Your Recent Purchase Experience

[amarmistry]

I think I am speaking for lot of us here when I recommend a new thread about the your recent purchasing experience. This will make all of us more informed consumer for our audio products. You may want to include:

1. Equipments auditioned
2. Equipment bought and why did you buy that particular one
3. Where was the purchase made
4. What was the price quoted and paid
5. Experience with the salesperson
6. Any other note

Lets dedicate this thread to heart and souls of home-theater ie. speakers and receivers.

Who is going to be the first one?

This may sound just like those posts in edmunds.com about automobile purchase. But hey, those are really good and helpful posts. Afterall, now I am a very happy odyssey owner since last 5 yrs(btw, THE CRAPPIEST automobile speakers for a 30k van)

Also, if such thread already exist, then I apologize for the redundancy. I know we have a separate review section, but I think this is going to be more active and live!

[toenail]

1. Equipments auditioned
Yamaha rxv450 and rxv650.

2. Equipment bought and why did you buy that particular one
Bought 450 because it offered all that I needed.

3. Where was the purchase made
Tweeter

4. What was the price quoted and paid
$299

5. Experience with the salesperson
I had a few issues with my buying experience. A) I wanted this amp when it was first introduced. I called the local Tweeter one morning and was assured they had enough in stock that they would still have some after work that day. Of course when I got there all they had was the display and they refused to sell it to me. I ended up driving 1/2 hour to another location to make the purchase. B) When I asked him to do an A/B comparison between the 450 and the 650 he came up with a bunch of reasons that it wouldn't be an "accurate comparison". As it turns out it wasn't accurate because he insisted on using "straight" insead of "direct" on the 450, and using some other setting at a higher volume on the 650. When I confronted him with this fact he said that the setting on the 650 was the equivalent of that used on the 450 and that the perceived volume difference was my ears being tricked by the better quality of the 650. I should point out that I realise -30db on the 450 and -30db on the 650 may play at different volumes. When I say that the 650 was playing louder I mean it was pretty obvious that he had not matched the level of the 450 for an equal comparison. I can only assume this was a tactic to sway me toward the 650 since he detected I may walk because they didn't have the 450 in stock.

6. Any other note
Aside from what's noted above I was pleased not be beat to death for an extended warranty. The CC and more so, the BB crowd are like sharks to blood in the water when it comes to those Performance Service Plans. I considered buying the HTR equivalent from BB but didn't want to deal with the circus or the hassle. I've been very happy with my entry level unit.

[toenail]

1. Equipments auditioned
Polk rti6

2. Equipment bought and why did you buy that particular one
Didn't end up buying
3. Where was the purchase made
Circuit City
4. What was the price quoted and paid
$140/pair floor model
5. Experience with the salesperson
Horrible from the beginning. It took 20 minutes to get a sales person to assist me. I didn't know the lock-out code on their switchboard or I would have auditioned on my own. I requested to hear 4 different pairs of speakers. Not one of the 4 pairs were connected to an amp despite the fact that their switchboard indicated they were. At one point the sales person told me that he had turned on the ones I requested when it was clear that a different pair were playing. I had to force him to leave the switchboard and put his ear by the speaker in question just to convince him that he was wrong. Finally he assisted me in removing a pair of Polk rti6's from their shelf location and relocating them to the floor where we had to hook them up to wiring that would actually work (from the previously mentioned wrong pair of speakers). So I tried to listen to them while standing (horrible) then laying on the floor so that I could get them at ear level (not much better). When I told him I needed to get them off the floor and at least close to ear level he sort of shrugged and said nothing in reply, as if he couldn't understand what I wanted. I left in disgust.
6. Any other note
This is typical of what I find on every visit to CC or BB. It's a little tough to evaluate the sound quality of the Polks, but from what I heard they were a bit bright and harsh.

[Bryan]

Interesting. Let's see how my most recent purchase stacks up:

1. Equipments auditioned

N/A (Unless you count a SVS 20-39CSi I already own.)

2. Equipment bought and why did you buy that particular one

Rocket UFW-10. Four reasons: 1. Curious as to how it would stack up against the 20-39 in my home. 2. Smaller size and parametric EQ were a welcome bonus. 3. UFW-12 not available as of yet. 4. B-stock UFW-10 was available. :D

3. Where was the purchase made

AV123.com

4. What was the price quoted and paid

$425 plus shipping (advertised B-stock unit). $459 delivered.

5. Experience with the salesperson

Overall excellent when I had questions concerning my particular sub. Otherwise his presence wasn't really needed nor required.

6. Any other note

Purchasing from a factory direct company can be risky. However, it is nice knowing you have direct access to the owner of the company and they will bend over backwards to make certian the customer is happy or, at the very least, that the experience has been an excellent one. I would gladly do business with them and will continue to do so in the future. Companies such as this are all too rare and a wonderful find. It is a credit to the owner and the workers. :D

[RGA]

Well this is one of my experiences while shopping explains what I compared too and why I bought the Audio Note J/Spe http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=speakers&n=163762&highlight=Soundhounds+Audio+Note+J/Spe+RGA&r=&session=

This is a review of the product itself 4 months or so later. http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=speakers&n=173895&review=1

There are follow - ups by the manufacturer to boot.

[PAT.P]

I think I am speaking for lot of us here when I recommend a new thread about the your recent purchasing experience. This will make all of us more informed consumer for our audio products. You may want to include:

1. Equipments auditioned
2. Equipment bought and why did you buy that particular one
3. Where was the purchase made
4. What was the price quoted and paid
5. Experience with the salesperson
6. Any other note

Lets dedicate this thread to heart and souls of home-theater ie. speakers and receivers.

Who is going to be the first one?

This may sound just like those posts in edmunds.com about automobile purchase. But hey, those are really good and helpful posts. Afterall, now I am a very happy odyssey owner since last 5 yrs(btw, THE CRAPPIEST automobile speakers for a 30k van)

Also, if such thread already exist, then I apologize for the redundancy. I know we have a separate review section, but I think this is going to be more active and live!
1)Equipment auditioned :Paradigm ADP370 Surround/JBL E 10/POLK AUDIO FXi3/DAHLQUIST 25 RA SPECIAL EFFECTS 2)Equipment bought: DAHLQUIST 25 RA they sounded way better! 3)Purchase at audioshop /Ottawa /Canada 4)Price quoted on their web was $899.00 had one pair going at 550.00 5)Experience with the sales person was great Marc Hallam knows how to make you fill really confortable and not pushy! 6) OTHER NOTE/ Try more than one brand ,it took me at least one mounth to decided and dont regret! Pat.P :cool:

[Lord_Magnepan]

I use my setup for home theater too.

1. Equipments auditioned
Pathos Acoustics Classic one, Pathos Acoustics Logos, Jeff Rowland Set, Magnepan MG 3.6, 1.6<-owned

2. Equipment bought and why did you buy that particular one
Pathos Acoustics Classic one, Magnepan MG3.6 because its a dream match. The Pathos has a tube prestage and a solid state power section.

3. Where was the purchase made
Magnepanstudio in Germany www.magnepanstudio.de

4. What was the price quoted and paid
6600€ (8195$) for the 3.6 i paid 5000€ (6208$) since 100hrs used, 300€ (372$) for power cables and 180€ (223$) for 50cm interconnects

5. Experience with the salesperson
3 years

6. Any other note
The most friendly person i have ever known, with the best service i have ever experienced.

Cheers