Disappointing visit to an Audio Store

[Soundman]

"In your face" with the highs? Complete opposite of my auditions. I thought they where muffled, and lifeless. No highs at all. Like Greg said you should have auditioned the Studio's also. But if you don't like Paradigms, and think they where bright. Rnatalli was right. Check out the AV123 Rocket series. You can audition the Rocket bookshelf speaker Risk Free.

Sorry about your auditioning experience. That's too bad. I agree with Mazer here. The higher end Paradigm's are very nice! Try them. Also, for ID's, I highly reccomend AV123. They are more laid back and sound more like what you're looking for. Good luck.

 

[Soundman]

I guess I am lucky that I have such a good dealer, I guess that is why his store has been in FTW for 60 years...huh...

The first time I walked in there he showed me how to switch between speakers, subs and AVRs, made certain I had good auditioning material, offered me some more and said take your time, walked out and closed the door behind him. He checked on me 30 minutes later, gave me a diet coke and told me not to be afraid to crank it all up. He left again and didnt come back until I went and got him. He is also a big B&W guy and that's what he has in his house but he told me that at my price range he couldnt get me into B&Ws that would sound as good as the Paradigms. I told him I was also looking at the MA RS-6 and he got on his cell, called his MA guy and had him bring some in. I dont mind paying a little extra for service like he offers but all in all, I have done well price wise.

The only mistake I may of made was not getting a pair of SIG S4's he offered me at a killer price (not much more than the 40's) they were the Birdseye maple and he said nobody wanted them and he wanted them out the door. I could never imagine having to pay for the center to match and he didnt have it at the deep discount...ouch...

Greg, I am sooo jealous. I wish I had a dealer like that where I live.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Move to Texas. We are all nice here unless you piss us off, then we just shoot ya.

Greg, I am sooo jealous. I wish I had a dealer like that where I live.

 

[Alex2507]

Not trying to be agurmentive but I found most shops get a little annoyed you start playing with stuff. Personally I've given up adutioning in store not enough options and not enough time to get a really good idea of what a pair of speakers sound like.

I've never had it happen but if I get the slightest wiff of a sales person getting annoyed with me I will procede to start treating him/her like my personal slave.

 

[RealMFG]

i feel your pain

 

[gus6464]

Move to Texas. We are all nice here unless you piss us off, then we just shoot ya.

The Paradigm dealer in Austin, TX sucks Greg. My friend was really excited about a pair of Studio 20's or 40's and because of the dealer he was just completely turned off. We ended up going down the street to the Home Theater Store and he ended up getting some B&W's. I would really love to have some Studio 40's all around in a dedicated HT room but I refuse to go with a crappy dealer. It just ruins the whole experience.

 

[slothy420]

Not all the salesmen at A&B suck; I had a wonderful experience when buying my TV and surrounds there (just can't think of my salesman's name). I went in there about a week ago and my guy wasn't there - needless to say it wasn't a very pleasant experience, so I hear you.
I had a great experience at Audio Systems in Austin where I got to listen to some PSB Images & Dali Concepts. They told me I could audition them at home for 2 weeks and bring them back if I didn't like them. I plan on going to HT Store to listen to the B&W 683s, but I'm a little hesitant because the last time I was in there they were very uppity (I really want to hear the B&Ws, though). I just wish there was a local MA dealer close by, as well as someone who had the Revel Concertas in stock.

 

[gus6464]

Not all the salesmen at A&B suck; I had a wonderful experience when buying my TV and surrounds there (just can't think of my salesman's name). I went in there about a week ago and my guy wasn't there - needless to say it wasn't a very pleasant experience, so I hear you.
I had a great experience at Audio Systems in Austin where I got to listen to some PSB Images & Dali Concepts. They told me I could audition them at home for 2 weeks and bring them back if I didn't like them. I plan on going to HT Store to listen to the B&W 683s, but I'm a little hesitant because the last time I was in there they were very uppity (I really want to hear the B&Ws, though). I just wish there was a local MA dealer close by, as well as someone who had the Revel Concertas in stock.

Dude there are a lot of speaker shops in Austin. Let me know what brand you want to listen and I can give you the contact info. These are for some brands.

Totem, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber
Austin Home Theater on Anderson Lane in front of Alamo Drafthouse
These guys are awesome. When I went in to hear some totems they just let me have the room all to myself.

Revel, RBH
AUDIO VIDEO DESIGN CTR right off Mopac and bee caves on westlake.

B&W
Home Theater Store If you want I can give you a contact of a very nice guy that sold the speakers to my friend and will probably hook you up nicely with whatever you want.

Dali, PSB, Martin Logan
Audio Systems on Koenig. Awesome store as you already know.

Rega
Whetstone Audio which is on E. 6th street. Mostly an analog store but they have all Rega.

I also have a contact for Aerial Acoustics but he doesn't have a showroom. If want to know about anything else PM me.

EDIT: Forgot about Sound Mind Audio which carries Thiel, BG, Quad, Gallo and other very high end gear. He is by Austin Home Theater on Anderson SQ.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

That sucks, I hate to see people choose different gear just because the dealer that carries what they want is a prick. When salesmen act snooty to me, I remind them that they work in a AV store and live in an apartment. This doesnt work with my dealer as he owns the store but I could remind him that his Dad built the store and led to its success

The Paradigm dealer in Austin, TX sucks Greg. My friend was really excited about a pair of Studio 20's or 40's and because of the dealer he was just completely turned off. We ended up going down the street to the Home Theater Store and he ended up getting some B&W's. I would really love to have some Studio 40's all around in a dedicated HT room but I refuse to go with a crappy dealer. It just ruins the whole experience.

 

[slothy420]

Dude there are a lot of speaker shops in Austin. Let me know what brand you want to listen and I can give you the contact info. These are for some brands.

Totem, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber
Austin Home Theater on Anderson Lane in front of Alamo Drafthouse
These guys are awesome. When I went in to hear some totems they just let me have the room all to myself.

Revel, RBH
AUDIO VIDEO DESIGN CTR right off Mopac and bee caves on westlake.

B&W
Home Theater Store If you want I can give you a contact of a very nice guy that sold the speakers to my friend and will probably hook you up nicely with whatever you want.

Dali, PSB, Martin Logan
Audio Systems on Koenig. Awesome store as you already know.

Rega
Whetstone Audio which is on E. 6th street. Mostly an analog store but they have all Rega.

I also have a contact for Aerial Acoustics but he doesn't have a showroom. If want to know about anything else PM me.

EDIT: Forgot about Sound Mind Audio which carries Thiel, BG, Quad, Gallo and other very high end gear. He is by Austin Home Theater on Anderson SQ.

I wish I would have found this forum years ago. I used to think that if someone wanted speakers, they only had to go to Fry's, BB, or CC; then I discovered A&B and was pretty impressed - however, I thought they were pretty much the only game in town. It's nice to know that there are other options close by.

I can't send PM's until I post more. Thanks for the info. I think I've found a few places that carry the speakers I've been wanting to look at, but until your post, I didn't know anyone locally carried the Monitor Audios. Unfortunately, AV Design Ctr has very limited stock and does not currently have any Concertas. I have a pretty large room to fill (20'x35' w/ 15' ceiling), so I'm thinking I'm going to need towers that can move some air. I currently have AR S50 towers with an ARSC2 center, but the SC2 doesn't do voices very well and the towers aren't the best for heavy metal/rock n' roll.

My short list includes:
PSB Image T65 (Audio Solutions - only had the T55 in stock)
B&W 683 (Home Theater Store)
Paradigm Studio 100 (if I can find some older/used in my budget) (A&B TV)
Monitor Audio RS7 (Austin Home Theater, you say?)
Revel Concerta F12 (A/V Design Ctr - none in stock)

Some others ($1500 or less) that I would like to listen to include (and the list keeps growing):
Axiom M80ti
RBH MC6T (AV Design Ctr - not sure if they have any in stock)
KEF IQ9 (Audio by Design?)
Klipsch RF82 (A&B TV)
Mordaunt-Short Avant 906
Swan Diva 6.2
Rocket RS850
Salk SongTower QWT
Usher V604
Focal JM Labs Chorus 816V
Bose Acoustimass (j/k)

I'm not sure how I'm going to go about listening to all of these, but at least I have plenty of time.

 

[gus6464]

If you are willing to drive to San Antonio I know an Usher dealer you can go to. He also carries PSB, Canton, and Polk.

 

[slothy420]

Hmm... a buddy and I are supposed to be going to SA in the next few weeks; the only problem is that I don't think he'll want to spend half the day listening to speakers (I could be wrong, though). I would like to see how much of a difference there is between the PSB T55s and T65s (I really liked the T55s).

 

[gus6464]

Hmm... a buddy and I are supposed to be going to SA in the next few weeks; the only problem is that I don't think he'll want to spend half the day listening to speakers (I could be wrong, though). I would like to see how much of a difference there is between the PSB T55s and T65s (I really liked the T55s).

The T65's will just go lower than the 55's. And don't worry about spending half the day listening to speakers since there is really only 1 good shop in SA and it's that one. But honestly I think you will like the MA silvers at Austin HT. They are a very balanced speaker and there isn't anything they do wrong. They have the RS1 and RS6 on the floor which is what I would recommend anyway.

 

[allargon]

I wish I would have found this forum years ago. I used to think that if someone wanted speakers, they only had to go to Fry's, BB, or CC; then I discovered A&B and was pretty impressed - however, I thought they were pretty much the only game in town. It's nice to know that there are other options close by.

You haven't dealt w/ any of the RBH dealers, yet. I take it SoundMindAudio are nice guys, but they are about a year or two out of date. HDMI is the future--like it (I don't) or not. There's no way I'm going to buy any receiver over $500 much less the CambridgeAudio they were trying to sucker me into buying that doesn't do audio over HDMI.

Has anyone been to that Wilson dealer that is by appointment only?

 

[gus6464]

You haven't dealt w/ any of the RBH dealers, yet. I take it SoundMindAudio are nice guys, but they are about a year or two out of date. HDMI is the future--like it (I don't) or not. There's no way I'm going to buy any receiver over $500 much less the CambridgeAudio they were trying to sucker me into buying that doesn't do audio over HDMI.

Has anyone been to that Wilson dealer that is by appointment only?

Sound Mind Audio and Whetstone are mostly analog guys than HT. They cater more towards the 2ch crowd than the full blown HT crowd. Sound Mind Audio at least carries center channels and whatnot but Whetstone is pure 2ch. You don't need hdmi whatsoever for 2ch audio.