Sound Advice / Tweeter Stores Shut Down in a Dumbed Down Marketplace

[admin]

After two filings for bankruptcy in less than one year, all 94 Tweeter / Sound Advice stores have officially closed down as of today. This marks the end of an era for a company I once respected and even admired as an example of how a true audiophile store should operate, at least until Tweeter took them over and ran them into the ground. With the loss of so many mainstream Hi-Fi shops you're left with chain department stores where you can buy cubed speakers and overpriced Monster cables from a pimply-faced teenager while simultaneously shopping for a new dishwasher. The death of these stores in my opinion elevates the trend of the Dumbing Down of Audio.


Discuss "Sound Advice / Tweeter Stores Shut Down in a Dumbed Down Marketplace" here. Read the article.

[SpeedDemon]

A sad day indeed on what was once a GREAT audio retailer. It took Tweeter 7 years to dismantle what took over 25 to build...they should all be shot! Who knows... maybe there's life for Sound Advice after this mess and some how it resurects back to become something meaningfull again. Let's hope so because as each day passes, there are less and less places to actually hear, see, feel and purchase quality products. Speed.

[alexsound]

Originally Posted by admin

After two filings for bankruptcy in less than one year, all 94 Tweeter / Sound Advice stores have officially closed down as of today. This marks the end of an era for a company I once respected and even admired as an example of how a true audiophile store should operate, at least until Tweeter took them over and ran them into the ground. With the loss of so many mainstream Hi-Fi shops you're left with chain department stores where you can buy cubed speakers and overpriced Monster cables from a pimply-faced teenager while simultaneously shopping for a new dishwasher. The death of these stores in my opinion elevates the trend of the Dumbing Down of Audio.


Discuss "Sound Advice / Tweeter Stores Shut Down in a Dumbed Down Marketplace" here. Read the article.

I've been doing business off and on with SA for about 20 years including the old Audio Garage stores they used to have. It is a very sad day to see these guys go. I bought my first car stereo from them, my 1st real TV, my 1st and only S-VHS VCR, which I still have, and a laser disc player. My first surround receiver came from these guys. Man, I did a lot of business with them. Sad, sad day.

[sleepysurf]

Originally Posted by alexsound

I've been doing business off and on with SA for about 20 years including the old Audio Garage stores they used to have. It is a very sad day to see these guys go. I bought my first car stereo from them, my 1st real TV, my 1st and only S-VHS VCR, which I still have, and a laser disc player. My first surround receiver came from these guys. Man, I did a lot of business with them. Sad, sad day.

I agree it's sad to see them gone. In ~1989 I bought a pair of Apogee Acoustics Stages from Sound Advice (pre-Tweeter days), and thus began my foray into high end audio. I bought a lot of other gear from them after Tweeters took over, but they've been in a downward spiral ever since.

One can only hope they might yet be resurrected, at least in FL.

[gene]

Likewise. I even bought speakers from them (buy one get one 50% off) which they allowed me to tradeup a year later. Try doing that at Best Buy.

[jinjuku]

In today's world when the only thing a potential customer calls to ask about is price, the dedicated Hi-End shop is dead.

[GlocksRock]

It's definitely a shame to see places like that go out of business. Looks like a lot of things were handled very poorly, especially after reading the below article.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10111831-1.html

One of my friends uncle used to own a local chain called Audio Video Systems, then Tweeter bought him out, and now that his no comete clause is up he has opened a new store dedicated to custom home theater and I'm glad to see that Tweeter won't be any competition to him, but I did enjoy going to Tweeter even if it was just too look around. They did however do a good job of car audio installation for me, and even though their prices were steep, they did stand behind their work.

[Alex2507]

I was in a Tweeter not long ago and the very attentive sales dude explained that even though a lot of stores were being closed, his store remained because it was making money. The closing really sucks for those employees who did like their jobs.

Reading the article I got side tracked by Un-Sound Advice About Cables and all I could think of was Mazer dropping acid and selling wire.

I had something to say about the Dumbing Down of Audio article too but the Mazer visual proved to be too much. Good reading for those of us without degrees in electro acoustic geekery.

[davidtwotrees]

Excellent article, but don't you think the role of internet sales killing b and m retail stores was a bit underplayed?
I felt it was a perfect example of the whole American business model which seems to be very short sighted. In the town where I live, they built a large Ace Hardware store in 1990. Locals claimed they were going to put the two mom and pop's out of business, and they did it in 5 years. The folks at Ace claimed it was competition, survival of the fittest, and letting the market decide. Home Depot opened up a block away three years ago...........and the folks at Ace are singing a whole different tune now as they are slowly strangled.
I see it happening with online stuff too. Authorized sellers are trying to compete with "unauthorized" sellers who offer the gear at 50% less. I'm not sure where it will end........maybe like in the futuristic Demolition Man where Taco Bell owns everything...

I guess people will tolerate crappy service for the cheapest price....

[PhilCohen]

"Sound Advice" has for some years catered to a sucker market who were unaware that Sound Advice was regularly charging 15% over(actual) list price on Televisions, by stating fictitiously high list prices.

Audio equipment was de-emphasized at their stores, and the days when Sound Advice would have any local exclusives on high end audio brands was over.

Why would a knowledgeable consumer pay 15% over list for a television, when they could go to Sears or Best Buy and get the same T.V. at the manufacturers suggested price or even get the set at a discount at Circuit City?(or better yet, buy from an online discounter such as Amazon)

In my 42 years of experience buying electronic home entertainment equipment, I had much better luck with repairs done by factory authorized repair shops than repairs done by salon dealers such as Sound Advice, yet salon dealers usually cite their in-house repair shops as justification for their high prices. I'm not interested in paying for a dealer's fancy interior decorating and wasteful use of excessively large store space. Those aren't the things that I take home.