Talk to your dealer
Talk to your dealer
While the best dealers instinctively understand how tech aware their clients are and modify their language to suit, it never hurts to do some homework before you visit the shops. Don’t worry; this doesn’t involve learning model names by rote!
No, all it means is that if you try to narrow down your needs to a few core criteria, you’ll enjoy a more effective working relationship with your dealer before you even begin to think about booking a demonstration. For example, if what you want is one system capable of fulfilling both hi-fi and home theatre requirements, say so early on: it’ll help your dealer to specify components that get closer to your needs. Similarly, it can be tremendously useful if you have an idea of the size and shape of your room, that way your dealer will have a better idea of what components will and won’t suit the room from an acoustic perspective.
Finally and perhaps most importantly of all, think about how you want your system to look. If you have almost no aesthetic preference over speaker size or cabinet style, a specialist dealer will almost invariably recommend larger, more conventional loudspeakers to you, as these deliver more sound quality for your money. But if that’s not what you or your partner had in mind, it's best to say so straight from the off.
Other useful pointers? If you don’t understand a technical point raised to you, say so. There’s no shame in it: as we’ve said above, the best dealers seem to know exactly where to ‘pitch’ their presentation to best suit their clients, but even so, the technical nature of this business still can, on occasion, give rise to jargon. Better to know exactly what you’re getting into, and exactly why, before you sign on the dotted line.
Let the dealer know what you have and what you need
According to B&W.
