Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouse
Great? Ok, better than the competition here.
One ARC system on display. The other guy that carries ARC doesn't actually have ARC in the showroom.
Plenty of guidance, but without the pieces in my face and playing sounds for my ears it's all irrelevant.
his guidance on ARC wasn't no refunds, it's just on the receipt copy, "No refunds on special orders." I bought something else before that they don't stock and he offered to take it back if I don't like it because he could use it in their showroom, I didn't chat about returns on special orders.
The dealer is great except he's small with the following problems: limited showroom, no returns.
I live in Denver, CO.
I have Soundings which I prefer lately and I have Listen Up.
From my experience, my guy at Soundings is more knowledgeable, less opinionated, better at arranging demos with what they have, and offers loaners on nearly anything they sell. I was told to try new XLR cables by some on this forum to troubleshoot noise, they took a pair off of their flagship system because I wanted to hear Nordost. They've been willing to demo in-home a few pieces I've wanted which I bought. They troubleshooted partly some of my noise problems before I bought a thing. These guys LOVE music, would let me sit on their couch for an hour demoing their stuff, they enjoy to demo so much that it's me running out of time, instead of them getting bored.
By contrast Listen Up to this day still will not demo any cable, even worse I had a defective XLR cable and they wouldn't loan me one while mine was getting sent off for repair under warranty. I've asked to demo some subs and out of three times I've never had a proper demo there. In home demos are de facto forbidden. I've asked a few times and they said ok that they will, but they never did because they didn't want to disconnect the power supply, they wouldn't haul a sub. I was told all the noise I was getting was normal, while AA and Soundings taught me how to eliminate it. To this day I've never heard the MB100 despite asking several times. To make matters worse I caught my Listen Up salesman trying to photograph the serial numbers on the SVS subs I didn't buy from him, because he wouldn't demo them. Listen Up is a huge store here, and they have a lot of good brands. While you've read my rant there is plenty of good stuff to say about the company too. They'll even return a special order.
Best Buy? They're kind of a sad joke in the audiophile industry. They gave me a taste of Mc and SF, and just as quickly they lost my interest. $100 bucks for them to come to the house to make recommendations. Against my better judgement I pay $100 and the guy shows up, smart as a whip and takes his time with me, he promises a list of products that match what I'm looking for. It never happens. I can't email him or call him as I don't have his business card. I go back in a month later and no one knows who he is. I lose $100 and get nothing out the deal.
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I'm very familiar with all those guys. I know the ListenUp folks going back to the late 70's when Rod from Soundings still worked there.
I trained the Soundings guys in Sumiko Masters when they first came on board as a Vienna Acoustics dealer. Wonderful people!
Regardless of the dealer, I would suggest that you explain what you would like to accomplish. Sounds like this has happened at Soundings already.
If you want something outside their policies, ask them and tell them why. Very few can read your mind. Perhaps they have a way to help. If they don't at least it won't happen because of a misunderstanding. This might be your next step.
There is also another ARC dealer in Colorado though I do not know what Rick has on display. A call to his shop in Ft Collins might be worth the effort.
I also believe there are some good dealers in your area though you haven't yet visited them all.
FYI, the Foundation Series may be one of the best values in audio today.
As always, ymmv.
Bill
Disclaimer: I work for Wilson Audio