When buying a new receiver how much do you listen to the sales person? (1 Viewer)

[Tony-Merit]

I have been thinking of upgrading my Technics SA-DX750 for a while now. I have been to all the local electronic stores to see what receivers that do have. I get different opinions from the sales people on what brand I should get or how much I should spend. When you are out looking to buy, how much should the sales person influence your decision? Sometime I just get the feeling there trying to make more money off me, not help me. Maybe I am just being to cynical. My question to anyone that wants to answer how much do you listen to the sales person?

 

[Joe Szott]

I would suggest reading up and this board and other forums to get an idea of what you want first. Then evaluate what the Salesman says based on what you already know to be true. If he lies to you straight out, dump him. If he is a good salesman, he will listen to what you want before he tells you what you need and will be honest.

For example, we recently went to Soundtrack in Denver to audition some receivers. The guy we had took 30 mins to setup a DVD and surround sound in the room (and it never really worked.) He couldn't answer any of my pointed questions about one receiver vs. another and just kept pushing the Denon 3802 to everyone that came in. Needless to say, I didn't buy anything while I was there and traded 40 mins of my life for a free bottle of water.

Our friends went to the same soundtrack but got a different guy. When told that they wanted an HK 520 receiver, the salesguy told them that all they carry is the Denon 3802 in that class but that the HK is a 'slightly' better receiver. He gave them a great deal on the Denon so they bought it, but you gotta trust a salesman that tells you a product they don't even carry is better than the one on the shelf behind him.

Use your instincts, they are usually correct.

 

[RichardMA]

When they tell me the price.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Salesmen ARE there to sell you something - usually what they have in stock. Dont get upset by this. It's the way it works.

Listen to them about the features/opinion he has about what he is selling. A good person will help you sort out the different "black box's". Some will take the time to educate you, others will size you up and simply offer you what they know to be a good unit.

The Dennon 3802 is a well respected unit. Even if the salesman did not try to educate you (a risky thing), he did an honest job pushing it.

True Story: years ago my wife decided to buy me a HT receiver. She went to Good Guys and simply bought what they told her. When I un-wrapped it, I discovered a 75 watt Yamaha receiver.

Bravely, I un-wrapped it being careful to preserve the packaging so I could return it later for something better. I hooked it in place of my old 100 watt Technics receiver and fired it up not expecting much. I was in shock. That lowly receiver made my speakers stand up and sing! This started my love affair with HT.

The receiver? The famous Yamaha 793. This unit made Stereophile Guide's recommended list for 2 years after they stopped producing it. I now own 2 of them, and when I bought a DSP-A1 - it really did not sound dramatically better than my 793.

So just because a salesman pushes a unit - he may be doing a real honest job.

Good Luck.

 

[Joe Szott]

Bob -

I forgot to point out that our sales guy completely bad mouthed the HK 520 when I mentioned it, and claimed that it was basically not worth my time when compared to the Denon 3802 they just 'happen' to have sitting on the shelf (they don't carry HK there.) So he was pretty much lying about unit comparisons to make a sale, I consider that very rude and unprofessional. Denon 3802 is a fantastic receiver, but the HK is great too so there's no excuse for his behavior.

-J

 

[Jed M]

I listen to anywhere between 0% to .005% when dealing with a chain type store. If I am in a high end joint then I am more open to their recommendations but still aware of the "sales pitch". If he tells you something you know to be false then I would just ignore him from there on out.

 

[Brae]

Well, one thing to recognize is not a) getting depressed or frustrated, b) persuaded into spending $5K for a receiver you budgeted $1250 for, c) taking everything with a grain of salt, and d) realized that the nature of the sales game is to first sell what you have in stock first, and then the most expensive thing in stock next.
You may wish to go to several shops to listen to several of the same receivers as they in and of themselves are not 100% desriptive of their behaviors. The room the sound is being played in, the speakers, number of people present in the room, etc. can have a lot to play on how well a receiver handles itself with all the other variables that go into it.
If you already have your speakers and know the major application for the purchase (home theater vs. music vs. both equally), ask some people what they are using to drive their speakers that you also have.
And for godsakes do some searches on the many forums out there!

 

[Yogi]

I only listen to their prices.

 

[Mike H]

Generally my conversations with Sales guys regarding recievers is:
1) Walk-in store
2) Salesman says 'Hi'. I say "Hi, I want XYZ receiver"
3) Work on a price with salesman
4) Walk out with receiver.

Mike

 

[Tony Lai]

Every so often I play dumb and listen to their bullcrap.

But they never know more than I do - so why bother?

T.

 

[Chris PC]

At most stores, I try hard not to ignore them. I respect salepeople, I worked retail before, but they never know as much as I do about the details. They do give fair opinions of sound quality comparisons though. At the store where I bought most of my stuff, the saleperson actually doesn't say much, he just shows me what I want and lets me listen. Thats probably why I bought my stuff there. Almost no opinion or selling. I like that.

 

[Henry_W]

Reading through this and other forums is a great way to go. Cautiously listen and you will be able to discern the credible. Two things:

1. The HK is a very nice unit (this coming from a Denon owner) - so discount that comment.

2. Take care when reading "they are trash", "nowhere near the quality", "too bright - make my ears bleed", etc. unless you are sure that the author really knows what they are talking about. There are alot of trolls that have no clue, but you can usually see who they are very quickly.

 

[Nathan A]

let's see....

i walk into a store with a $1500 budget for a receiver and start to look around. i continue to look around. i notice that i'm the only customer in the store; i keep looking around.

when i get tired of looking around, i leave without having had a salesman even attempt to give me their pitch. fairly aggravating.

no one wants to help you if you look 17 and wear a T-shirt and jeans no matter how much you were willing to spend. that's why i buy online; plus it's cheaper! the kind folks on this forum are my salesmen and they don't even know it....

 

[Dave E H]

Well, I guess it depends. While I don't usually suffer from Nathan's problem, that _DID_ happen to me when I was younger and I've seen it happen to people (especially women.) That completely sucks, but in some ways, you can't really blame some sales people. Why? Well, since most are on commission and have quotas - especially in a down economy - they have to be as productive with their time as possible. So, they do make guesses on which consumers are going to buy _TODAY_, so I can certainly see their motivation. Doesn't make it right, but I can empathize.

That being said, I think you can find good sales people. Of the B&M places that I've been, I've found good sales people at Magnolia Hi-Fi (out west here) most of the time. Some of them have been great - insisted I try out the Pioneer Elite VSX-49TX he had just gotten in, instead of the Denon or Yamaha I had been thinking about. After a tryout, I later started leaning that way. A month of research on the Net & HTF later, and I bought one. He was straightforward & helpful, and let me listen as long as I wanted and to whatever I wanted (I brought in a lot of material).

 

[Matt Jesty]

A few points that haven't been made yet;
I always ask a perspective customer when he needs the rcvr by....the reason is simple; if he needs it today for a party then I am going to sell him something I have in stock (and tell him so)...some customers will question why I asked that question and I tell them that I don't take into account whether I haVe a unit in stock unless they need it immediately, and they aRE happy to hear this....the other thing I like to do is be honest about equipment I have and don't have if they ask how brand "X" COMPARES to what I have (after countless questions) recommended. I will tell them why I don't recommend that brand in this case...If it is a brand I don't carry I will point out to them the brtands that I don't carry that WOULD be a good choice and reccommend that the customer audition them......
Another juicy fact that is often overlooked is ,like lawyers, car salesmen, auto mechanics, plumbers, etc. there are good ones and bad...take care in choosing one..
I have been in this and related fields for many years and I run into a lot of people who are well READ on audio equipment, which is akin to being well read on art, you get a sense of things ,but not the EXPERIANCE...a good salesperson in this industry has hooked up thousands of pieces of gear and HUNDREDS of customers systems ....HE/SHE has a wealth of innate gut feelings about what will or will not round out a good system ...so while I get a good feeling when people have read some about equipment I am happy when they know that it's time to LISTEN.....

 

[Jack Keck]

I didn't listen to any salesman. I bought my receiver from a website recommended at the AVS forum. I'm happy.

 

[Adil M]

If you come in well-informed and know what you want the salesman will probably love you. However, if your salesman knows what he is talking about, you should at least listen to what he says as a second opinion and weigh in the whole he wants to probably sell what's in the store thing. It's like audioreview, you sift through the crap to get to a good review, but then you read it critically. It's the same w/ salespeople. Don't discount "all" of them, some of us use these sites as resources just like you except we have the experience of application!

 

[Justin Ward]

no one wants to help you if you look 17 and wear a T-shirt and jeans no matter how much you were willing to spend.

I know exactly how you feel. I am 17 and recently bought my Pioneer VSX-D510 and Paradigm Titan speakers. At futureshop, when it was an older person looking at recievers the salespeople flocked right to them. But when I went I waited over 10 minutes and not one sales persons came. I had to go ask one if the Panasonic SA-He100 had DTS and they quickly said they didn't know and went to help another customer. After a few more minutes another sales man came and asked me if I had any questions. I said I was looking for an entry level receiver with enough power for a small room and DTS decoding. He recommended the VSX-d510, he took the time to explain the video switching and the features the receiver had. So long story short, the guy who answered my questions got the commision from that sale.
When I bought my Titans the salesperson was very helpful. I asked him if he thought the Atoms would be good enough, he said that if I was going to put them with a sub right away than they would be great but if not I would be better off with Titans(exactly what you guys told me). He even took the time to set up the Titans for me before I had even asked about buying them. He set the speakers up well too, he turned off the center and surrounds and sub and set the speakers as large without me even asking. So, I bought the Titans and I love them. So I guess the point is that some stores will simply ignore you if you look like you don't have money to spend and some will answer your questions no matter what. I will most likely buy from that store again after being impressed by the way they handled my first Paradigm sale.

 

[David Judah]

Everyone should be required to work as a waitperson and a retail salesperson for at least a week. There would then be alot of better tippers and more considerate customers, to be sure.
Just remember there are two sides to every coin.
DJ

 

[Sebastien David]

David,

YES!!!!

Justin,

I'm surprised you even ended up talking to a reasonably good salesperson at FUTURE SHOP... I mean, look at the first one who didn't even know if the Panasonic had DTS decoding!!!! That is typical. They suck, mostly.