Salesman Credibility (Yamaha bias)

[mtrycrafts]

Everyone, thanks for your feedback. It helps to have a sanity check sometimes. I can't begin to understand how there could be significant tonal differences in $1000 receivers from different main-stream manufacturers. I seriously doubt I (or anyone else there) could detect the difference between the different receivers in blind testing. manager and ask why they're not interested in an approximately $3000 sale.

Don't stop at $1000 components though Here is a DBT comparing a $300 Yam integrated with a $15k Pass Aleph. 3 people couldn't identify a difference in his own home, his reference system

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.audio.opinion/browse_frm/thread/664b8681ab141263/3fd91bcb6a1522a0?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rnum=1&prev=/groups?q=sunshine+stereo+yamaha+abx+nousaine&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=501fl6%24ac3%40oxy.rust.net&rnum=1#3fd91bcb6a1522a0

 

[mulester7]

Don't stop at $1000 components though Here is a DBT comparing a $300 Yam integrated with a $15k Pass Aleph. 3 people couldn't identify a difference in his own home, his reference system

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.audio.opinion/browse_frm/thread/664b8681ab141263/3fd91bcb6a1522a0?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rnum=1&prev=/groups?q=sunshine+stereo+yamaha+abx+nousaine&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=501fl6%24ac3%40oxy.rust.net&rnum=1#3fd91bcb6a1522a0

....the three people were totally tin-eared, and now read Richard Pierce and the Toole guy....I see a pattern.....

 

[klsfdx]

Yammi 5990

Just purchased a Yammi 5990 yesterday from One Call for $775 w/ free shipping. I hate Best Try although one salesman there was very helpful and I bought some stuff from him I couldn't beat saving $225 and tax. A friend told me to deal with Crutchfield, but they didn't have the Yammi so I'm crossing my fingers that One Call is fairly straight up.

 

[sokrman14]

Magnolia BB

I used to work at a Magnolia BB and let me tell you, they are going to ruin the great products that they carry. They have some really nice stuff, but they just take their unqualified kids off of the BB floor and throw them into the mix without proper training. I left that place because of that reason. It was really cool to work there, but BB will run those products into the ground. And I could be way off here, but I was under the impression that the HTR line from Yamaha was not "High Current" and that was what they next model up is. But I could be wrong. I havent never sold Yamaha personally, but was under that impression.

 

[indcrimdefense]

a magnolia home theater was recently opened in a bb in indy. the sales people seem like nice kids, but they have very little technical experience. i have also learned after shopping at various hi end audio/video dealers to trust absolutely nothing about what they have to say. do you own research, disagree w/ the sales person when he is inaccurate or incorrect, and i would never make a decision to buy based upon what a salesperson told you.

as for not bringing in the yamaha, it is my understanding that what magnolia sells, and the interplay between bb & magnolia is strickly limited by contract. better to think of them as 2 seperate stores under one roof. while i disagree with it, it's not the kid's fault, he was just doing his job. where he is at fault is downplaying a component which his store (magnolia) does not carry, primarily for the reason that his store does not carry it, and therefore it must be bad, or what his "high end" store carries is better. this is a very common sales tactic, as i have heard this in numerous stores.

 

[mnnc]

Everyone, thanks for your feedback. It helps to have a sanity check sometimes. I can't begin to understand how there could be significant tonal differences in $1000 receivers from different main-stream manufacturers. I seriously doubt I (or anyone else there) could detect the difference between the different receivers in blind testing. Buckeyefan is correct - it's a BestBuy store with their special "Magnolia" room. I get the impression that they are unwilling to bring anything into the room from the main floor (maybe Denon, Pioneer, etc. pay extra to keep other people out - who knows). I think that the problem here is that the salesman doesn't realize that the equipment out on the main floor includes equipment like the 5990, and he problably knows nothing about it.

I will go back and ask them to bring the Yamaha in again. If they refuse, I'll talk to the manager and ask why they're not interested in an approximately $3000 sale.

I would definately speak with managr. Many people ignore the fact that the service they are getting is crap because they are so caught up in saving a buck! Service should take priority over a $50 difference from dealer to dealer. If they can't hook up something for you to listen to before you make a purchase what makes you think they will be of any help when you have a "problem!?" You don't just shop for product you shop for product and service!

 

[DaveOCP]

Magnolia carries Bose, which shouldnt be allowed anywhere near a "high-end" room. The one traditional HT store that I've been generally impressed with over the years is Tweeter. I bought Mission 772s there back when they used to carry Mission, and also bought my current Mirage OMs there. The Tweeter salesmen I've talked to generally haven't tried to "push" a particular product on me (or perhaps they were just smart enough to discern that I know more about HT than they do), and they've also never argued about setting up a particular receiver\speaker combo. In one case the guy actually asked me for advice on what to tell customers about 1080p vs. 720p.

 

[SERIOUS7]

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/HTIB/HTR5990.htm

there is NOT one company in Japan that knows more about "sound" than Yamaha ...! these guys were making piano's back in the late 1800's when there was NO such company as Denon or JVC, Sony etc ....

the last time i look ,this unit was listed as a high current reciever with "BURR-BROWN" dac's on every channel ...

i own the big bad DSP-A1 integrated amp and my unit is a high current masterpiece ... this unit is strap with the "delta sigma" dac's on every channel.

i know for a fact that some electronic company's refuse to be on the same floor or in the same room with another company, not wanting the compatition ...

if you attend any of the electronic shows that come to town you will never see two or three company's showboating the same product in the same room...

i bet you that salesman was instructed by somebody NOT to demo any Yamaha equipment in the Denon area ....

i wish i was there ...!

 

[zumbo]

Just purchased a Yammi 5990 yesterday from One Call for $775 w/ free shipping. I hate Best Try although one salesman there was very helpful and I bought some stuff from him I couldn't beat saving $225 and tax. A friend told me to deal with Crutchfield, but they didn't have the Yammi so I'm crossing my fingers that One Call is fairly straight up.

One Call is superb.

 

[zumbo]

ok, so I visited a store that I'll keep nameless for the moment (like anyone won't be able to figure it out) and heard a nice pair of Boston Acoustic speakers in their 'premium audio' room where the store sells their high-end gear (these are $500 VR3 speakers). The only available sources for listening to the speakers was Denon or Pioneer Elite receivers. I asked if they could bring in and connect a Yamaha HTR-5990 receiver that they sell on the main floor, and the salesman responded that it isn't allowed in this 'premium' room as it can't compete with the Denon or Pioneer receivers that were there; specifically, the Yamaha didn't have a high quality output stage (not a high current design). Mind you this is a $1000 Yamaha and the room has $400 Denon receivers...

I've been a Yamaha person since the A-1000 integrated amp days. I thought that the higher $ Yamaha receivers had MOSFET/high current output stages. Am I wrong? I looked around the Web, but I couldn't find any specifics on the technology used in the Yamaha receiver (outside of the standard Yamaha marketing terms like "ToP - ART" - which is appended with the term "High Current").

Granted, I can go elsewhere and I'll get the Yamaha anyway (and the VR3's) as I like both, but I would like to know if I can find some "in your face" statements about the quality of the Yamaha receiver that I could "share" with the salesman....

Thoughts?

I am partial to Yamaha myself. Look elsewhere, or just buy the Yamaha.