Signature series - Best Buy Demo Discussion

pitdogg2

I remember when best buy had a dedicated speaker room. Although it wasn't set up the best it was thousands of times better than now. Ours was using a large onyko dedicated amp at 200wpc it was able to do the speakers justice. Now just rattle and hum of crappy metal shelving.

mrloren

Decent audio stores are a thing of the past now. When I worked at DOW I went way out of my way to get the customer a good listen to the music they wanted to hear.

My local BB doesn't even have this display (Otay Ranch) I asked about the Signature speakers last time I was in there and they said they could order them for me.

lightman1

Is Polk marketing trying to sell a good product or something that looks good to a consumer who passes by on the way to the phones dept.
The first store display was on the way to the bigass TV planogram on the righthand wall. Did I see the "new" Polk display? Nope.

WVHillbilly

Well, 6 feet of display is pretty small. You have to actually Look For it.
I hate going to BB--it's worse than Walmart.
Not many places left for manufacturer's to show their products,
except for a six foot stretch at Best Buy.

lightman1

As well they should, Skippadipp.

F1nut

Rick, push the START button.

lightman1

F1nut wrote: »

Rick, push the START button.

Well shart fire and save a match! I didn't know there was a start button.
That's why...be damned and slapped silly.

msg

I don't need any more speakers in any way shape or form, but d&*%d if I can't help wanting to get ears on the S20s, and would want to play with upgrading them. I really do like this new line and think they'd be beautiful perched on a set of stands. For curiosity's sake, would love to compare the to beloved 703s.

S60s too.
I really like the photos @rburgess714 has shared of his setup. That S35 is quite the dense little thing when you get hands on it. One of the things holding me back in choosing/building a center rack for all the gear is what to do with the 706c. I'm not a fan of big center speakers out in the open, and prefer it enclosed. The S35, if a solid performer, would address that.

I wish I'd thought to sound compare the T Series along with the Signature Series while in the store. I was just so taken with the chance to actually see the SS in person that I forgot all about the T series. I also like the T50s, sound quality wise, though I think I'd prefer the Signature Series if I were trying to decide between the two, and if the sound quality were at least comparable. Not to take away from the T series, but weight and build quality wise, there's no comparing. The Signature Series are gorgeous in person.

lightman1

DSkip wrote: »

lightman1 wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Rick, push the START button.

Well shart fire and save a match! I didn't know there was a start button.
That's why...be damned and slapped silly.

Good thing you got a truck for work. How could you ever handle a push start on your car? Don't forget to put your foot on the brake too!

Oddly enough.....I rented a VW Jetta not long ago. My first time with a push button start. It took me few minutes to figure out how to start the darn thing.
Sitting in the driver seat flapping my arms and waving hands at the dash hoping to conjure up the starter spirits and get moving.
Terrifying experience....

ZLTFUL

lightman1 wrote: »

DSkip wrote: »

lightman1 wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Rick, push the START button.

Well shart fire and save a match! I didn't know there was a start button.
That's why...be damned and slapped silly.

Good thing you got a truck for work. How could you ever handle a push start on your car? Don't forget to put your foot on the brake too!

Oddly enough.....I rented a VW Jetta not long ago. My first time with a push button start. It took me few minutes to figure out how to start the darn thing.
Sitting in the driver seat flapping my arms and waving hands at the dash hoping to conjure up the starter spirits and get moving.
Terrifying experience....

You sure it wasn't my Jeep?

mhardy6647

lightman1 wrote: »

F1nut wrote: »

Rick, push the START button.

Well shart fire and save a match! I didn't know there was a start button.
That's why...be damned and slapped silly.

It's like a Microsoft product.

DaveHo

I'm amazed the tweeters aren't pushed in on the ones without grills. My local Best Buy has plenty of space for a real audio room. The moment you walk in the door the first thing you notice is the store is mostly empty compared to how it was just a few years ago. Of course, I rarely make it past the customer service desk as normally the only reason I'm there in the first place it to recycle some broken electronic device.

thatdrummer

I have the s30 and the s20 they sound great. I'm using the s20 as my fronts. I have had them for around 4 weeks and they are sounding better everyday but the display and best buy don't do them any justice

dannylightning

last time i was in best buy at the magnolia i asked if they had any polk audio speakres and the guy that worked there says something like polk audio quit making quality speakers a long time ago.. they only make low end junk now, come check out these B&W speakers that cost some ridiculous price each., these are what you should get.

if you are looking at a product at best buy that you actually know about and you ask the sales person a question the do not usually know, the sad part is instead of saying they do not know they seem to make something up that is completely incorrect. than i love to tell them actually the correct answer to that question is.... the look on their face is always amusing. every now and again you find a person who works there that actually knows something about the products they are selling but it seems rare.

cfrizz

Wow that's sad. But you know they gotta earn that big commission they get from selling the higher priced speakers. They don't care/know if they sound good or not.

mrloren

I only go to BB when I know what I want to look at... When I went to ask about Signature speakers the guy had to go ask his manager if they had them. He came back and said they could order them. Gee so can I from Amazon...

tonyb

cfrizz wrote: »

Wow that's sad. But you know they gotta earn that big commission they get from selling the higher priced speakers. They don't care/know if they sound good or not.

Unfortunately Cathy, that's more so the case than not when it comes to big box audio stores. It's a good example though too, of how the general consumer gets their perspective about a brand. Guy at BestBuy told me Polk makes all low end crap now, don't buy them.....and it gets repeated down the line.

I lost count, long time ago, about the amount of times I asked anyone at BB about audio and got that Deer in the headlights look. Do your own due diligence, know what your looking for or want from places that know audio.

scubalab

Sad... I've been in our State College, PA Best Buy two more times recently and they STILL did not have the Polk display working. That's at least a half a dozen times in as many months, and not ONCE did the display work. Would be nice to hear the Signature line someday... I guess it just won't be at Best Buy.

dannylightning

i know how that goes, the best buy near me is the same, some of the speakers they have set up on the shelves work and some did not. i went back a few months later and those speakers that did not work before were still not working. i remember when best buy was a descent store and had a descent audio room.. unless you have a best buy wit a magnolia in it you get junk that junk you often cant hear cus their system is broken down lol. it is pretty bad.

dannylightning

retail it is getting hard due to thing like amazon but by not carrying things like the used to they are making it allot harder on their self.

at one time they had a great selection of music, audio, video games, computer accessories, cameras and so on and it was worth going into their store. their camera selection is still pretty descent but its not what it used to be. the rest of that stuff the selection is very poor and its mostly lower end or complete junk so why should i go into their store if i cant get anything nice there. them not carrying descent stuff in the store anymore has made me stop going there and looking to places like amazon if i want to buy something so they are killing business by mainly carrying low end or junk items.

if they carried the kind of items the did back in the day i would definitely go to their store but there is absolutely no reason to mo to go to a best buy.. there is none.

a few of my friends and I have had this conversation before and they all seem to agree, there is no reason to go to their store if they do not carry anything good in the store. and its not just best buy its all these stores, they are basically making people stop shopping there by not carrying a good selection of stuff.

codycatalist

dannylightning wrote: »

i know how that goes, the best buy near me is the same, some of the speakers they have set up on the shelves work and some did not. i went back a few months later and those speakers that did not work before were still not working. i remember when best buy was a descent store and had a descent audio room.. unless you have a best buy wit a magnolia in it you get junk that junk you often cant hear cus their system is broken down lol. it is pretty bad.

The Magnolia by my place only has Marantz (I do like), B&W(meh) and Martin Logan subs(even more meh). I was very disappointed when I went there was expecting more options.

cfrizz

tonyb wrote: »

cfrizz wrote: »

Wow that's sad. But you know they gotta earn that big commission they get from selling the higher priced speakers. They don't care/know if they sound good or not.

Unfortunately Cathy, that's more so the case than not when it comes to big box audio stores. It's a good example though too, of how the general consumer gets their perspective about a brand. Guy at BestBuy told me Polk makes all low end crap now, don't buy them.....and it gets repeated down the line.

I lost count, long time ago, about the amount of times I asked anyone at BB about audio and got that Deer in the headlights look. Do your own due diligence, know what your looking for or want from places that know audio.

I totally agree Tony, but in this day and age with the internet being available to just about everyone, it is easy to get relatively unbiased opinions or at least 1st person experience on a multitude of websites.

When I'm researching something I want to buy, the first place I check reviews is Amazon, then I look for reviews on the makers website, then I simply Google the product and see what I can come up with.

By the time I'm done, I have a fairly good cross section of opinions on which to base my decision.

I wouldn't trust any sales person as far as I can throw them.

K_M

tonyb wrote: »

cfrizz wrote: »

Wow that's sad. But you know they gotta earn that big commission they get from selling the higher priced speakers. They don't care/know if they sound good or not.

Unfortunately Cathy, that's more so the case than not when it comes to big box audio stores. It's a good example though too, of how the general consumer gets their perspective about a brand. Guy at BestBuy told me Polk makes all low end crap now, don't buy them.....and it gets repeated down the line.

I lost count, long time ago, about the amount of times I asked anyone at BB about audio and got that Deer in the headlights look. Do your own due diligence, know what your looking for or want from places that know audio.

I do not blame the sales associates, but it goes further up the line to the people that run Best Buy and choose to not train associates to be specialized in different products or feel it benefits the consumer.

I have seen some great people at HH Gregg, but they are going bankrupt soon.
No Brick and mortar store can afford to spend the time or money to train associates to really know about the product anymore. They barely have the money to have enough people to cover an entire shift of the store being open all day 7 days a week.

Most of the money seems to be spent on Cell phones and similar gadgets.

tonyb

It would be impossible to train anyone in every product or department in a big box store. They just hit the marketing keynotes to make a sale, isn't that their job anyway ?

That's why everyone needs to do their own due diligence before stepping into a big box store. Unfortunately, even in todays world of Google, many still don't know how to do their own research.

As further example, on a different topic but made me laugh....I saw on Facebook a person asking people on FB if they had a bus schedule for the town she lived in. I mean....you have a computer/phone or you wouldn't be on FB, right ? Use the frickin' thing for more than social media and you'll get your answer a heck of a lot quicker too.

People are generally lazy, a double edged sword to technology. They'd much rather accept advice from fellow workers, friends, or the salesman at a big box store than actually do any research themselves.

cfrizz

OMG that's hysterical! Instead of using FB, she should have simply gone to her public transportation website and clicked on the schedule button. LOL you can't fix stupid!