Please HELP me choose which manufacturers to carry? (1 Viewer)

[Debbie Santos]

Hi. This is my first post. I've been a peruser of these wonderful forums for a couple years now and I would like to thank you all for sharing your knowledge and insight. As a result I have learned much. I am currently in the process of opening a small Home Theater store and I would greatly appreciate if you all could please share your opinions on which products and manufacturers I should carry. I live in a city of 11,000 people with a median income of $70,000 per year. While there are many that will spend alot I can't see very many.. if any, willing to purchase Runco FPTVs or Marantz RPTVs for example. The prices for such are not realistic. With regard to these RearProjection Tv manufacturers which should I carry and why?(please mention any worthy manufacturers that I may have forgotten)
Hitachi
Panasonic
Pioneer
Samsung
Sony
Toshiba
Zenith
With regard to Directview Tvs:
Hitachi
JVC
Konka
Sampo
Panasonic
Philips
Proton
RCA
Samsung
Sony
Toshiba
Zenith
With regard to Front Projection:
Sony
Zenith
Sharp
This is a very exciting time for me and I really look forward to hearing your opinions. Thank you

 

[David Judah]

It looks like you have a good mix there. I would suggest adding Mitsubishi to your RPTV category though, since they account for more market share than everyone else combined. They, like Sony, also run good 0% financing promotions.

DJ

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Just a few comments ... bear with me.

Hitachi ... nice units, but not too much tweaking knowledge out there and not considered to be a major player.

Mitsubishi ... A very nice set, but only after a significant amount of work inside the TV's service menus and beyond.

Panasonic ... Coming in from obscurity this year with a very nice product that is very tweakable and an image that looks as good as any in the group.

Pioneer ... Always a great image, but sometimes a bit on the high $$ side. Very friendly service menu and very tweakable.

Samsung ... Not a major player and too little information out there on image quality.

Sony ... Very nice image and a very good price point this year. Great name recognition. Easy to calibrate although limited in some ways.

Toshiba ... They took a set backward this year in the image quality department. Still a good price point for their TV's and the images are pleasing ... though slightly worse than last year. unless you know what to look for, the image is still pleasing.

Zenith ... good product, but very poor impression of quality by most ... eventhough that is not true ... the impression is still there. Not a major player in the RPTV field.

With regard to Directview Tvs:

Hitachi

JVC

Konka ... reliability issues

Sampo ... reliability issues

Panasonic

Philips

Proton

RCA ... reliability issues

Samsung

Sony

Toshiba

Zenith

Regards

 

[Debbie Santos]

Greetings to all. Thank you so much David and Michael, I greatly appreciate your input. This is precisely the type of feedback I was hoping for. I'm sure to have a million+ questions/inquiries in the future.
Next year I intend to get my ISF, THX and Cedia certification. My business will be Home Theater centered with an eye to home automation in the future. I'd really appreciate if any of you could share any tips or advice with regard to showroom Home Theater presentation, sales, etc. within Canada. A sincere thanks to the moderators and the community for giving me this opportunity to better myself and to better serve home theater enthusiasts in northern B.C.
Debbie

 

[JohnnyG]

Debbie, from someone that's been there, I warn you not to exclude anybody at this point. No joke, but most manufacturers probably won't even return your phone calls! It all depends on where you are, what other dealers are in your area and - honestly - how lazy the rep is.

Forget about brand names for now and call them ALL. Find out if they'll sign you up, see what they have to offer, then decide based on your experiences up to that point. Carrying a popular product is pointless if the company will not stand behind you as a dealer and provide the support and services you need to grow.