Have your say & ask the experts

[quote user="timwileman"]just an observation really but i have bben into my local sevenoaks a few times when i have different hifi kit and asked about partnering speakers and they always recommend monitor audio.........do they have a tie up or something?[/quote]

No official tie-up we know of. Two points, though: firstly, Monitor Audio's current range is very strong, so it's hardly a controversial recommendation. Secondly, it may be that MA offers higher margins/commission than some other speaker brands... 

[quote user="timwileman"]even to the point of saying that certain award winning items in the shop were 'rubbish' (thats a quote) and this annoyed me so much i just walked out...............if its so very bad why bother stocking it..........[/quote]

Probably because the people telling you that are the ones who know how much commission they're going to make on what they're trying to push at you. They're not the people who decide what the shops stock.

[quote user="timwileman"]just an observation really but i have bben into my local sevenoaks a few times when i have different hifi kit and asked about partnering speakers and they always recommend monitor audio.........do they have a tie up or something?[/quote]

No official tie-up we know of. Two points, though: firstly, Monitor Audio's current range is very strong, so it's hardly a controversial recommendation. Secondly, it may be that MA offers higher margins/commission than some other speaker brands... 

A quick curve ball from me. I've bought all my MA stuff from said shop but when I visited with my Brother-in-law, for a style package - the Radius system was not mentioned at all and he went away with the MT20 from B&W and got a discount. He was not sure about the subwoofer that went with the system but didn't want to stretch to the PV1. However, the RSW12 was not offered as an alternative - even though it's a few hundred cheaper than the PV1 and would compliment the system nicely. I think Clare's first point is the deciding factor. When I bought my RS6s, just before I paid, I commented on the B&W 683s(I think) and how much nicer they looked in the flesh and asked how they sounded. I was told they were not as good as the MAs but we could stop the sale there and then and demo them or wait til next week and demo them. I was not pressed at all into buying MA.

[quote user="Gerrardasnails"]I bought mine from the Epsom branch [/quote]

Personally I have found the Guys in the Epsom branch (how to say politely?), not very good! and always try to push a certain brand rather than listen to what you have actually asked them, But if Gerrard you got what you wanted and at a fair price then good luck to you.

When I went in there and asked about the KEF iQ range they slagged the entire range off without even asking which perticular models I was interested in then after asking what other equipment I had to conect my choice of speakers to, went on to slag off the rest of my stuff. So I did the talking with my feet and Popped over the Road to Audio T, and auditioned the KEF's along side some Focals and others, had a deal on the KEF package I now own and Happydays!

At the end of the day you have to go with what you prefer the sound off rather than that of the Sales persons P.O.V.

[quote user="professorhat"]Shame to hear that. Epsom branch were great for me when I bought my B&W set up.[/quote]

Maybe the Service I recieved was possibly down to the fact that maybe their margins in the KEF's was not as good as say in the other brands they were offering??

I went to The Cornflake Shop and asked if they had any MA and then nearly fell over laughing.

my boss used the cornflake shop to kit out his barn conversion in sussex, they did a damn fine job. nothing wrong with MA's I dont think, but Cornflake guys are high enders, hence the laughing.  They tend to do Abolute Sounds stuff to wealthy bods.   

[quote user="Surfer"]Cornflake guys are high enders, hence the laughing[/quote]

Not really an excuse, and no way to treat a potential customer IMHO