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Could an "evidence based" HiFi retailer ever be commercially viable?

MakeMineVinyl

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Could an evidence-based used car salesman make a living? ;)
 

raistlin65

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Ascend Acoustics has been providing extensive measurements of their speakers for many, many years. That's why I bought a pair of their speakers from them back in 2013. Because they were willing to be transparent about the product they were providing.
 

watchnerd

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Ascend Acoustics has been providing extensive measurements of their speakers for many, many years. That's why I bought a pair of their speakers from them back in 2013. Because they were willing to be transparent about the product they were providing.

This is a pretty interesting speaker for the price, might give the Revel M106 / M126Be a run for its money with that RAAL ribbon tweeter.

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRM2EX/srm2exmeas.html
 

raistlin65

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This is a pretty interesting speaker for the price, might give the Revel M106 / M126Be a run for its money with that RAAL ribbon tweeter.

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRM2EX/srm2exmeas.html

I have Sierra 2EX and Sierra Horizon Center with Raal, along with Sierra 1s for surrounds in my living room. I think it sounds great.

However, the Raal tweeter speakers will probably never score that well with ASRs ratings due to the narrow vertical dispersion of the Raal tweeter.

The Sierra 2EX did very well in this blind test with the KEF R3

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...cend-sierra-2ex-blind-listening-results.9822/
 

carlob

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If possible support your local shop, the Amazon way is obviously convenient if you don't mind walking in a desertified city with no shops and the social costs of this model.
 

watchnerd

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If possible support your local shop, the Amazon way is obviously convenient if you don't mind walking in a desertified city with no shops and the social costs of this model.

Should I support my local shop if they're only willing to carry something if I pre-order without seeing it first?

What service are they providing me?
 

Wes

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retail HiFo could be combined with pay to listen place (which had been growing in some urban markets) or some other biz, like a coffee shop or swanky eatery (I suggest calling it Le Bistro Cafe, and having tables no larger than 4" dia.)
 

JeffS7444

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Maybe possible, but there needs to be a compelling "something" about the in-store experience which cannot be had from purchasing online.
 

mhardy6647

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Sure -- such a retailer is completely viable if the profit margin on his/her/their wares is high enough.
 

sergeauckland

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Should I support my local shop if they're only willing to carry something if I pre-order without seeing it first?

What service are they providing me?
I think that's the crux of the matter with retailers, whether on-line or local bricks & mortar. What added value are they providing over on-line / mail order? One great benefit of the Amazon model is that the goods come to you, and if you don't like what you've bought, you can return it at normally no cost. European rules regarding distant selling provides for this anyway, so all on-line retailers have to do something similar.

The benefit of a physical retailer is the ability to touch, feel and examine what one's buying, so if I pre-order something from a retailer, I should have the same right to reject it if it's not what I want. Any retailer that won't do that, probably because they in turn can't return what they've ordered, is actually giving less of a service than Amazon.

If I buy something sold direct by the manufacturer, then I'm not paying the distributor's and dealers margins, although it's simplistic to think I'm not paying any premium, as the manufacturer then is faced with all the marketing and after-sales costs normally borne by the distributor/dealer. So, there will always be a difference between a manufacturer's ex-works price to a distributor/dealer and the price direct to me, but certainly these days it's hard to justify the margins previously charged by distributors then dealers which could double the ex-factory price.

Ultimately, what will determine whether physical shops survive is what value are they adding to Amazon or manufacturer selling direct, and is it enough to pay for their premises.

S.
 
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Colonel Bogey

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But Amazon offers no curation, no active selection of a selected subset from a vast universe of stuff one could buy. One should be able to put some premium on curation. I would guess, partly based on the answers to my original question above, that we will continue to see three different retail models:
- Large online retailers with also some physical presence, serving the masses with Sonos and Harman Kardon easy-to-use, no cables stuff, fighting an endless price war with Amazon. Price, design and convenience are key.
- Nische "audiophile" boutiques, with some online sales, with large, home-style showrooms selling a mix of decent but overpricred equipment plus ultra-expensive snake oil, dpending on interpersonal communication - "dont you agree the these cable lifts give a much tighter bass?".
- Pan-continental, niche online stores, selling reasonably priced gear to the well-informed and DIY audience (audiophonics.fr might be a European candidate, dont know them that well) A little like Thomann or Conrad (boy, do they need to shape up their webbshop...)?
 

raistlin65

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Do you trust brick and mortar hi fi retailers to provide curation independent of profit margin?

I don't think I do...
No doubt.

If I ever walk into a brick and mortar audio store, and they start pointing me to ASR measurements of their equipment as part of the selection process, I'll have a heart attack. lol
 

MakeMineVinyl

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Do you trust brick and mortar hi fi retailers to provide curation independent of profit margin?

I don't think I do...
On the other hand I wouldn't trust the Audio Advisor catalog any farther than I could throw it.
 

watchnerd

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On the other hand I wouldn't trust the Audio Advisor catalog any farther than I could throw them.

Meaning....?

I only assume Audio Advisor is just a list of things that can be bought.

Did you think there was some implication that the items were curated?

I never thought that.

Same for Crutchfield, Amazon, etc.
 

MakeMineVinyl

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They are an online retailer heavily invested in selling cables.
 

mhardy6647

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On the other hand I wouldn't trust the Audio Advisor catalog any farther than I could throw it.
I'd trust [long time Audio Advisor catalog model] Mary Heredia ;)


1597527386194.png

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/1246341#Comment_1246341

Why -- I might even trust her to recommend for me to buy a big, stout power cable... maybe...

1597527286102.png
 
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