Buying speakers from big box stores

[3db]

is generally frowned upon in here and for some very valid reasons. But what about displays? Is it considered OK to purchase displays that are on sale at the Best Buys, FuturShop, Circuit City rather than a audio/video specialty store?

 

[markw]

I don't know why you think it's frowned upon. If they have a decent speaker ata good price, what's the problem?

Best Buy sold the original Athena Audition series a few years ago and I can't anyone refusing to buy them there just because it's a bibg box store.

Likewise, some BB stores offer certain low cost lines from other manufacturers that may be just what someone wants.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Best Buy has Magnolia HT, and they sell Definitive Technology, MartinLogan, Vienna Acoustics, Mirage, and Klipsch.

 

[3db]

Best Buy has Magnolia HT, and they sell Definitive Technology, MartinLogan, Vienna Acoustics, Mirage, and Klipsch.

Thats sweet. There is no Magnolia HT here in the great white north

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Thats sweet. There is no Magnolia HT here in the great white north

Oh, that's bad!

There are Magnolia HT @ Best Buy in Oklahoma, but not in your state?

And I thought OK was a small state that didn't have anything!

 

[3db]

I don't know why you think it's frowned upon. If they have a decent speaker ata good price, what's the problem?

Best Buy sold the original Athena Audition series a few years ago and I can't anyone refusing to buy them there just because it's a bibg box store.

Likewise, some BB stores offer certain low cost lines from other manufacturers that may be just what someone wants.

I guess I worded that poorly. Its not so much the product quality as it is the quality of knowledge alot of the sales people possess.

 

[3db]

Oh, that's bad!

There are Magnolia HT @ Best Buy in Oklahoma, but not in your state?

And I thought OK was a small state that didn't have anything!

The great white north refers to Canada my friend.

 

[markw]

You don't depend on their knowledge, at least the kids.

I guess I worded that poorly. Its not so much the product quality as it is the quality of knowledge alot of the sales people possess.

You do your homework, get opinions, and go in knowing what you want to try and simply tell them what to write up.

These are some of the few places that virtually encouragse an in-home trial period.

Save all packaging and receipts and if you don't like it. march it right back for a refund.

 

[Soundman]

Are we talking locally, or big box stores in general, ordering off the web, etc.? If ordering from, say Bestbuy.com, well, then you might as well go with one of the ID competitors. The problem with the local big box retailer is that it's hit and miss most of the time (really depends on what store you are in). I know that my local BB and CC suck big time. I wouldn't buy any speakers there. The selection is just too limited. Now, they do have Polk's, DefTech's, Klipsch, and, of course, their baby, Blose. But none of these systems sound very good for the money spent. The full setup on these systems is in the $1,500 range (pretty entry lvl), but much better sound can be achieved for the same price.

 

[Soundman]

Also, you aren't going to get any help from a knowledgable sales staff. I mean, the guy helping you is probably a high school kid working their part time for lunch money.

 

[Halon451]

There are a few reasons in my reserve at this point for not going back to a store for audio equipment (price mark-ups, un-helpful and unknowledgeable sales staff, lack of inventory on certain items, etc.) but for displays - truthfully, I would say visit a place like Costco at this point. You might find a better deal on a good display there.

I guess display/TV options are a little more limited to these types of stores than audio equipment, but there are a few choices other than BB or CC.

 

[mudrummer99]

Just a preface, I am a BB employee and have worked there quite a bit in the past, so take this as you like. At a lot of BB stores, sales people are woefully under trained. Especially around holiday season since mostly what the retailer wants are warm bodies to corral the crowds. Magnolia is a different story. The amount of training those guys go through is pretty intense. When our store got it, the people that were being moved up to it went away on a 2 week, 10 hour a day training session and came back knowing things that I am just now starting to learn. As far as markup goes, yes, it's pretty ridiculous, but take into account that the reason stores such as BB and CC stay open is the margin in the HT department, without that these stores wouldn't exist at all. Computers, media, appliances and all that stuff are very nearly no profit whatsoever. I think that's all I have to say about that. Thanks for reading my devil's advocate spiel for the day.

Mike

 

[Soundman]

Just a preface, I am a BB employee and have worked there quite a bit in the past, so take this as you like. At a lot of BB stores, sales people are woefully under trained. Especially around holiday season since mostly what the retailer wants are warm bodies to corral the crowds. Magnolia is a different story. The amount of training those guys go through is pretty intense. When our store got it, the people that were being moved up to it went away on a 2 week, 10 hour a day training session and came back knowing things that I am just now starting to learn. As far as markup goes, yes, it's pretty ridiculous, but take into account that the reason stores such as BB and CC stay open is the margin in the HT department, without that these stores wouldn't exist at all. Computers, media, appliances and all that stuff are very nearly no profit whatsoever. I think that's all I have to say about that. Thanks for reading my devil's advocate spiel for the day.

Mike

Thanks for the update, Mike. Good perspective from the inside. But, why spend money on a system that doesn't sound that great? I'm not knocking BB or CC, and I understand they need to make a profit, but they just don't offer much quality per dollar spent, IMO.

 

[3db]

Just a preface, I am a BB employee and have worked there quite a bit in the past, so take this as you like. At a lot of BB stores, sales people are woefully under trained. Especially around holiday season since mostly what the retailer wants are warm bodies to corral the crowds. Magnolia is a different story. The amount of training those guys go through is pretty intense. When our store got it, the people that were being moved up to it went away on a 2 week, 10 hour a day training session and came back knowing things that I am just now starting to learn. As far as markup goes, yes, it's pretty ridiculous, but take into account that the reason stores such as BB and CC stay open is the margin in the HT department, without that these stores wouldn't exist at all. Computers, media, appliances and all that stuff are very nearly no profit whatsoever. I think that's all I have to say about that. Thanks for reading my devil's advocate spiel for the day.

Mike

I hope I didn't come across as inferring all box store employee's . I'm sure there are a few such as the ones trained and people like you who are eager to learn from them. Its also good of you to recognize that there are also just "warm bodies" floating around the store to coral in customers.

I wish Best Buy would bring Magnolia up to Canada.

 

[deedubb]

The great white north refers to Canada my friend.

And that's why some may frown upon buying from big box stores here, because for the most part, they only sell junk.

 

[3db]

And that's why some may frown upon buying from big box stores here, because for the most part, they only sell junk.

I did notice awhile back that Futurshop is now selling Energy's RC line of speakers and Denon's equivalent to Yamaha's HTR series. But in true Denon fashion, always a good $300 -$400 more than the equivalent Yamaha. Why Denon thinks they are worth so much more is beyond me.

 

[deedubb]

I did notice awhile back that Futurshop is now selling Energy's RC line of speakers and Denon's equivalent to Yamaha's HTR series. But in true Denon fashion, always a good $300 -$400 more than the equivalent Yamaha. Why Denon thinks they are worth so much more is beyond me.

One of the FutureShop's in town actually has the Veritas line. I was totally shocked to see them there. It has to be the absolute worst place to audition speakers though. Add the fact that they don't sell ANYTHING that can adequately power those speakers and I don't know how they will expect to sell $5500 speakers. I auditioned them running of a mid-grade Denon (I think about $800 or so) and was not impressed, but I bet it would be a totally different experience with a nice amp in a room actually built for 2 channel listening with no background noise.

 

[Halon451]

Just a preface, I am a BB employee and have worked there quite a bit in the past, so take this as you like. At a lot of BB stores, sales people are woefully under trained. Especially around holiday season since mostly what the retailer wants are warm bodies to corral the crowds. Magnolia is a different story. The amount of training those guys go through is pretty intense. When our store got it, the people that were being moved up to it went away on a 2 week, 10 hour a day training session and came back knowing things that I am just now starting to learn. As far as markup goes, yes, it's pretty ridiculous, but take into account that the reason stores such as BB and CC stay open is the margin in the HT department, without that these stores wouldn't exist at all. Computers, media, appliances and all that stuff are very nearly no profit whatsoever. I think that's all I have to say about that. Thanks for reading my devil's advocate spiel for the day.

Mike

I appreciate your thoughts there - however, two weeks isn't exactly enough to really train someone on the wide world of A/V - in my example, I took a job as an A/V installation crew chief with only a background in electronics. I worked my a** off for three months, for various certifications, and required training, and had over a year and a half of on-the-job experience. I left the job after that, still with gaping holes in my fundamental knowledge base, much of which has been filled by visiting this site. Granted, commercial A/V differs quite a bit from the consumer market, but all the basics are still the same. My point is that even the Magnolia guys - two weeks is really only enough to satisfy the average Joe that stumbles in while his wife is busy looking at washing machines at the other side of the store. He does not possess the detailed knowledge that would otherwise be required to pacify the technically experienced A/V junkie that comes his way.

At least that's been my experience with them - frustrating at best. Maybe it's not true elsewhere..

EDIT: This isn't meant to infer that the Magnolia guys should have a year of training to be able to do what they do - just to illustrate the fact that most of them (in my experience) strut around the section like they're know-it-alls, but when you challenge them with real technical questions the armor peels off rather quickly.

 

[Thaedium]

The amount of training those guys go through is pretty intense.

Almost sh*t myself laughing. I did a 6 month special operations basic qualification course, now that is what I would call intense. 2 weeks in a warm office environment receiving lectures about products and how to sell'em is a coffee course imo. Not trying to purposely demean and condescend, its just a position I don't feel you can trully defend well. The simple fact is, the vast majority of their employees are there part-time, with no care beyond making the sale. They aren't in the same league as a speciality store that do professional installations on the side and usually have employees that have worked in the industry or recieved a form of education closely related to the equipment. And even these people sometimes can be a little off their rockers.

The equipment sold at big box stores is usually the kind of equipment that get people started on a path. A lot of people go there and buy something like the Polk's, or Energy's and they realize audio has so much more potential then what was comming out of their 32" CRT tv, or their boombox in their basement. Once the interest is generated they do their own research and move on. Absolutely nothing wrong with this. Just not really the place for a more experienced audio enthusiast.

 

[gus6464]

Thanks for the update, Mike. Good perspective from the inside. But, why spend money on a system that doesn't sound that great? I'm not knocking BB or CC, and I understand they need to make a profit, but they just don't offer much quality per dollar spent, IMO.

Spoken like a true ID fanboy there.