| Re: "Mainstream High End" at the LSAF [message #78495 is a reply to message #78492] |
Sun, 01 December 2013 08:05   |
Cask05
Messages: 16
Registered: November 2013
Location: Arlington, Texas
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Chancellor |
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Bruce,
It's easy for me to understand why LSAF is working, and how to make sure that it stays that way--by focusing on the customer (buyers/users) and a dedication of LSAF to helping them gain better knowledge on that subject, and providing opportunities for buying and building their own.
If you continue to emphasize that, I believe that LSAF will continue to be successful. However, if you allow high-end audio dealers that are "selling" to muddle that message, then I believe that you will begin to see problems like elsewhere. I can see why the "high end" dealers don't show up, unless of course they are dedicated to providing value to their customers, not trying to convince them to buy their badly overpriced equipment that has dubious effect on the resulting sound of the system. This subject includes the equipment,its placement AND the room acoustics. Unless you're spending time educating with no-kidding truthful information, I don't believe that the results in the ears of a customer are going to thrill.
I think that Wayne P. has the right formula by continuing to bring in folks to give talks to educate, i.e., this is the same message as "an educated consumer is our best customer". I also think that emphasis on DIY and kits, especially loudspeakers and room treatments, is a key point.
For instance, I plan to demonstrate in the Allen room next May the effects of room treatments and proper speaker/furniture placement (especially using corner horns) which is a critical subject for the buyers but unfortunately an afterthought for sellers. I find that these sellers don't really understand the subject well or even care much as long as they make a sale.
The same thing goes for high-priced electronics and input devices: if a person walks in and mentions that s/he has, say, Bose speakers and is looking at expensive tube amplifiers, I think it's time to educate the customer to invest in better speakers first. I also think that it's critical to understand their listening room by looking at a picture of their proposed listening space before prescribing a piece of equipment to buy.
To that end, I think it would be a good idea to recommend to participants to snap a picture or two of their listening room(s) prior to driving to LSAF in May. I know that it always makes a tremendous difference when I see their actual setups when giving advice. Perhaps I'll start a thread on that subject here instead, because this is one of the most interesting subjects that I've encountered in this pastime.
Chris
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