1st visit to a "high end" audio store

jflail2

Well, the woman and I stopped in for what was my 1st visit to a true "high end audio store" this weekend.

I have recently moved back to Charlottesville, Va., and decided to check out Stereo Types in town here.

Very pleasant visit, and Greg was extremely polite; allowing me to listen to quite a few different variations that were all well out of my price range.

I got my 1st taste of B&W speakers, and WOW what a difference a few (thousand) bucks makes! We enjoyed some Allison Krause, Dave Matthews Band (at his recommendation) and then some classical as well. We were set up with the top notch 800 series, complete with diamond tweeters, and the fiance and I were both completely blown away. I think she was even considering saying yes to an upgrade until she saw the price tag ("is that $4,500 EACH!?!?!")

I am definitely not a pro by any means, but the soundstage on these speakers was just amazing. It felt like there was true separation between each instrument, but the sound blended together incredibly well (probably a horrible description, but I don't know how else to describe it.)

All in all, I was blown away. Apparently he is a big Mcintosh fan, and I was very impressed with most of their offerings as well (especially the 750gb flac music server.....)

Anyhoo, great store (although variety was a bit slim) and they were very friendly/accomodating, so I figured I'd let other Polkies in the area know about the place.

SKsolutions

You've been bitten, it's incurable, and good luck

At least the other half is appreciative. It makes the affliction easier to indulge.

Fireman32

Sounds like a cool time. There is an audio store down the road from me I have to stop in one day and check them out.

janmike

Glad you had a good time. Start saving your spare change.

Sherardp

Im dying for a pair of B&W 802Ds. Cool to see you had a fun time, dont go spending too much now.

hockeyboy

I would love to get some of those as well. I just got 4 B&W 605's for my party room and it is a huge upgrade from the JBL's I had in there.

mantis

SKsolutions wrote: »

You've been bitten, it's incurable, and good luck

At least the other half is appreciative. It makes the affliction easier to indulge.

You can hide from it, you can run from it but in the end, it's like a predator lurking in the wind.

bigaudiofanatic

Ask for the speakers for a wedding present it's worth a shot.

dave shepard

been there, done that and....... still doing it. God the the first taste is the sweetest until..... you hear better. I Thought I had it all figured out knew what I wanted and was on the hunt, until....... "THE ROOM". That changed everything, like right now. You have been bitten and get ready to spend lots of time and gas in the hunt, I hope you enjoy what you experiance.

jflail2

Hah, I like the wedding present idea, but we'd have to pitch it as "home improvements".

Yes, I am most definitely ready to spend a bit more cash after that visit. But to be honest, the wisest move would be to add something like an Emotiva amp to my current setup and call it a day for the time being. We need to get a house bought before I go crazy on improvements.

Those B&W's were just divine. I'd love to hear what some of you guys considered to be better, and why.

I'm heading back there soon with some choice cd's so I can really give those B&W's a good listen. Bonus time is right around the corner after all...

F1nut

Those B&W's were just divine. I'd love to hear what some of you guys considered to be better, and why.

Just about anything else. Screeching highs, flat soundstage and a dry overall sound just isn't what music is suppose to sound like.