TV & Home Theater

[APR28]

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DarkWingDUCK wrote:

"Trim the fat" is a term I use when giving explanations to my customers.  I am currently working in a Magnolia store about to undergo renovations as well.

A little education goes a long way.  When it comes to speakers it helps to know what, and how long you are being covered under the stores service plan.  Speakers and receivers are different than regular products like TVs.  Take for example, a B&W loudspeaker comes with a 5 year warranty from the manufacturer.  If you are going to purchase a service plan on each speaker it will still be fixed by the manufacturer and shipped to them. The service plan on these speakers literally extend the length of the warranty. 

For example: B&W gives you 5 years warranty, you buy the 4yr Black Tie Protection for $XXX, you get a total of 9 years warranty on those speakers.  This same rule applies to an AV receiver like Denon, Pioneer Elite, Etc.  Hopefully your local Magnolia rep explained this to you, and gave you all of the options.  If 5 yrs is satisfactory for you, you can save hundreds.  Personally I did not get extra service plans for my Klipsch WF-35 set, but I did extend the options on my Marantz SR5005 receiver.  Anything that generates heat I will usually get some sort of warranty for.

My point is, there are ways to save money and close the gap.  I recommend speaking to your local MHT rep and discuss ways of "trimming the fat" if you are very interested in saving some money.  I am sure they would be more than willing to give you this information as opposed to losing your business to a faceless online vendor.

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You can correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't BB's BTP run parallel with any manufacturer warranty? You would have two warranties running at the same time. Seems like a waste. I can assure you 100% that B&W, a fantastic well-respected speaker company, would take care of you much,much,MUCH better than BB would.

As for the OP, unless you are limited to buying from BB due to a credit card, small well-respected independent audio/video businesses will you give you service that will floor you with happiness. You will get installation and service by well trained people who live down the street. You are buying some nice equipment and the small guys are able to sell under the protected prices of such high end stuff that BB can not do. BB will sell to you at suggested retail.

Keep in mind other accessories such as cables. BB will sell you Monster cables that will easily add $300-$400 to your total.

With the type of money you are spending listen to as many speaker comapnies as you can such as: Paradigm; Tannoy; B&W; Monitor Audio: PSB: Revel: Focal: Dynaudio: KEF: Klipsch: Dali: Totem Acoustics and so on...

Do yourself a favor and get quotes from your local A/V companies.

Do yourself a favor and at least get quotes from your local A/V business.

[DarkWingDUCK]

You would be correct for a conventional product sold at Best Buy like a TV, laptop, etc.  But Magnolia AV receivers and speakers literally extend the mfr. warranty under Black Tie Protection.

[grapesoda]

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So all in on best buy will be $8500 worst case (probably $8000 if I wait for a sale) and online it will be $6000.

Thanks for your opinions in advance

John

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With all that spending, Get an OLED TV better picture quality and probably around 6k-8k LGs got one coming out 2012 Q3. I can't really think of any reason you would not want a superior TV for the same amount of money.

[jnachtig]

Thanks for the suggestion, but there are a couple of issues. 1. The total cost is 6-8k for the TV, blu-ray, and speakers together. Not 6k for the TV alone 2. I never buy 1st generation technology. OLED has not been used in large screens and I am not going to be the guiniea pig. I agree that OLED will eventually take over, but not the 1st generation sets which will be super expensive and not that much better with the added chance of premature failure. Also, I did thank of going to a local TV store. I went yesterday and I was not impressed. He tried to pressure me into buying the TV right away because they were soon going to be "out of stock" and they we're not going to get any more until June. Really?! Samsung is going to go 4 months not selling their top of the line TV? I think not. Then he told me they don't sell the top of the line speakers, which is fine, but turned around and tried to sell me an off Bertrand for the same money. The kicker, however, was the interaction with the "installer" who just happened to walk into the store when I was there. He was not a store employee, he was an independent contractor (which is fine that is common). So he walked up and shook hands with the sales guy and I noticed he passed him a money payment in the handshake. I was really surprised...what is this a drug deal, why pass him money in a handshake so no one can see. Anyway, after the interaction I was not comfortable, I won't be back to that store. There are other local businesses I may try but after that experience BB or online just look that much better. Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far, keep them coming. I appreciate the thoughts. John

[DarkWingDUCK]

Was this an independent Tv dealer you visited?

Either way, you remarked that the salesman tried to pressure you into buying because they would soon be out of stock.  This is actually VERY TRUE.  In February every major TV mfr. discontinues their models to focus on making the new years models.  These TVs will start to trickle in late march, while most of them will be released early to mid-May.

I personally HATE working this 1-2 month period because I have zero stock of new in box TVs.  I spend most of this time selling floor displays.  This way of selling may have seemed shady during your interaction, but it is unfortunately true about the risk of running out of stock.