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NOMINATE A DEALER

I've always had good experiences with dealers partly because I would not tolerate anything else. My nominations are Bob at the Neat factory and Simon at hifisound in Stockton on Tees. The latter carries the most unbelievable range. You could listen to almost any turntable and cartridge in his shop, thousands of records too and nothing is too much trouble.
By contrast I called a local Linn dealer to ask about £500 cartridges while I got the Akiva re-built by ESCO. A patronising shit after his third pompous question I told him to **** off and put the phone down.
 
Quite in hifisound you could hear Funk, Linn, Roksan, Amadeaus, Nottingham, VPI, SME, Avid, Orbe and many more, you could also listen to as many amps solid state and valve.
 
A note of praise for Derek Jenkins and Dominic Lyle, now at Studio AV in Eton, who over a decade have demonstrated that the art of looking after customers is the only way to go!
 
abbydog said:
A note of praise for Derek Jenkins and Dominic Lyle, now at Studio AV in Eton, who over a decade have demonstrated that the art of looking after customers is the only way to go!
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Seconded! Dominic was the first person I met walking in to buy my first system at Infidelity 9 years ago. To this day he remains the first person I call regarding any upgrades. Thanks to Derek my LP12 has never sounded better.
 
I have just used Home Media in Maidstone, they are a Naim dealer. The service has been exceptional. Martyn, Ben and Simon were all really helpful. I would definitely recommend. Just wish i have more money to spend.
D
 
Definitive Audio take the plaudits for me. Fantastic friendly and knowledgeable service. Always willing to offer advice and assistance, whether you're spending or not. If you're into valve/higher sensitivity speakers the place is an Aladdin's Cave! I've never heard better sound at a dealers anywhere either.

Noteworthy Audio (now Deco Audio) have been superb too.
 
Another vote for Phonography (near Winchester).

I'm pretty indecisive but they have always been courteous and helpful, giving me plenty of time to come to a decision.

Kevin


P.S. I live in Oxford and the local dealers there have been good when I've used them in the past, but they're not stocking brands I'm interested in at present (since I moved away from Naim).
 
Moorgate said:
More likely that you will find it in a place that offers selection rather than a manufacturer with a vested interest to sell one product.
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I suppose this is where a 60-day full refund policy should be offered by the manufacturer.
 
UK: John Oakman at Graham's HiFi, London

USA: Peter Litwak at Music By Design, San Anselmo, CA. Historically with exceptional back-up for Naim equipment from Chris Koster and Chris West.

Stewart
 
<moderating>

I've removed a couple of negative comments as it would be entirely wrong of me to allow people hiding behind anonymous internet pseudonyms to say potentially damaging things about other people's businesses. It is obviously impossible to establish truth in such matters as it's just one unverifiable opinion vs. another and therefore beyond the scope of the site. As such positive comments only on this thread please.

Tony.
 
Papa Lazarou said:
Definitive Audio take the plaudits for me. Fantastic friendly and knowledgeable service. Always willing to offer advice and assistance, whether you're spending or not. If you're into valve/higher sensitivity speakers the place is an Aladdin's Cave! I've never heard better sound at a dealers anywhere either.
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+1 from here, what PL said. Beyond the audio Kevin also has a fantastic collection of music in his mill.
 
Infidelity in Richmond. Very patiently provided real a/b listening tests unlike certain other dealers I won't mention.

At the opposite end, another Linn dealer, whom I won't name, really disappointed me recently, especially because I had been dealing with them for nearly 30 years. I live in a major city an hour away from this dealer so it's quite an effort to get there when there are many nearer. They looked up my Linn and Naim serial numbers to find that I had bought gear at other dealers, and accused me of being disloyal and expressed a disinclination to dem gear for me in the future. I'm not even sure if that's legal. Isn't the data protection act supposed to protect me from that? At any rate, on top of the usual manipulation vibe I now also feel spied upon and probably won't ever go back there.
 
fraser. said:
?!!? What did you say to that?
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I was a bit lost for words. Outrage didn't take hold till after the conversation. To be honest I'm quite fed up by the Scientology-style manipulation that seems to pass for salesmanship in many Linn dealers. It's very off-putting, and a shame as Linn make a lot of great products.

The religious clap-trap is a shame too. For example, another Linn dealership's salesman claimed the other day that the Sondek's belt was capable of applying far more torque than a Technics 1210 motor since the belt is in direct contact with the (sub-)platter. I'd really like to see a Sondek spin up in 0.7 seconds. Just compare the size of the magnets and coils in the two motors. The result is that my curtain of skepticism descends as I realise that I'm dealing with a member of a brainwashed cult or someone who is cynically trying to hoodwink me. Maybe he doesn't realise that the Sondek motor relies no less on non-contact invisible forces as the one in the SL1210. However you look at it, if you're going to invoke the laws of physics to persuade a customer of your religious dogma, then you had better know your stuff, otherwise you'll be sending your customers elsewhere.

Generally my experience of Linn dealers recently has been quite off-putting.
 
sonddek said:
if you're going to invoke the laws of physics to persuade a customer of your religious dogma, then you had better know your stuff, otherwise you'll be sending your customers elsewhere.
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+1 - especially if the customer might know more about the subject matter than the dealer.... ;)
 
They have to behave this way to prevent you going and listening to other kit as you would realise how far behind the curve they now lag. Its their business model and they will stick with it as its working for them with their particular customers. The fact the price of a linn turntable can now reach £15k should tell you tatehr a lot. The market will bear it so they can charge it.
 
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