Dealers - recent experience

[CN211276]

I am out and about a lot and wanted quality closed headphones. I was impressed by what I read about the Oppo PM3s and decided to check them out. Richer Sounds are the only suppliers near me so I phoned to arrange a demonstration with the Audioquest Dragonfly Red. I was told that I could audition the Oppos, but not the DFR as it was not available for demonstration. I turned up with my AQ DF Black and Chord Mojo, as a demonstration direct through my phone would have been pointless. I again asked for a demonstration through the DFR but was refused. This time I was told that the DFR is not compatible with portable devices. This is bollacks and even the Richer Sounds website says it is!!!

I was very impressed by the Oppos which clearly showed the difference between the DFB and the Mojo. They said that they did not have a pair in stock but would order one for me. I said I would buy them, but did not pay a deposit. I wanted to check out the DFR first to make sure it is compatible with my phone as there are issues with Android devices which I understood could be overcome through USB Audio Player Pro. I arranged a demonstration of the DFR at my local Audio T, with my open Grado headphones, and found that it worked with my phone and the sound was much closer to that of the Mojo than the DFB. It was the only one they had in stock and it had to be unboxed for the demo. When I was paying for it another salesman came up to the who dealt with me and asked if I was the same person who had phoned about the DFR earlier that morning and was on his way for a demo. He said that I was not, necessitating a call to the person who was on his way.

The Oppos arrived at Richer Sounds after being delayed by the snow and at the end of the day, via a roundabout way, I am a happy bunny.
If there is a morale to this it would be for more manufactures to sell direct with a 30 day return period and at much lower prices.

[Daniel Quinn]

Richer sounds is not a dealership. It is a no thrills seller.

[Hemmo1969]

Richer sounds is not a dealership. It is a no thrills seller.

Agreed, there’s a difference between a ‘box shifter’ and a good HIFI dealer.

Loan of products is a must and is offered by my local dealer.... listening at home with your own kit is a huge bonus. Getting to know your dealer can also pay dividends as they will allow ‘home loans’ without the hassle of purchasing first in my experience.

Doc has all the above with the bonus of direct selling prices and forum advice! Winner

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

That is why I am blocked / banned on the commercial forums, and the semi commercial ones who hide it.

Even though in terms of business and turnover I am a flea biting the surface of the industry, they are scared stiff of me and want to censor me out of business. It is the direct selling low price concept they are scared stiff of.

So I rely on you lot for promotion, I am blocked all other ways.

[Chunk McDaniel]

They maybe scared of the direct selling but they are also scared shitless of your product. It's the sound per pound equation they dont like.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

But they don't know that or believe it - it seems most think I have this little band of shillers and brainwashed Donkeys under my powers on the forum.

It suits their agendas to see this. They are also scared to try unless they are seen to be wrong.

[savvypaul]

They are not so much afraid of the NVA business model. They bargain on very few manufacturers being so dedicated, determined and honest.

They are most concerned that their own business practices will be exposed...and their margins reduced.

[Classicrock]

If you want to try something from Richer Sounds order online so you have a 30 day money back trial. Problem here is lack of knowledge of staff and bad communication. There are other direct sellers (mainly passive or class D products) but they steer clear of forums altogether as far as can see. When they say a product is not available for demo presumably it is not stocked in the stores but available online / telesales or order blind from store. The most notable direct seller is probably US company Schit. NVA is not alone but probably the only one man band, which means Richard is open to personal attacks more than others. Industry is probably more shit scared of Schit given their size and run by industry veterans who used to make expensive bling.

[savvypaul]

Schiit also do their bit for taking the piss out of foo:

Beyond Just Technology: SuperUltraHyperTechnology
PYST cables are made from only the finest 6-nines Unobtanium™ alloy, molecularly assembled in our Alternate Universe™ reality-distortion tesseract field , using a secret geometry reverse-engineered from crashed UFOs, painstakingly smuggled out of Area 51 by deep-cover operatives. Performance is further enhanced by the use of a QuantConnect™ quantum-entangled pair of transmission interfaces, held at absolute zero by our exclusive Stasis Field™ technology. The cables are then wrapped in NanoAeroCap™, a nanotechnology-enabled aerogel anti-capacitance insulation system, featuring Fractal Interleaved Geometry™ to create negative inductance for maximum audio transmission quality.

Or, er, well . . . again, no. These are nice, high-quality cables, with solid, reliable connectors. That’s it. Hope you like them!

[George Hincapie]

Schiit also do their bit for taking the piss out of foo:

Beyond Just Technology: SuperUltraHyperTechnology
PYST cables are made from only the finest 6-nines Unobtanium™ alloy, molecularly assembled in our Alternate Universe™ reality-distortion tesseract field , using a secret geometry reverse-engineered from crashed UFOs, painstakingly smuggled out of Area 51 by deep-cover operatives. Performance is further enhanced by the use of a QuantConnect™ quantum-entangled pair of transmission interfaces, held at absolute zero by our exclusive Stasis Field™ technology. The cables are then wrapped in NanoAeroCap™, a nanotechnology-enabled aerogel anti-capacitance insulation system, featuring Fractal Interleaved Geometry™ to create negative inductance for maximum audio transmission quality.

Or, er, well . . . again, no. These are nice, high-quality cables, with solid, reliable connectors. That’s it. Hope you like them!

The Schiit web site is excellent fun to read. If I wasn't such a Metrum Acoustics fanboy, I'd buy their products. Almost bought the Yggy but the UK distributor kept pissing me around with a demo and I gave up.