Some of you guys are doing yourself a disservice by not visiting Stereo Exchange because of this incident. Granted this wasn't their finest moment, but I think Stereo Exchange is being unfairly demonized in this thread. Because someone is not treated the way he thinks he should be treated, even if there is some merit to his contention, the fact that he posts a long extensive complaint on the internet has the effect, whether intentional or not, of disparaging the place via the internet to a worldwide audience. But, the fact remains that we've heard only his side of the story. Yet multiple posters worldwide then express their righteous indignation.
I'm taking a somewhat different tack because I, and others, know Stereo Exchange as a highly reputable place that's been supporting the audiophile community for some 40 years. The store itself is a huge loft-like place in the Village with several large well-equipped listening rooms. They're authorized dealers for some of the major names. The last time I was there, principals from McIntosh, Bowers & Wilkens, and Audeze were visiting. They're not some fly-by-night place. Management and the salespeople are highly experienced and will spend a lot of time with potential customers explaining items and demonstrating equipment in their listening rooms. But, because this is hyper-competitive NYC, they obviously can't do that with everyone. It's worth noting that the original poster visited the place because, apparently, there wasn't any other place around that he could sample a well-equipped headphone selection. This is the very kind of place that we need and that people say they so often miss.
I say why not go visit Stereo Exchange, especially it's new headphone lounge, and see for yourself.
I just want to mention that I have wandered around stereo exchange a number of times without ever being pressured or asked to leave. I do not fit the profile of a typical audiophile. I've felt out of place in other nyc audio establishments but not here. It's refreshing.
Yes, this could actually work to Stereo Exchange's benefit. As in, "any publicity is good publicity" -- where people eventually forget what all the fuss was about but do remember the name of the place, and then go there when they have the chance. It's very likely that many more people now know about the store than previously.
Member of the Trade: The Audio Guild Aka: TempAccount555
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What would have been the point and to whom would it have imparted any meaningful information? You might have well just said he shouldn't have posted anything at all. Is that ultimately what you're saying?
Even if they learned about this thread, I don't think they'd care, nor would they probably needto care.
They sell high-end audiophile gear in Manhattan, they've been doing it for decades, and they're one of the only such places in Manhattan (and certainly the biggest).
I think it's safe to assume that their high-end speaker business (and speaker-connected components), not their headphone business, is probably the vast majority of their revenue and profit. Yelp reviews also suggest that they do a lot of five-figure custom installation work. Even among their headphone business, I'd bet that most of their customers are the people who usually buy high-end speaker setups: well-off men in their 40s and 50s looking to be blown away by (and take home) a $10,000+ setup, most of whom are unlikely to participate in one specific online forum specializing in relatively recent headphone gear that — if I can make another guess — is usually connected to computers playing MP3s in iTunes by people with a much lower average age who will never own a preamp, a "transport", or any $400 cables.
A thread like this, viewed by a handful of people on one forum, likely won't make a dent in their actual core business because those customers aren't here. (If I thought it would destroy their business, I wouldn't have posted it.)
That, combined with the aforementioned price-fixed nature of most high-end headphones, is the truly sad part of Stereo Exchange's apparent oversensitivity to internet-involved people like us: online sales probably aren't affecting their business nearly as much as they think they are.
Businesses that slowly decline and fail usually do so for internal reasons, not from external competition. Usually it's because they stop serving the market as well as they used to, not because someone does it for a few dollars cheaper. If Stereo Exchange is seeing a decline — and I have no reason to think that they are — it's more likely to be due to factors entirely within their control. Maybe they should sell online since so many people want to buy there. Maybe they should sell more affordable products to capture a midrange-market presence and get more future upgrades. Maybe they should adjust their sales techniques to not offend those Yelp reviewers. Maybe they should have opened the Headphone Lounge three years ago, and maybe they should include a pair of Beats and Apple earbuds to compare so people can hear why they should buy the good stuff. Maybe they should be more responsive to market trends like computer playback and portables. Or maybe it's a more basic problem, like not having the right hours, not having the right staff-to-customer balance, or a reduction in customer foot traffic in their neighborhood. It's much easier to believe that it's someone else's problem — the market, the economy, the internet — than to realize that you're not running your business as well as you could.
Again, I have no idea what Stereo Exchange's business is like or if they have any of these problems. But if they're suffering, I bet internet shopping has very little to do with it.
What would have been the point and to whom would it have imparted any meaningful information? You might have well just said he shouldn't have posted anything at all. Is that ultimately what you're saying?
No. What I am ultimately saying is that the actual store name is irrelevant to the conversation. If any store behaved in the manner described the reaction here would most likely be the same. Naming the venue has absolutely no importance to the genpop here with the exception of Manhattanites.
Once again you miss the point. Look at the post read the part that asks just how the responses would be different if the store was not named and then comment. Please.
Once again you miss the point. Look at the post read the part that asks just how the responses would be different if the store was not named and then comment. Please.
Based on what amounts to one user review? I find the whole hoopla to be a little out of proportion to the event. An event which we know only one side of.
I have nothing against the OP here but I sincerely believe you can have a bad experience in just about any shop. Anyone can have a bad day and make a foolish decision on the job, thats life. If there were a dozen or so people chiming in saying "Yes I was in there too and they gave me the bums rush" I would have serious issues with the place.
As it stands all it makes me want to do is go and see for myself next time I'm in the neighborhood.
Whereas, if the thread had not identified the actual venue we might have had some responses from other locations saying "Now that you mention it I had a similar experience in xyz."
I don't think that any one isolated incident calls for a boycott any more than one luke warm review would shy me off a particular headphone.
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