I thought the Fluance was really nice for the retail price — good sound and build quality was better than I expected before I got my hands on one. I bought mine used so didn’t pay retail, but I recommended it to friends after I owned it, and I sold mine to one of them when I moved up to Ultradeck.
When I bought the DeVore Fidelity speakers there was only one dealer in my state. I had previously emailed John DeVore to ask about buying them direct as I knew what I wanted, etc. but he (good soul) guided me to the dealer to honor that channel. When I went to dealer, I had to listen to 40-75 minutes of how a tube amp would never be able to drive the speakers, how the speakers themselves weren't maybe the best value, how tubes actually were pretty outdated -- all because they didn't currently have a vendor for tube amps. The whole experience was just the worst and was such a transparent hard sell. (the O/96 are named that way because that is their sensitivity. Heck, i could run them SET and it would still be loud, they were pushing a Gryphon 120w/240w amp as a "minimum" given the space -- which is an apartment in Boston)
Oh man I just hate places like that. So miserable and so damn obvious.
But also, how did I not know you had those speakers. Those are fucking beautiful bonkers level speakers, well done.
yea--went OOS a few weeks ago. they are $70+ on discogs now.
My local shop wont let me crack a beer or smoke weed in their showroom while testing out the gear. Like what the hell is the point of this? I need a realistic listening environment!
I've only had bad (but limited) experiences in hi-fi shops in NYC. if I knew more about the whole business and could offer repairs, i'd love to open a hi-fi shop. There really aren't any good ones by me and I think there's a pretty big market for it where I am.
My speakers are in a different (lower) stratosphere, but this is how I bought them bc there are no dealers. I spent a long time reading about them, several not-short phone calls with John (“Fritz”), a bunch of emails, and a no-hassle, no-questions return policy. It was an easy decision, I really enjoy supporting that kind of business, and, most importantly, I love them. His website is janky, but the product is anything but. And he took a lot of time to speak with me about my system, room (which has challenges that can’t be fixed), sound preferences, music tastes, etc. and, rather than suggest his most expensive product, he suggested the model I bought as the best match for my situation.
Yea--I think that was definitely part of it. When I went in, I was probably 22 or something and anybody under the age of 50 they seemed to scoff at. They also worked on commission and anything under $2,000 didn't seem to be worth their time to help anybody out. When they finally asked if I needed help, and they found out my budget was around $1,500 for an integrated amp, I got passed off to two other sales reps who both said they couldn't hook up the Rotel unit to demo for me even though the place was empty.
That's been my general experience. But when I walk in they usually immediately say, "we dont have public restrooms available".
your reputation precedes you.
Probably think I'm homeless. I either buy new clothes without holes or I buy records. No inbetween.
which did you get?
The Alternate Blues is the only one out so far.
