Ask The Advisors » Audio Video

More new Home Theater News…

Ron — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:53:32 +0000

Yes it is that time of the year when lots of new goodies start rolling in for the fall. In the last couple of weeks I have told you about some new speakers from B&W and PSB; this week the news is from our partners at NAD.

We now have all 4 of the new Audio Video receivers, and this week we expect the new 3D Blu-Ray player!

There is a lot of exciting news on the receiver front…

First, the new T748, a real NAD A/V Receiver with 3D switching, the always amazing NAD sound quality and reliability…and a price point of only $899.95.

Second is the T757, here we have all the goodies I just mentioned plus NAD’s MDC (Modular Design Construction) which allows you to upgrade both operating software and hardware as things change; and things are always changing. So now instead of buying a whole new A/V Receiver when the next generation of HDMI comes along you can just buy the new board and make your existing receiver “New and improved.” Plus at a new low price point for of MDC of only $1599.95!

Next, in receivers we have the T765HD2 and the T775HD2…these are the new versions of 2 great receivers. They both have all the same things as the previously mentioned units, plus improvements in the HDMI switching adding full 3D capability to these already fantastic receivers. And guess what; the prices are exactly the same as last year. When was the last time you heard that? Here is the new and better units and oh by the way we are not going to charge you anymore for it!

Ask Ron about the new NAD receivers!
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Why shop at specialty stores like Ask The Advisors?

ceuart — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:45:02 +0000

You know sometimes I really wonder about the people I talk to

Just the other day I had a customer walk through the door with some questions about HDMI cables. Now HDMI can be confusing to begin with, but what was even more confusing was where he went first to try get his questions answered. He went to one of the Big Buy stores. Surprisingly enough he took the time to talk to 3 different “sales associates“ before giving up and leaving. He then stumbled upon our store by accident seeing the sign on his way down the road. The scary part is that I know most of you reading this are now shaking your head and going “yeah that keeps happening to me too“.

Really, so why do you keep going to the Big Buy store for answers?

Now the fact that this particular client was completely unable to find anyone at the Big Buy location that knew anything about HDMI was not a surprise to us. The big surprise to me is that he went there in the first place! Why did he go there? Why do any of you go there? Can anyone reading this article remember a time that they went to a Big Buy type of store looking for help and knowledge and left having had a positive experience?

I have been in the Audio / Video Industry now for 30 years yes I am that old.

30 years this means that I have been in this industry for at least 12 years longer than the “Sales Associate” you just spoke to at the Big Buy has been alive! Is it any wonder that these guys and gals are not very knowledgeable? It is not really their fault they may be very interested in the Audio and Video gear; I am sure that is why they went and got a job in the store in the first place.

There is just not enough training available, and the turn over is so high that the chances of you finding a smart, competent associate who cares is really incredibly low. Our staff has been around for a very long time. Our turn over is un-believably low. We have experience with the very best gear that is out there, and we know how to maximize the gear in your home to get the most out of it.

[Show as slideshow]

People are surprised to know that we still do a lot of car audio / video systems; we have been doing them for 28 years now. Here again we have a bit of an edge. Our head Car Technician has been with us for 23 years! 23 Years! Tom has worked on cars that most of the guys at the Big Buy have never even seen in person. Who do you want to work on your baby the guy that has always wanted to work on a new Mercedes; or the guy that has done so many that they are old hat to him now?

This is starting to look like a bit of a rant so let me go ahead and come to my point.

If you want to learn about something that you are not familiar with you should always seek out the most experienced people in your area to ask. I will never understand why so many people will go to the Big Buy store, buy something without shopping around and then be surprised when it does not perform the way they hoped it would. This is a self fulfilling prophecy. You went and asked a bunch of questions about a TV from a guy that knew less than you, bought what he recommended and surprise, surprise you are now disappointed by the outcome! Many of these associates have never even seen gear of the quality and performance that we deal with every day, how can they possibly give you good advice?

The next portion of this rant is even more direct.

At many of the Big Buy type of stores in your area the sales associates are paid on commission or spiffs. What this means is that they will be paid handsomely to sell what the management wants sold and paid little or nothing if they sell the wrong thing. Hmmmm, you mean that guy in the logoed shirt might not have your very best interests at heart when he tells you which TV is the best? At Ask the Advisors we pay our guys to be here they get paid the same no matter what you buy. And guess what else; because we do not spend all of our money advertising; we need you to come back over and over again, and send all your friends in to see us. This only happens if we match you with gear that blows away your expectations! It is in our best interest to always sell you what is in your best interest what a concept. This is something we call The Ask the Advisors Win-Win relationship. The other bit of good news is that you will not pay any more to shop with us! Really, we guarantee our prices so you can come to a place where you will get knowledgeable help, the very best installations and get a great price as well.

Finally let’s talk about having your gear installed and set up.

This can in many cases be the most important part of the process; the gear has become increasingly sophisticated and proper set-up is key to great performance. Here again it should be a no brainer. We have a large number of technicians with an amazing amount of experience with the gear we sell ready to do your installation. Some companies that sell you installation services do not do any of the work at all. How would it feel to buy a new TV and wall bracket, and then have a van with a name you have never heard of show up at your door and tell you they are the install company that was contracted to do the work? Plus what about service after the sale; we have service available 24/7 just a telephone call away.

So the next time you are considering Audio / Video / Car Audio etc. stop in at Ask the Advisors and try us out. I absolutely guarantee you an experience so much better than your last experience at the Big Buy store that you will in fact come back again and again and send all of your friends in as well.

Ask Ron About Ask The Advisors
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The wire conundrum: as it were

ceuart — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:02:03 +0000

We get a ton of questions about “Wire” at Ask the Advisors,

and there is a lot of confusion out there regarding wire so here will be some facts from the world according to Ron regarding wire.

One of the most interesting questions we get a lot is “does wire actually make a difference?” This is one of the easiest questions to answer in the entire Audio / Video industry. Of course it does! If you think about this for even a moment you will realize that wire has to make a difference. First consider that ALL of the Audio and Video information has to travel through not one, but several wires getting from your source, to your control, through your amplification and finally out to your speakers. Wire is also very likely to be the only passive element in your system; it is not powered or amplified and has no controls of any kind on it. So if you think about it; the only thing wire can actually do is screw things up! It does not have the ability to fix things does it?

So based on this very simple hypothesis, wire has to make a difference.

The only problem is that according to my theory wire has to make a difference; and the only difference it can make is to make things worse! So when you are buying wire what you are really doing is trying to buy wires that screw things up less. I imagine you have never thought about wire quite like this before have you?

So let’s take my hypothesis and go one step further shall we?

If we agree that wire, as a passive element in our system, and one that every single bit of Audio and Video that we are going to see and hear will have to run through, can really only be counted on to screw things up; will better wire make a difference? Again the answer is of course! A better designed wire will transfer our sacred information with less errors, it will screw things up less. Wow what a backwards sounding goal that is! But it really is not, it is just that the industry has advertised and sold wire as a way to fix things and as a way to make things better for so long that looking at it the other way just seems… well…. odd.

So now that we have turned the wire industry on its head lets go on to the next step.

“Will I be able to see and or hear improvements if I buy better wire?” An adamant yes once again. You see when you get better wires, you do screw the signal up less, and that means you get real visible and audible improvements. There is no if, and, or but to this sentence; better cabling equals better picture and sound. In some cases the improvement for the dollar spent can be one of the best bargains in the A/V Industry. Just think about it, you have a very good pair of speakers and a great amp at home and they are hooked together through some scrap of lamp chord you found in the garage. You stop in here at Ask the Advisors, we ask you a few questions about your setup and recommend a new pair of speaker wires from Straightwire or Transparent Audio and away you go. You will indeed hear a marked improvement, or you will bring the wire back for a full refund. How simple is that?

The next part of our discussion now should be about balance.

You would not be likely to buy a Porsche and go get re-treaded tires to drive around on any more than you would buy a used Escort and put high performance track tires on it. Wire and cable decisions like so many things are about balance. You cannot make a bad system a lot better by putting incredible wire on it, there is no way to fix a bad signal with cables. The opposite is also true; you should not buy great gear and then scrimp on the interconnects and speaker wires, that is like driving the Porsche on re-treads. So where does this balance fall? I have always used a very simple calculator to see where we should be; you should spend between 10% and 20% of what you spent on your system on the cables and wires to connect it all together. So if you are spending $5,000.00 on your gear plan to spend $500.00 to $1,000.00 on the wires. This will almost always put you in a good place, making sure the wires are good enough to match the gear, and not having the wires be overkill.

We are so sure that the improvement will be noticeable and of value to you that we absolutely guarantee it. If you do not hear or see the improvements in the cabling we recommend to youâ€¦just bring them back and get a full refund. We cannot be any clearer on the importance, or make it any easier for you to decide whether it is worth your money.

Ask Ron About Wire
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It’s people like him that make your company

ceuart — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:40:16 +0000

I had a system installed in my car this past week and I want to tell you my Advisor Chuck Vance was excellent.

Not only did he keep me informed every step of the way but made me feel so at home. I watched a movie on a great screen in a private room, had some popcorn, and showed me the newest and most innovative equipment. But, most of all the courtesy shown by him and everyone there was A+ customer service. (By the way I am a customer service manager at Publix Supermarkets – so I like to acknowledge great service when it’s deserved).

It’s people like him that make your company! Keep him!!!

Ask Chuck in Mobile Audio/Video

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Audio Video International (June 2003)

ceuart — Thu, 19 Jun 2003 14:49:21 +0000

Audio Video International (June 2003)

In just a few short years, this maverick retailer, president of West Palm Beach, FL’s Audio Advisors, has proven to the world just how much fun he derives from risk-taking and embracing change, having morphed his business from a successful auto electronics retailing operation into one of the most respected home custom installation enterprises in America – without letting anything suffer in the process.

Retailer of the Year Awards (Dec. 2001)

ceuart — Wed, 19 Dec 2001 13:39:17 +0000

Retailer of the Year Awards (Dec. 2001)

Audio Video International Magazine: 25th Annual Retailers of the Year Awards.