Title of the thread maybe confusing. It's not a challenge or a statement but it's a realization and it came by my own first-hand experience. Read on:
My best friend was in need of speakers for his laptop, budget 20k max. He had no criteria as what it should be, a conventional bookshelf-amp combo, active speakers, 2.1, 2.0 or whatever. He was open to anything with only one criteria in mind: it should sound good.
As you are aware, I too am out for my 2.0 audio setup and have been auditioning systems (Jamo S606/C405 latest), I thought it would be fun helping him and I too will audition all of them. It started around four weeks ago.
My friend is an admirer of Mr Bose and his speaker technology that reflects the sound from walls (or something similar) hence first he wanted to audition was Bose. I took him to Atria Worli as there was Sonodyne too. We auditioned Bose Companion 2 (17k, in-ear headphones free). Except for a little rattling bass (maybe the cupboard housing the sub was rattling), they sounded well. I don't understand the sound much but I though it was a clean sound. My friend too was impressed. I had thought he will end up buying it! I went around to find that Sonodyne has closed down the shop in Atria (same was with JBL, Sony and Jumbo!!!).
For bookshelf + amp combo, under 20k, only Norge qualified (Millenium/Nano speakers). Called them to know that nothing is available for demo! Called again next week, only towers are available, Nano will come mid-week!!
For powered speakers, we tried our luck with M-Audio AV40 first. Called their Indian distributor (Mr. Mehta), the gentleman was nice to speak to but clearly refused to give any kind of demo. Said, the speaker is good enough to sell without a demo. He couldn't suggest any place in Mumbai for any kind of auditioning. Price quoted 13.5k and we will have to wait for stock arrival!
Then we tried Indian distributor of AudioEngine A5 (Mr Amandeep). Despite of calling him at least 10 times, we are still to reach him. He never responds to SMSes and calls. Tried other numbers in his company but he seems to be the ultimate touchpoint. Forget auditioning A5s, I still don't know how to buy these in India!
Called up Pro-Med in Chennai for Swans M200 MKII or MKIII. He said it costs around 16k and his minimum order quantity for import is 25. He doesn't have enough customers hence he can't commit on a date as when he will be able to import them.
Meanwhile I figured out that Lynx-India (Amarbir) too has M-Audio AV40 and Adam Audio A5. Called him up to know that he has links with the distributors of these brands but he doesn't primarily concentrates on these. He will try. I had lost hope but my friend still insisted and gave him a try and waited for his reply. He never replied in positive.
Now the choices were limited to traditional 2.0/2.1 computer speakers. Shortlisted Logitech Z2300, Creative Gigaworks T40, Harman-Kardon Sound Sticks, some famous Klipsch 2.1 speaker system, Altec Lancing MX5021 (which happens to be the best speaker in this world, if TechEnclave guys are to be believed) and Bose Companion 2 or 3.
We called up every distributor of these brands, every superstore in Mumbai, and every shop on Lamington Road but in vain. Nobody can give any kind of audition for any of these. Prices varied big time (almost 30% difference dealer-to-dealer).
We found the Harman-Kardon Sound Sticks in R-City Mall at Ghatkopar but didn't like the way they looked (sound was okay). Price was 11.5k. Klipsch 2.1 system too was available in a small shop in Atria. It sounded pathetic to me, very very bassy! Priced 9.5k.
Now it was Creative T40, Logitech Z2300 and Altec Lancing MX5021 and it was time to take a wild-guess based upon the previous experience and whatever was available online. Discarded the Altec Lancing MX5021 for previous experience with Altecs, discarded Logitech for the apprehension of heavy bass. It was Creative T40 (2.0) finalized. Called up their Indian distributor who said he sells it for 10k to the dealers and we have to buy it from dealers itself. Every major dealer in Mumbai was called and we figured out that the total damage is going to be around 12k. A Lamington Road dealer came down to 11,250, provided we pick it up. Then came a small-time site StoreCoin.in came for rescue. We got it for 10,200 for pickup from distributor's Vasai godown. Friday evening we went there and picked it up. It's sounding brilliant. Bass is a bit weak for a few songs otherwise, it's quite detailed and clear.
If you are wondering as why I titled this thread for Bose and we didn't even buy them? After getting frustrated, we went back to Bose' Vashi Inorbit store and auditioned it again. It was going all well, however we found that it wasn't sounding as good as it sounded in Atria. The sales guy there told us that Atria has better housing for sub etc. We got apprehensive that the sound may further deteriorate in my friend's room! I asked him to play some Hindi song, he played Shukarallah from Kurbaan and then we realized how shrill the highs were. At slightly high volume, it was intolerable to listen to the song. It turned us off and we walked out of Bose showroom.
It was the time I had realized as why Bose is a synonym for hi-fi in India. They have astounding brand recall, amazing presence, brilliant presentation and very humble (and clever) salesperson. Agreed their products don't sound as good and highly overpriced but hell, who cares? I and my friend are in our twenties, are Internet savvy, know tens of brands similar or better than Bose, have energy and enthusiasm to call a hundred people in two weeks' time, visit a few showrooms across Mumbai but still got frustrated and went ahead to buy Bose. Bose' bad luck that the product turned out to be worse than we thought it was.
Imagine a person in his late thirties roaming around with his wife and kid in a premium mall, comes across the brand "Bose", goes inside, talks to the salesman and auditions the Lifestyle listening room. I think he ends up spending then and there and remains happy ever after!
Nobody wants hassles in life, especially for things like recreational stuff. Bose is not selling hi-fi systems, they are selling convenience. And I think they are doing phenomenally well! I may not buy a Bose ever but I have stopped stoping people from buying Bose. Sigh!
My best friend was in need of speakers for his laptop, budget 20k max. He had no criteria as what it should be, a conventional bookshelf-amp combo, active speakers, 2.1, 2.0 or whatever. He was open to anything with only one criteria in mind: it should sound good.
As you are aware, I too am out for my 2.0 audio setup and have been auditioning systems (Jamo S606/C405 latest), I thought it would be fun helping him and I too will audition all of them. It started around four weeks ago.
My friend is an admirer of Mr Bose and his speaker technology that reflects the sound from walls (or something similar) hence first he wanted to audition was Bose. I took him to Atria Worli as there was Sonodyne too. We auditioned Bose Companion 2 (17k, in-ear headphones free). Except for a little rattling bass (maybe the cupboard housing the sub was rattling), they sounded well. I don't understand the sound much but I though it was a clean sound. My friend too was impressed. I had thought he will end up buying it! I went around to find that Sonodyne has closed down the shop in Atria (same was with JBL, Sony and Jumbo!!!).
For bookshelf + amp combo, under 20k, only Norge qualified (Millenium/Nano speakers). Called them to know that nothing is available for demo! Called again next week, only towers are available, Nano will come mid-week!!
For powered speakers, we tried our luck with M-Audio AV40 first. Called their Indian distributor (Mr. Mehta), the gentleman was nice to speak to but clearly refused to give any kind of demo. Said, the speaker is good enough to sell without a demo. He couldn't suggest any place in Mumbai for any kind of auditioning. Price quoted 13.5k and we will have to wait for stock arrival!
Then we tried Indian distributor of AudioEngine A5 (Mr Amandeep). Despite of calling him at least 10 times, we are still to reach him. He never responds to SMSes and calls. Tried other numbers in his company but he seems to be the ultimate touchpoint. Forget auditioning A5s, I still don't know how to buy these in India!
Called up Pro-Med in Chennai for Swans M200 MKII or MKIII. He said it costs around 16k and his minimum order quantity for import is 25. He doesn't have enough customers hence he can't commit on a date as when he will be able to import them.
Meanwhile I figured out that Lynx-India (Amarbir) too has M-Audio AV40 and Adam Audio A5. Called him up to know that he has links with the distributors of these brands but he doesn't primarily concentrates on these. He will try. I had lost hope but my friend still insisted and gave him a try and waited for his reply. He never replied in positive.
Now the choices were limited to traditional 2.0/2.1 computer speakers. Shortlisted Logitech Z2300, Creative Gigaworks T40, Harman-Kardon Sound Sticks, some famous Klipsch 2.1 speaker system, Altec Lancing MX5021 (which happens to be the best speaker in this world, if TechEnclave guys are to be believed) and Bose Companion 2 or 3.
We called up every distributor of these brands, every superstore in Mumbai, and every shop on Lamington Road but in vain. Nobody can give any kind of audition for any of these. Prices varied big time (almost 30% difference dealer-to-dealer).
We found the Harman-Kardon Sound Sticks in R-City Mall at Ghatkopar but didn't like the way they looked (sound was okay). Price was 11.5k. Klipsch 2.1 system too was available in a small shop in Atria. It sounded pathetic to me, very very bassy! Priced 9.5k.
Now it was Creative T40, Logitech Z2300 and Altec Lancing MX5021 and it was time to take a wild-guess based upon the previous experience and whatever was available online. Discarded the Altec Lancing MX5021 for previous experience with Altecs, discarded Logitech for the apprehension of heavy bass. It was Creative T40 (2.0) finalized. Called up their Indian distributor who said he sells it for 10k to the dealers and we have to buy it from dealers itself. Every major dealer in Mumbai was called and we figured out that the total damage is going to be around 12k. A Lamington Road dealer came down to 11,250, provided we pick it up. Then came a small-time site StoreCoin.in came for rescue. We got it for 10,200 for pickup from distributor's Vasai godown. Friday evening we went there and picked it up. It's sounding brilliant. Bass is a bit weak for a few songs otherwise, it's quite detailed and clear.
If you are wondering as why I titled this thread for Bose and we didn't even buy them? After getting frustrated, we went back to Bose' Vashi Inorbit store and auditioned it again. It was going all well, however we found that it wasn't sounding as good as it sounded in Atria. The sales guy there told us that Atria has better housing for sub etc. We got apprehensive that the sound may further deteriorate in my friend's room! I asked him to play some Hindi song, he played Shukarallah from Kurbaan and then we realized how shrill the highs were. At slightly high volume, it was intolerable to listen to the song. It turned us off and we walked out of Bose showroom.
It was the time I had realized as why Bose is a synonym for hi-fi in India. They have astounding brand recall, amazing presence, brilliant presentation and very humble (and clever) salesperson. Agreed their products don't sound as good and highly overpriced but hell, who cares? I and my friend are in our twenties, are Internet savvy, know tens of brands similar or better than Bose, have energy and enthusiasm to call a hundred people in two weeks' time, visit a few showrooms across Mumbai but still got frustrated and went ahead to buy Bose. Bose' bad luck that the product turned out to be worse than we thought it was.
Imagine a person in his late thirties roaming around with his wife and kid in a premium mall, comes across the brand "Bose", goes inside, talks to the salesman and auditions the Lifestyle listening room. I think he ends up spending then and there and remains happy ever after!
Nobody wants hassles in life, especially for things like recreational stuff. Bose is not selling hi-fi systems, they are selling convenience. And I think they are doing phenomenally well! I may not buy a Bose ever but I have stopped stoping people from buying Bose. Sigh!
title vis a vis the content of your thread. I can imagine lot of members readying some bricks to throw at you but at the end finish the post with a smile.
hyeah:
