, on the other you are prepared for your dealer to charge you $150/hour for home installation or $50 for a "consultation." Isn't is obvious that this is why you are paying full retail, is for the dealer's time and expertise?

 

The point is, we are all losing out to some extent when B & M sellers close their doors. While it is nice to get a good deal online, I don't trust a good review when I am buying new gear, I want to hear it myself. I have heard some highly reviewed gear that was just OK, and heard some great stuff that never got reviewed.

 

I was referring more to the used market and the ever-increasing presence of small Chinese companies that anything else. I doubt you could find a B&M retailer that offers my amp for what I paid for it slightly used.

 

Slightly used may be the way forward for high end retailers, provided they can find storefronts with lower overhead. I sort of thought of this when I was helping Lev move some things out in preparation for his closing. In his back area, I noticed some very nice gear on his shelf, including a nice Thorens Turntable with SME arm. All of this gear needs some work, but when he repairs them, I told him I would definately be interested in it.

I would be more than happy to pay a retailer fair market value for, say a 10 year old Preamp or 15 year old Turntable if the seller has technical expertise and can stand behind his work.

 

I got some bad news this weekend.
Audio Atlanta (pretty much my fave hi-end shop in the Marietta/Atlanta area)
closed their doors. The owner needed a lifestyle change.

 

Sorry to hear this, but by "lifestyle change", does that mean more money? I wonder if he tried to sell the business.

 

Alan @ Audio Alternative has all the "key" high-end brands. Rega, Vandersteen, Totem, NAD, Thiel, McIntosh, VPI, Magnepan.... never had a single reason to go to Sound & Cinema, despite being much closer to my home in East Cobb.

S&C had Adcom, Marantz, Pioneer Elite, Yamaha, Sony ES... *much* less interesting.

 

This is mightily uninformed. Ed at Sound & Cinema had Audio Research, Magnepan, Pioneer Elite, Theta, VPI, Paradigm Reference, PSB, etc.

Alan picked up several of the brands after Ed went out of business.

 

Like I said, less interesting. And Alan's had all the brands I mentioned (except Maggie) for years. Ed lost Maggie to Alan, I think, last year. Ed didn't have VPI. Never saw it in the store, and VPI isn't mentioned on the web site.

Ed focused on home theater and mid-fi brands. The "middle" is usually squeezed out first.

"Mightily" uninformed? Dude...

Rega, Totem, Vandersteen, McIntosh, Thiel, Magnepan, NAD... vs. Pioneer Elite, Sony ES, Marantz, PSB, Audio Research?

Oh, forgot Klipsch... S&C had "Klipsch Reference". But no Heritage Line. Whoopie!

 

He was making some money but had been sitting in the same little box,
that store, for 30 years. I think there was no attempt to sell it.

There are days MY store walls seem to be closing in on me,
and I've only been here 15 months. So, I "get it".

 

I'm amazed that this city can support two McIntosh dealers
(both Audio Alternative and Georgia Home Theater).

I did not see Magnepans in AA until very recently.

 

Right, that was a recent pickup. LeeS's post is wrong in every other way.

 

People of Atlanta,

how many high-end / ultra high-end retailers are in your city?

 

Our society has become such a throw-away people don't feel like investing in expensive well made equipment....

 

This is true.

 

Or maybe people just don't HAVE the money to invest?

 

Also true.

 

Sounds like the bad economy is hitting a lot of these high end audio dealers hard.