Heathrow and Shows in general

I went on Saturday and walked away with exactly the same comments and feelings as per the previous shows I've been to.

HIFI people are the worst salesmen ever.....they really should

* - Close the Door
* - don't bloody talk all the way through the records
* - no audiophile music -it's crap
* - play something with bass and drums
* - turn it up
* - don't dem in a room the size of Wembley
* - make things that look acceptable

...really they haven't got a clue. The amount of times I walked into a room and walked out when I heard any Diana Krall or sparse recording. It was as if they were scared to show how the system sounded with bass or more than a two piece act. It's easy making a recording with only two classical guitars to sound good, but making a full on Rock/Pop band sound good is something much harder.

Two peoples systems were so quiet that the talking in the room was louder than the music. So I asked them to turn it up, both systems sounded terrible at volume so I just left.

One manufacturers system (big speakers) had NO bass at all, I asked why (because the Mid and Treble sounded quite good) the answer was "it takes 24hrs to warm up" - would you buy that? I wouldn't and didn't - the answer was bollocks.

The MAC room sounded great BUT - the speakers look horrible, no way could I get these into my house. SO I told him, great sound but the speakers are dead ugly, he was a bit shocked and thought it wasn't important. Unfortunately these days how things looked is important like it or not. So I can't see many pairs of Green Mountains being sold. Manufacturers really need to include key retailers when developing a product, after all is them who has to sell them.

The Meridian/Chord dem was pointless as the room was massive so unless you live in Scotland or have won the lottery this dem was a waste of time. Dems should be in similar size rooms to normal domestic houses.

Would love to have heard the Townshend audio but Max didn't stop talking all the time we were in there, so noone could hear it - there is a place to chat at HIFI shows and it's called the corridors, and why not shut the door so we can actually hear the equipment you spent so long to chose and set up.

BEST of SHOW? easy the Japanese Airhostesses.

 

Wow!

I disagree with so much of that I hardly know where to start!.. but life's so subjective, and more fun because opinions vary.

My main point of disagreement is about 'conversations'. A key point about trade shows to me is the opportunity to discuss the item, it's design, implementation and strengths and weaknesses with the actual designer. It's something you so rarely get to do in other circumstances.

One conversation I had with a Meridian representative (clearly a senior designer of some type) was more interesting, illuminating and generally worthwhile than any magazine article I remember looking at.

Sonically, you never hear the best of equipment from a show - I agree about that. Home demonstrations of prefered products are the way to go.

Visually, I have some sympathy with what you have to say. Very few speakers were visually appealing.

As someone who has lived /will live with bath-tub sized horn speakers, aesthetics are irrelevant to me personally, I have no 'W' to 'AF'.

 

* - Close the Door -Why? people wont go in the room
* - don't bloody talk all the way through the records - I agree with bottle neck
* - no audiophile music -it's crap - fair comment
* - play something with bass and drums - that may be your taste...
* - turn it up - within reason
* - don't dem in a room the size of Wembley - exagerations?
* - make things that look acceptable - or buy for sound not looks

 

It wasn't a trade show- it was a public show, some people had the courtesy to stand in the corridors, others thought their own voice was more important than their system.
I had the best chat to the transciptor guy, outside of the dem room. Its just manners

 

Close the Door -Why? - so I have hear the music? and not the room next door or people talking outside.

* - play something with bass and drums - I don't mean heavy metal but anything from Nelson Riddle upto the Shins, you can't evaluate a system from just an acoustic guitar or females vocals. many people seemed a bit scared to play something with a rhythm section - why?

* - make things that look acceptable - or buy for sound not looks
I assume you've not worked in HIFI Retail. like it or not things need to look good to get past the wife, this is one of retails biggest problems.

 

Interesting point here...

Personally, I see why it would be more polite to talk outside, but then again, if you are there just to listen to the gear, you are missing the point. In fact, unless you are looking to buy a whole system and spot the one you like, it is pretty pointless to make any judgement on the equipment by the sounds heard at a show.
It may give you a "ballpark" perhaps, not more. Each component interaction, plus room etc makes it all almost impossible to ascertain unless you spend a considerable amount of time swapping things. This is stuff you do at a dealer showroom or at home (ideally), not at a show.

So my point is that listening at a show is overrated. At best it will give you an idea of whether you want to try it at home or not.

The point about room size... it is all relative in this industry is it not? Or do you think it is reasonable to demo a £100K system at a show? Or even a £13K turntable? How representative is that of the sort of people that will buy hifi stuff? Perhaps just as much as the size of the room is representative of the sort of people that buy hifi...

my two cents
Jack

 

I'd agree on that one. Just saw the Heathrow photos posted in the main thread...sweet Jesus some of that gear just looks ridiculous. The money spend on producing some of those elaborate casings/enclosures must leave little left over for the elecronics inside.

I guess guys with wifes and kids just shouldn't be allowed to join that select club.

 

"So my point is that listening at a show is overrated. At best it will give you an idea of whether you want to try it at home or not."

Agreed. I think expectations are interesting. It's a good chance to see and hear kit but be realistic. If it sounds good - that's no mean achievement at a show and might be worth further consideration. But don't dismiss stuff that doesn't sound right - there was some gear there that was not doing itself justice. For example, I've heard the Border Patrols/LV combination sound a lot better that they did (to me) on Sat.

Otherwise, it's good to meet friends and hear some things that you wouldn't give house room, like some of those horns.

Steve

 

dead right about the mac speakers ....[green mountain ?] they really would have scared the children ....

great sound though ....

 

I last went to shows when they stopped using Dire Straits. I suspect its all been downhill since.

 

It has been for Dire Straits, that's for sure. :MILD: