[judy1992]

Best Buy has put a Magnolia Store in one of the stores I Frequent.. They are now selling the Q701.. High end Mctosh CDP & balanced tube receivers/Audio pear (or whatever it's called) Tube amps/Furer (spelling) power conditioners. These are items I have seen in the high end forum on head fi.. & the 80inch, 60 grand, Panasonic.. I still don't see the sense in selling these items plus 14,000 speakers in a BB store.. The market for such expensive items does not go with the majority of BB shoppers.. But at least this gives us a chance to demo them.. I never heard the 701 before.. This is the BB on stevens creek in san jose, ca.

 

[roadcykler]

It will be interesting to see if those items fall out of favour with the high end crowd now that they are being sold in a big box store.

 

[Landis]

Well, considering Best Buy bought Magnolia about a decade ago and have been selling McIntosh amps and other higher end audio video equipment for all that time, I'm not sure it's just official now!

 

[wje]

Quote:

Well, considering Best Buy bought Magnolia about a decade ago and have been selling McIntosh amps and other higher end audio video equipment for all that time, I'm not sure it's just official now!

Yeah, but typically the Magnolia stores located within a typical Best Buy store has undergone a lot of "test" experiments.  BB / Magnolia has rolled a lot of equipment both in and out of the show room like they are trying to figure out the right mix.  They used sell a brand of integrated amp (I forget the brand) up until a few years ago.  Lately, they've just sold A/V receivers - no 2-channel gear.  They used to have Boston Acoustics speakers, then dumped them, and now I hear they're back.  I believe their current hi-line of speakers is of the Vienna Acoustics brand.  Under that brand falls the cheaper Martin Logan speakers.  
 
They used to have dedicated sales people in the Magnolia area before, too.  Those people mostly wore ties.  Now, if you walk into the Magnolia section, you'll probably be accosted by a pimply-faced kid wearing the standard Best Buy blue polo shirt.
 
 
 

 

[Rhor]

Actually, i currently work in a best buy, and the magnolia guys still wear ties: ) also, we just started to carry the B&W headphones at our store, and sell the HD650 on line. . . for full $500 retail. ouch. but best buys' big strategy is to keep evolving, so lets hope with the current "Beats" phase, more people will head towards high end audio that actually sounds as good as it costs!

 

[judy1992]

Yeah.. I been going to best buy since 05.. The Magnolia stores in BB never focused on hi end DACs, headphones, 2 channel amps.. Let alone balanced, tube pre amps.. & I never seen Fur power conditioners, Mcintosh, pear tree or what ever it's called.. They might even be selling the HD800 at the store I go to now. & when I asked about the grand opening, I was told, they re located Magnolia employees from other non BB stores to work there.. So expect ties for men & dresses for women.
 
Quote:

Yeah, but typically the Magnolia stores located within a typical Best Buy store has undergone a lot of "test" experiments.  BB / Magnolia has rolled a lot of equipment both in and out of the show room like they are trying to figure out the right mix.  They used sell a brand of integrated amp (I forget the brand) up until a few years ago.  Lately, they've just sold A/V receivers - no 2-channel gear.  They used to have Boston Acoustics speakers, then dumped them, and now I hear they're back.  I believe their current hi-line of speakers is of the Vienna Acoustics brand.  Under that brand falls the cheaper Martin Logan speakers.  
 
They used to have dedicated sales people in the Magnolia area before, too.  Those people mostly wore ties.  Now, if you walk into the Magnolia section, you'll probably be accosted by a pimply-faced kid wearing the standard Best Buy blue polo shirt.
 
 
 

 

 

[judy1992]

We have the Q702 & B&W.. Just demoed the Q702.. & don't you get a discount? 500.00 for the 650 is a lot.. I seem some used on this forum for 200.00.. But why market to such a small market with this economy?
 
Quote:

Actually, i currently work in a best buy, and the magnolia guys still wear ties: ) also, we just started to carry the B&W headphones at our store, and sell the HD650 on line. . . for full $500 retail. ouch. but best buys' big strategy is to keep evolving, so lets hope with the current "Beats" phase, more people will head towards high end audio that actually sounds as good as it costs!

 

 

[Rhor]

 
Quote:

We have the Q702 & B&W.. Just demoed the Q702.. & don't you get a discount? 500.00 for the 650 is a lot.. I seem some used on this forum for 200.00.. But why market to such a small market with this economy?
 


 

I do get a discount, but Ive seen the same discounted prices from vendors on line. as for the market, its usually on line where you find the nicer headphones, but my store does particularly well in the high-end audio and video sections, due to our location. We have had people call and spend $15k over the PHONE, just because they want to decorate their new entertainment room with toys. You wont see the HD650 or the Q702 in every store (mine doesn't even have them) its just what the "higher-ups" thinks the local customers will buy.
 
 

 

[yepimonfire]

i bet if they took high end headphones and put them out on display and allowed customers to demo them they would sell a lot of them. its the same thing with the beats, people listen to them, love how they sound (compared to ibuds atleast) and are willing to shell out 300 bucks for them. 

 

[KuKuBuKu]

Funny, Best Buy actually started out as a audio-oriented store right here in Minnesota.