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niubishuaige t1_j9whtb9 wrote

Lol sorry you had this experience but it is a bit funny. I'm getting a confused, but am I correct in summing up the experience as:

  • shop one has good products, but not the ones you like best
  • shop two is run by a wanker

In that case, I think you are justified in ordering the products you really want from an online store. You made a good faith effort to reward a brick and mortar retailer and they could not offer what you want. Perhaps you could ask shop one if they are able to order Audeze and Chord products for you? I'm also confused why "because I expressed a disliking for MQA, they could only make one DAC/amp available"? That doesn't make sense to me ... what's wrong with a DAC having this capability? You are not obligated to listen to MQA files just because your DAC can decode them. You could try other DACs that store one offers.

I really want to visit store two though. The owner sounds hilarious!

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halfercode OP t1_j9xlb51 wrote

> am I correct in summing up the experience as: > > * shop one has good products, but not the ones you like best > * shop two is run by a wanker

Yep, that's exactly it. I worried too that Shop One were excessively sluggish to deal with (I appreciate not every salesperson likes extended email conversations, but it was their idea). This made me wonder if I'd been written off as a time-waster.

> Perhaps you could ask shop one if they are able to order Audeze and Chord products for you?

I might do that, to be fair. I'd still like to buy from a bricks-and-mortar shop, and I'm not fussed about price-matching or chasing down the best deal.

> You are not obligated to listen to MQA files just because your DAC can decode them.

True, but I'd read enough about MQA Limited to decide I didn't want to give them my license money. (I'm keeping this response rather short so as not to derail the general direction of the thread - I appreciate MQA is a thorny topic).

> You could try other DACs that store one offers.

Possibly, though they have essentially refused up to this point. But I may explain that the Audeze cans were the best listen so far, and that I'd be looking for the best in-budget DAC/amp stack to drive them. The sneered-at Audiolab may indeed be fine - I wonder if I should just get Sluggish Store One to buy me the Audeze cans, and then I can restart my amp/DAC search (probably on the internet).

You'd be right that I could just get Sluggish Store One to put the same system together for me (including brands they don't normally stock) but I would be in danger of remembering Ball Scratcher's injurious snarl every time I put my cans on my head. 😆

> The owner [of Sweaty Store Two] sounds hilarious!

A real treat for masochists! 🙈

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