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Pro-Linear speakers, like Nuance?

post #1 of 22
12/14/01 at 12:14pm
Thread Starter 
A&B Sound is a major retailer in Western Canada and seems to promote the Pro-Linear line of speakers. International Stereo and a few others promote the hell out of Nuance speakers,(which seem to be garbage more or less). I have never seen the Pro-Linear line anywhere outside of A&B sound, nor any reviews. Do they fall into the same category as the Nuance (Low quality, huge mark-up), or are they decent speakers?
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post #2 of 22
12/17/01 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
Anybody out there have any knoeledge of these speakers? Canadians (western Canadians for sure)?
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post #3 of 22
12/17/01 at 2:40pm
Thread Starter 
Anyone? This brand appears to be the house brand of A&B Sound, prbably one of the largest electronic stores in the west (and home of the best prices on CD's!).
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post #4 of 22
12/17/01 at 2:57pm
You are right in your assumption. However, they do not push these as the International stereo people push the Nuances--"Have you heard the latest nuances? The rep is in store today, we can work out a great deal. Hear the sound take on 3d character with the nuance speakers(and of course the qsound enhanced CD of Madonna"
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post #5 of 22
12/18/01 at 8:04am
Pro Linear wouldn't be so bad I imagine because their prices are not as high as Nuance. I know nothing about Pro Linear but have seen them advertized. Listen to their set-up, it might not be too bad. However, the Energy Take 5.2 is a great budget system, and any of their floor standing models would be hard to beat from anything else A&B sells (except perhaps Mission ).

As for Nuance, they are a complete waste of time. Most of us dislike Bose for the way they market and their high prices. Nuance though is almost fraud.
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post #6 of 22
12/18/01 at 9:11am
I am helping my brother buy a budget system and we auditioned the pro linear speakers attached to a Kenwood 507. His meager budget is $700 to $1000 for 5 speakers.

IMHO they are not worth the material they are made of. We had barely turned up the volume when they started to distort badly. My brother laughed at this point and we walked away very quickly. Needless to say, the audition didn't last long.

You can do much better at the same price point.

FYI, I have never heard or seen the Nuance speakers.

Paul.
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post #7 of 22
1/28/02 at 11:27pm
My parents have owned a set of Nuance bookshelf speakers with 1" silk dome tweeter, and an rear ported 8" mid. I must say, they sound fantastic, and I am thoroughly impressed by them. I didn't pay for them so I can't comment on that, but I know they paid a lot for them. They go great with my other Klipsch speakers, but once I get my RF-3's for the fronts, the Nuance's will be moved back upstairs in the living room.
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post #8 of 22
2/3/04 at 6:04pm
Hi, first post.

I work in Home Audio at A&B Sound Edmonton South.

ProLinear is our house brand. It is postitioned as an entry-level value price product. For what it is, it's intended to deliver reasonable performance for not a lot of money.

Alongside Prolinear, our other budget line is Reference Audio, which is not a house brand, but we have a semi-exclusive in the West. Once again, they are decent.

Basically, Prolinear and Reference Audio hit a $150-$500/pair price point for people who can't/won't spend a lot of money. More importantly, since they aren't total crap, I don't have to feel guilty when I sell them...
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post #9 of 22
2/3/04 at 7:41pm
Hi Lee. Welcome to HTF!

I enjoy shopping at A&B sound...although I usually buy from Audio Ark. I find most of the brands are good and as far as a big box store here in Edmonton its definetly the best IMO. One question though, I noticed A&B is now selling Bose...I really hope you don't push them on the consumers.
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post #10 of 22
2/4/04 at 7:26am
Ha, I was wondering how long it would be before I got called out on that.

Yes, we carry Bose. I feel the same way most of you do. Imagine spending nine years selling against a product, and now you have to sell it.

That said, I like to think that I never push anything on anybody. We carry Bose because they have a Brand. And like it or not, there is a certain segment of the marketplace that responds to that. If a customer comes in looking for Bose, and it's what will meet their percieved needs, that's okay. But I certainly recognize that it is a niche product for a niche customer.

Truthfully, as a salesperson, it ill behooves you to a)speak negatively of any product or competitor or b)struggle to sell against somebody's preferences. Ultimately every product is the right product for a specific customer (with the obvious exception of Nuance, or white van speakers!). It's my job to partner with my client to help them discover which product that is going to be.

Oh, and thanks for the welcome Michael!
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post #11 of 22
2/4/04 at 12:24pm
I upgraded from Prolinears to Paradigm Monitor 7's. Man what a difference .

I used to shop at AB Sound but now I shop at Audio Ark as well. Some sales guy at ABSOUND Downtown Edmonton sold me a Denon 1803 last year for $800 and told me that was the best deal he could give me. I knew very little about HT at the time and picked up the reviever because I thought i was getting a dood deal. About 2 weeks later it was on sale for $650 and then I saw a bunch online for $575. I'll never go to AB Sound again.

On top of that, 4 months later I wanted to upgrade my 1803 to a 2803 and the sales guy told me he could only give me $400 credit for my $800 reciever. AB Sound has lost alot of sales (including my firends/family/staff memebers) due to this salesman ripping me off. Oh well, you live and learn right. Now I do research before I buy stuffs.
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post #12 of 22
2/4/04 at 12:40pm
I hope that everybody does their research on their own before they listen to me or anybody else on the salesfloor.

In my experience, well researched, cautious, self-qualified buyers are inevitably far more satisfied with both their shopping experience as well as their selection than impulse buyers.

On the other hand, don't take pricing personally. This buisiness is a rollercoaster. I can't tell you how many times I have cut somebody a fair deal, then three weeks later our marketing department cuts a crazy deal with a vendor for a special promotion that is significantly better than I could swing on the floor, and I get shot in the foot. The reason we offer 30 day price protection is to protect you from us, not from competitors. It's a major hassle for me too, in terms of extra paperwork, not to mention losing goodwill.
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post #13 of 22
2/4/04 at 1:26pm
I'm not really sure where the market for prolinears are, since in their price range you can get paradigm atoms and titans ($180-250CAD). Even for people with little money to spend, there are better speakers out there.

I've seen friends with prolinear headphones as well, and figure that people who buy prolinear stuff are ones who don't know much about audio, and go on the salesman's recommendation.
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post #14 of 22
2/4/04 at 2:39pm
What you've got to remember is that Prolinear is hardly ever sold at tag price. It exists to get blown out for SuperSale at 50% off typically. It's also not a target product for us.

This serves two purposes: As an ad item, it gets people into the door, and if that's all they want to spend, bully for them. More importantly, it gives us a window to offer the opportunity to listen to better, name brand speakers, like Mission, Energy, and Totem Accoustic.

It's not as if we really want you to buy a $150 pair of speakers after all, I mean come on...
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post #15 of 22
2/4/04 at 4:42pm
The sound quality from them are fairly brutal. Ah well. At least they're very inexpensive.
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post #16 of 22
2/4/04 at 9:42pm
The Pro-Linear speakers I have heard were VERY distorted even at quite a low volume. I do not know how much was paid for them, and I realize they are supposed to be very inexpensive, but why would someone want to listen to a distorted speaker? I have seen and heard a lot of other cheapo speakers that sounded much better.

BTW, "a window to offer the opportunity" ?? I thought I smelled something.
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post #17 of 22
2/5/04 at 4:20am
Take it easy Paul. How is offering to upsell people bad?

It breaks my heart, but there is a sizeable market share for whom price matters far more than performance; hence the fact that people are paying $4K on a TV and $500 on an HTIB. If somebody is damned and determined to buy a pair of speakers that are on sale for $99.00, that's what they are going to go home with. My job is to offer Joe Speakerbuyer a chance to see what he can get if he is willing to spend more money.

If a salesperson didn't provide you with any alternatives to make a better qualified purchase, you went home with the first thing you saw on sale, and it didn't do much of anything, you'd be pretty unsatisfied with what you ended up with, no?
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post #18 of 22
2/5/04 at 6:27am
Quote:
BTW, "a window to offer the opportunity" ?? I thought I smelled something
It's called reality. It happens in every retail business. It's not like Lee or myself is holding a gun to their head. Lee's explanation is pretty dead on and it sounds like he's a pretty good salesperson(and I don't mean that in a slightful way either).
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post #19 of 22
2/5/04 at 6:41am
Yes, you guys are right. There are times when I expect a salesman to either point me in the right direction, or to support my decision.

My first reaction to salespeople now is to become defensive. Too many experiences with Nuance/high pressure sales tactics.
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post #20 of 22
2/5/04 at 6:45am
From reading whatever's here, I would buy from Lee in a heartbeat. Seems like an upstanding salesman. There are a few half decent under $500 systems like the JBL NSP series and the Onkyo HTIB systems. But if I just bought a $4000 DLP Samsung TV.....
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post #21 of 22
2/5/04 at 6:51am
Quote:
My first reaction to salespeople now is to become defensive. Too many experiences with Nuance/high pressure sales tactics.
I think it's human nature honestly.
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post #22 of 22
2/5/04 at 7:10am
Hey, I recognize that most people equate my industry as being two notches below car salesmen, and one above sea slugs.

Truthfully, anybody in my business who is honest will tell you that the Common Denominator in this biz is pretty darned low. If you are even a cut above the average salesman, you will be successful.

And while I'm being candid, I just have to say how much I love Nuance, and their local dealer, International Stereo. As a foaming-at-the-mouth Keynesian economics type guy, I believe that lots of competition is good for business, and good for the consumer. Of course, the only thing better than lots of competition is lots of incompetent competition. Int'l is so inept, and their tactics are so bad, they drive a lot of business into our store. Somebody who has been through the Nuance spiel, who then finds an empathetic, laid back, clued-in salesperson at another dealer has a pretty clear idea of who they want to do business with.

When those guys finally tank, I'm going to lose some trade.
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