Crutchfield offering some high end

[Mr Peabody]

I was recently out on Crutchfield.com and noticed not only did they pick up PS Audio but now offer Thiel speakers. Both of these lines were pretty well represented by inventory and current models so I presume they are going to be a regulare internet dealer. They have also added Marantz and have had Velodyne for some time.

Crutchfield has excellent customer service and I'm glad to see them pick up some upscale lines

[nightflier]

Yeah, I also saw that: Thiels from Crutchfiled! Talk about a cultural shift. I do see a few big problems with this approach:

- Are their sales reps knowledgeable enough about the high-end?

- Their regular customers are not Thiel buyers; they are more like Bose-buyers.

- Aside from PS Audio, what is the typical customer going to mate those speakers with? A Sony receiver? Is s/he going to listen to CDs on a $50 DVD player? Or hook an iPod to that Sony receiver?

- Crutchfield's prices are consistently the highest I've found online. I know some of that cost goes to service, but the smaller, more focused, mom-and-pop online shops can easily match that service and offer better prices.

- If this is a short-lived marriage, then how well will Crutchfield support their Thiel-owning customers two/five years from now?

- Big & bulky speakers are out of style for the majority of consumers. The iPod generation isn't going to buy these. I can already hear a caller ask the sales rep if the speakers can be hung on the wall next to their Samsung LCD.

Just like auto-shops should not offer manicures, dentists should not have a fast-food side business, and Richard Simmons should not be competing in Ultimate Fighting tournaments, Crutchfield should stay clear of hi-fi.

[Feanor]

I was never very impressed with the Crutchfield operation, and for many years they won't ship to Canada. However as of fairly recently they're now serving this company out of a warehouse in Mississauga.

Unfortunately the number of products they sell here is extremely limited, being of comparable quality, but much less selection, than you can get from Future Shop or Best Buy Canada.

Losers all 'round I'd have to say. :dita:

[royphil345]

Their prices always scared me away... There needs to be savings involved to make me buy online as opposed to going somewhere I could get faster service or return something for any reason without paying to ship it. Selection isn't that great either...

Thiels do seem to require better amplification / electronics than they sell in order to sound worth their price...

[DEVO]

I always want to listen to speakers before I even want to think about buying. Online purchasing makes that a little difficult, and shipping products across the country especially speakers...eh. what a headache...not me!
What has happened to Thiel? Fine companies like them usually don't allow online purchasing?!? What gives?
B & W, Martin Logan, Sonus Faber, etc. would pull their line if their products were sold online.

[Mr Peabody]

NF has some good points. It's apparent though that you all have no experience with Crutchfield. I bought my Toshiba 62" DLP from them, they gave me free delivery, the free Toshiba stand that no local store had, local stores would not deliver free. and it's been awhile but they at least matched or beat the local store price.

have to admit that Crutchfield it's not always able to offer the lowest price but their customer service is second to none. Sometimes a discount isn't a discount if you have a problem with no support. It's the discount mentality that has you all at the mercy of the mass merchants with almost forced extended warranies in order to get any customer service. It's the discount mentality that has all the decent local mom & pop or specialty shops closing the doors because people don't realize what that extra dollar gets them. No one with that mentality has any right to complain about bad service or lack of knowledgeable sales staff. You do get what you pay for.

Crutchfield also offers a very good knowledge base on their website for good basic info on products. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the high end.

[Mr Peabody]

What is the best way to audition speakers? In your own room with your own equipment. Crutchfield gives you 30 days to return with no questions asked.

I bought a pair of Infinity speakers for a second system. I didn't like them at all, terribly unbalanced. All I had to do was re-box them, slap the return label on and drop them off at the UPS store. I think you can actually arrange for returns to be picked up. My money was returned, no hassle, no problem.

[L.J.]

I have been buying from Crutchfield for years. Mainly car audio gear though. I can't comment on the home audio side of things but my experiences with purchasing car audio has always been good. Excellent CS. I've returned plenty of gear with no problem. Fast shipping too.

[royphil345]

NF has some good points. It's apparent though that you all have no experience with Crutchfield. I bought my Toshiba 62" DLP from them, they gave me free delivery, the free Toshiba stand that no local store had, local stores would not deliver free. and it's been awhile but they at least matched or beat the local store price.

have to admit that Crutchfield it's not always able to offer the lowest price but their customer service is second to none. Sometimes a discount isn't a discount if you have a problem with no support. It's the discount mentality that has you all at the mercy of the mass merchants with almost forced extended warranies in order to get any customer service. It's the discount mentality that has all the decent local mom & pop or specialty shops closing the doors because people don't realize what that extra dollar gets them. No one with that mentality has any right to complain about bad service or lack of knowledgeable sales staff. You do get what you pay for.

Crutchfield also offers a very good knowledge base on their website for good basic info on products. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the high end.


Yes... It is a very good point that Crutchfield does offer better service for the money. But, they still can't really compete with buying locally from a store with a good return policy for the same money IMO. I would expect at least a little savings... Although, You have another very good point that the local stores never seem to have what I want when I want it... and knowing there's a particularly trustworthy web retailer around in those situations is nice. I tend to take the chance with certain places offering lower prices and I've been lucky so far.... but I know bad things can and do happen. If Crutchfield keeps selling stuff like Marantz and Thiel, I'm sure we'll be doing business sooner or later... :)

[GMichael]

Crutchfield often offers good specials. You just need to look for them. I bought my 7.1 speaker system through them. Only paid for 3.1 of it and the other 4.0 came free. No freight. No sales tax. Full warranty. Great return policy. I'll take that deal all day. The only thing was that they had nothing hi end.
Maybe this will be the new trend. Manufacturers often do not want to deal with having a Customer Service department. That's why distributors exist in the first place. As the mom & pop B&M stores slowly fade away, places like BB, CC as well as online stores like Crutchfield become the norm.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Crutchfield often offers good specials. You just need to look for them. I bought my 7.1 speaker system through them. Only paid for 3.1 of it and the other 4.0 came free. No freight. No sales tax. Full warranty. Great return policy. I'll take that deal all day. The only thing was that they had nothing hi end.
Maybe this will be the new trend. Manufacturers often do not want to deal with having a Customer Service department. That's why distributors exist in the first place. As the mom & pop B&M stores slowly fade away, places like BB, CC as well as online stores like Crutchfield become the norm.

So you're saying your 7.1 speakers aren't hi end? I would think that with nearly 5000 posts here on AR that you'd be well into the high price spread by now. :ciappa:

My only experience with Crutchfield is insignificant but happened about 10 years ago when I was looking at car audio. Their prices turned me off so I went on my merry way.

BTW, I see a lot of references to Circuit City made throughout AR, but truthfully they've never impressed me from a pricing standpoint or name brand variety. Maybe they just don't have the market presence here in D/FW like they do in other parts of the country. OTOH, I'll probably do all of my future A/V purchasing online anyway.

(Just me babbling)

[GMichael]

So you're saying your 7.1 speakers aren't hi end? I would think that with nearly 5000 posts here on AR that you'd be well into the high price spread by now. :ciappa:

My only experience with Crutchfield is insignificant but happened about 10 years ago when I was looking at car audio. Their prices turned me off so I went on my merry way.

BTW, I see a lot of references to Circuit City made throughout AR, but truthfully they've never impressed me from a pricing standpoint or name brand variety. Maybe they just don't have the market presence here in D/FW like they do in other parts of the country. OTOH, I'll probably do all of my future A/V purchasing online anyway.

(Just me babbling)

When I bought my 7.1 system, I thought it was high end. After all, Infinity and Yamaha were top brands in my mind. My time here has shown me that it is really just a taste of what I could have. As much as I love them, I have still heard much better over the last few years. And my nearly 5000 posts just mean that I post a lot of jokes. I'm still a raw newbie compaired to most of the people here.

CC and BB have far from the best prices. But they move a lot of product. I see them as the new Radio Shack. I have found Crutchfield to have better CS and knowledge.

How's that for a non-coherent ramble?

[L.J.]

CC & BB is not a bad place to pick up a mid level gear by Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha and so on. Especially if you know exactly what your looking for before you enter the store. The Magnolia ministore inside BB is a great starting place to audition some mid/high end gear also. This is wear I purchased my Denon gear from.

5000 posts! Wow I'm never gonna catch you now.

[GMichael]

5000 posts! Wow I'm never gonna catch you now.

Some day Grasshopper, some day.

[L.J.]

Some day Grasshopper, some day.

Who the hell you callin' a grasshopper, watch it buddy :incazzato:

[GMichael]

Who the hell you callin' a grasshopper, watch it buddy :incazzato:

You don't like grasshopper? It's a well respected term from...:idea:

Oh nevermind.

Sorry Charlie.

[L.J.]

You don't like grasshopper? It's a well respected term from...:idea:

Oh nevermind.

Sorry Charlie.

Just foolin' with ya.

So you picked up your Yammy from crutchfield? Were you able to get a deal on it?

[GMichael]

Just foolin' with ya.

So you picked up your Yammy from crutchfield? Were you able to get a deal on it?

Nah, just the Infinities. They had a special that if you bought $400 or more on any Infinity products they'd send you a pair of Primus 150's for free. So, 2 orders later I had the whole 7.1 speaker system for $1200.
I bought The Yammy at Tweeter. I paid too much.

[Rich-n-Texas]

When I bought my 7.1 system, I thought it was high end. After all, Infinity and Yamaha were top brands in my mind. My time here has shown me that it is really just a taste of what I could have. As much as I love them, I have still heard much better over the last few years. And my nearly 5000 posts just mean that I post a lot of jokes. I'm still a raw newbie compaired to most of the people here.

Yamaha is still the top brand in my mind, although like you said there's bigger and better out there to be had. I recently had the good fortune of selling an 8' 3 piece slate pool table on eBay that was smack in the middle of my living/HT room in a matter of seven days, so as far as I'm concerned everything in my audio cabinets are now fair game. I was bit by the mod bug a few years ago thanks to a go-fast-car discussion forum I was a member of, and the same effect is setting in with me here at AR as well.

And yeah, it's strange that a New Yorker like yourself (I hope I'm right about that) could have such a prolific sense of humor. After all, aren't all NY'ers grumpy? :yesnod: :biggrin5:


CC and BB have far from the best prices. But they move a lot of product. I see them as the new Radio Shack. I have found Crutchfield to have better CS and knowledge.

How's that for a non-coherent ramble?

Ranks right up there with mine! (Thinks a lot of people would agree) :thumbsup:

Boy, I missed out on the fun by going to lunch didn't I...



Who the hell you callin' a grasshopper, watch it buddy :incazzato:

Yeah but L.J. did you catch the "Charlie" reference? :D



CC & BB is not a bad place to pick up a mid level gear by Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha and so on. Especially if you know exactly what your looking for before you enter the store. The Magnolia ministore inside BB is a great starting place to audition some mid/high end gear also. This is wear I purchased my Denon gear from.

Ya know, I didn't realize until it was pointed out to me yesterday that this is the Magnolia home theater store that used to stand on it's own. I always liked the humor in his commercials. I walked in to one at a BB in my area and was standing by while a couple were auditioning some speakers. I didn't see anything in there though that looked high end... not much that's talked about here by the big guys anyway.

Note: I'll remember the TV show that spawned the term "grasshopper" eventually. I know David Carradine(sp?) starred in it.

[GMichael]

Yamaha is still the top brand in my mind,


Mine too. But don't tell anyone here that I said that.


I recently had the good fortune of selling an 8' 3 piece slate pool table

Nooooooooooooo go buy it baaaaaaaaaaack..............




And yeah, it's strange that a New Yorker like yourself (I hope I'm right about that) could have such a prolific sense of humor. After all, aren't all NY'ers grumpy? :yesnod: :biggrin5:

New Yorkers are the most lovable people in the world. That is, behind closed doors. You need a certain amount of toughness to get by in the city. But deep inside, we are the same as any other grumpy ars with a chip on our shoulder.:ciappa:




Note: I'll remember the TV show that spawned the term "grasshopper" eventually. I know David Carradine(sp?) starred in it.

Kung Fu
Duh....

[Rich-n-Texas]

THATS IT! And I liked that show too. More recently, David C in Kill Bill & Volume 2 were great flicks in my mind. So much so that I "backed up" a couple of rentals.

I said "backed up" mods. :biggrin5:

The pool table had to go. It was sitting in the biggest room in my house, 99% of the time unused. When I came into ownership of my B & W's the AV upgrades had to begin, and the living room is the only place they'd fit. I really don't regret selling it at all. Being surrounded by phenominal sounds, be it rock-n-roll or a Japanese mob boss getting his head chopped off by hot little Lucy Liu weilding Hansu steel is what it's all about for me! :thumbsup:

Okay Mr. Peabody, you can have your thread back now. :)

[Mr Peabody]

I'd like to point out it is not accurate to lump CC, BB & Crutchfield together. CC & BB are like the anti-customer service. If you buy there, after the 30 days if you don't have an extended warranty, you are on your own. Crutchfield is the apitomy of customer service.

I had an Infinity car sub with a 3 year warranty which I wasn't even aware of, it quit working one day, when I checked it out it didn't sound blown, no sound and when you pushed on it, no scratching sound, it sounded alright, so I called Crutchfield to see if that sub had any problems noted, the guy checked my account, I had 3 months left on my warranty, they shipped me a new woofer and I was up and running again within one week. Now that's customer service. I didn't even mention warranty or replacement, I knew the woofer was old. Crutchfield checked it out and offered.

CC or BB's attitude is they could care less if I ever come in the store again. They extort people into buying those extended warranties. I don't want to get side tracked on a rant about extended warranties, except to say a consumer should not have to pay for service. It used to be expected. CC & BB are nationwide, large corporations, they can't afford some service? They take the consumer for granted because they have the discount mentality instilled on an unsuspecting, or unknowing, public. They no not what they do.

[Feanor]

... CC & BB are CC & BB are nationwide, large corporations, they can't afford some service? They take the consumer for granted because they have the discount mentality instilled on an unsuspecting, or unknowing, public. They no not what they do.

You get it, no doubt?

As a corporate leader, use any trick to get as much money from you customer as possible while providing as little as possible in return. Conversely, pay your employee as little in wages and benefits as regulation and the gobal wage market will allow; better yet, eliminate them using (possibly pirated) technology. Short sighted? Of course: but if you can't show a profit next quarter, you shareholders will get you boot (or at least the "golden handshake").

[GMichael]

I'd like to point out it is not accurate to lump CC, BB & Crutchfield together. CC & BB are like the anti-customer service. If you buy there, after the 30 days if you don't have an extended warranty, you are on your own. Crutchfield is the apitomy of customer service.

I had an Infinity car sub with a 3 year warranty which I wasn't even aware of, it quit working one day, when I checked it out it didn't sound blown, no sound and when you pushed on it, no scratching sound, it sounded alright, so I called Crutchfield to see if that sub had any problems noted, the guy checked my account, I had 3 months left on my warranty, they shipped me a new woofer and I was up and running again within one week. Now that's customer service. I didn't even mention warranty or replacement, I knew the woofer was old. Crutchfield checked it out and offered.

CC or BB's attitude is they could care less if I ever come in the store again. They extort people into buying those extended warranties. I don't want to get side tracked on a rant about extended warranties, except to say a consumer should not have to pay for service. It used to be expected. CC & BB are nationwide, large corporations, they can't afford some service? They take the consumer for granted because they have the discount mentality instilled on an unsuspecting, or unknowing, public. They no not what they do.

Hi Mr P,

I didn't mean to say that they were all the same. But all 3 have been picking up new lines that are (or at least were) hi-end. BB picked up the Maglonia store's products like ML. I dob't remember who CC picked up but I remember a thread about something a few weeks ago. (Man it sucks to get old).

[samgupta]

I was recently out on Crutchfield.com and noticed not only did they pick up PS Audio but now offer Thiel speakers. Both of these lines were pretty well represented by inventory and current models so I presume they are going to be a regulare internet dealer. They have also added Marantz and have had Velodyne for some time.

Crutchfield has excellent customer service and I'm glad to see them pick up some upscale lines

Wow...this is really wild. Even though I read it I still went over to the crutchfield.com website to see it with my own eyes. Maybe they are making a slow push into high end vs. mass market?

I agree with all the comments about crutchfield being really overpriced....it's hard to justify the near retail pricing they seem to want for the mid-fi type gear.