My apologies again
We just started being a "dealer" only this past month and just started advertising just a week ago. I am a pediatrician and do not know the proper "dealer" etiquette or the proper avenues to continue to express ourselves without being accused of "advertising". I usually just speak my mind in forums but now everything is viewed with skepticism and ulterior motives
by many if I identify myself as a "dealer" although I continue to say the same things I have been saying for years. I believe in honesty and I guess I could easily have posted as "anonymous" but that is just not my style and I feel it would be dishonest.
We were just castigated by posting some excellent bargains for fellow forum readers in your "deals" section even though "multi million dollar" stores were mentioned with similar bargains simply because it was mailed to him. I just apologized for that when I read your post. And now here I just posted a link to a rival forum and was waiting for the "fallout"
from such a post, thinking I was causing more controversy with unbiased 3rd party information. I don't want the community to think we are some slime company looking for some free advertising, rather than a small caring mom and pop company made for enthusiasts by enthusiasts that own and sell the very manufacturers' products that already advertise in your forums. Other forums encourage us to tell our deals and talk about our products as it only increases the sales of the manufacturers that sponsor the forum. We are a unique entity that sells what no other company can. We are the only other company trusted to represent those manufacturers as spokesmen and are basically extensions of their advertising campaigns. Most do not know or understand this fact and think we are attempting to increase our sales when we only increase the sales of the forum sponsors. Our margins are even more ridiculously lower that the manufacturers.
I have been an enthusiast for many years and have amassed a decent amount of knowledge of the subject and have my own personal preferences. We loved our home systems so much we chose to sell those very products. It is much easier to give advice on the things you own so we decided to choose the products we personally found to be the best in comparison to others. The only real way to tell for oneself is to truly own the product or see it extensively demo'ed in a store or at your home. With the internet, that is almost impossible without listening to peers that own the products. The folks at audioenvy do a great job at helping this happen. We are in no way associated to them nor do we pay or accept any money for such endorsements. As an impartial entity we think they are great letting the person decide for themselves.
The spirit of the forum is for others to express their opinions and exchange information. For a forum to censor content because an opinion comes from a "dealer" I think would be wrong, me being a "dealer" or not. We would never disrespect another product to elevate our own as that is beyond decency but we have no problems providing objective and subjective evidence to support our positions. This is how all dealers should behave but I can understand why others do not and why some must be barred, censored or deleted as they may not follow the spirit of the open forum and use it solely as an advertisement vehicle.
We just want everyone to know they can trust us to be kind, helpful, respectful and jovial toward all forum users. We want that fact to be expressed to the management. This post may not be an appropriate modality to express it, but perhaps if we want to advertise officially we also have to test the forum and its usefulness for our purposes should we consider this a place to advertise. So far advertising in forums has not gotten us very many sales but has increased our exposure. If it cannot increase our sales then it is not of much use to us as an advertisement vehicle. Even if we decide to not advertise that should not mean that we shouldn't be able to post or be normal productive members answering questions on things that we are experts and expressing our opinions.
Unregistered:
We tried not to say much for fear of sounding like a salesman but apparently that is unavoidable once people see us as a "dealer." Every word is “sales pitch “every opinion deemed” advertising apparently unless we endorse a product we do not sell. I could go on forever about the SW10 or SVS as a company or others, but we chose our products for a reason. If you read my post you will see that all I did was state actual facts and my personal experiences with SVS. I am sorry that I missed the fact that you stated you "did not like the beer keg" look, but once placed on its side behind a couch or under a couch table, it kinda disappears. With a tablecloth and a lamp it all together disappears
. Box subs like the Adire, Energy, SVS, HSU, Velodyne, etc all sound very similar but the question is what is its your main purpose, room size, decor, ultimate spl requests and degree of accuracy?
SVS has been know in the HT circles for years but it is a very good compliment to music as well, but that mainly is not its primary audience. The cylindrical subs though very efficient, only have one color...black sock... unless you buy the top of the line which is out of the question for you. They make others in square box subs with veneers, but they are out of your price range. HSU also is a very close contender than most of the other subs.
Outlaw makes a nice box as well, same amps and HSU engineering helps, 12" driver like most, flaired ports etc. Velodyne we have felt put too much into feedback control in their upper systems being very power hungry and unecessary mostly as demonstrated by many other subs. The best way to see what you like is to go with a company that you can get your money back with an audition should you not like it.
Go to a local store and hear the Velodyne, contact Audioenvy to hear an SVS and Adire. You might be able to find a HSU at your local high end store. At this level, I would say pick one that goes best with your decor. This is what we tell everyone as there is form and their is function and the two have to live in the same area, especially if there is a spouse involved.
No wife likes a humungous square box in the living room or a 4 foot tall black marshmallow that clashes with the rest of the furniture. The benefit of the rocket SW-10 is that it is is Cherry and it will match your systems. Right now cherry is the only one that is available as low gloss piano black and "Chocolate Rosewood" subs have not arrived. The SW-10 has a handsome cabinet with a cool grill, 200 watt amp 10" driver with a long excursion pulp woofer with a santoprene surround. I do not know the ultimate SPL output, but it is not exactly in the company of the other subs with 300+ watts. The UFW-10 is a little different story at $599, excellent cabinetry with end caps and multiple veneers, a sealed enclosure with 500 watts, a one band parametric eq which is very helpful, and an aluminum 10" long excursion driver. The sealed nature of the sub makes it extremely tight and we feel better suited more toward music and deep tones, not as efficient as a ported solution, but it can pull double duty quite easily.
You want the biggest bang for the buck yet want utility as well. The question is will 1-3 db less of ultimate output suffice to have a nicer cabinet? Remember also the bigger the wattage amp the more juice it sucks. I would go with more efficient models myself, especially on a budget when you know you want to squeeze every dollar and that other amp/dvd/tv etc system is pulling megawatts from the wall. That is why for a price point we like the new upcoming $400 PB10-ISD with a 300 watt bash amp as it will most likely dominate the segment over a HSU VTF-2 or anything else in that range by our expert opinion.
To throw a wrench into the works... have you ever considered using a bass shaking device over a real sub? Those units give the perception of bass, don't shake the house like a regular sub and can be isolated to furniture. This will keep their neighbors happy especially in the apartment setting but are no substitute for air pressure. They are great for movies and used by many many musicians all over the world.... Just another option for you.
