My verdict? I think it all boils down to service. I experienced such varying standards of service in my 3 hours there. I started off with this shop selling Klipsch speakers. As I walked into the shop, the two salesmen in the shop didn;t really acknowledge my presence. It was kinda irritating. It was almost as if I was interrupting their conversation. Well, I walked one round then I approached one of the salesman to ask for recommendations for a HTS (home theatre system). He said I could consider the Klipsch and Onkyo speakers so I asked for a demo. He sat me down, put in a demo disc and let me listen to the Klipsch. Ok, it was quite nice, though not mind-blowingly wonderful. So after listening to the Klipsch, I asked if I could listen to another different set of speakers. The salesman then had the audacity to say, 'If you like the sound from this one, no need to listen to others.' I was really shocked lor. I mean, what kind of business is this? I then asked some meaningless questions and left the shop, thoroughly disgusted by the service.
Klipsch Cinema 6 Speakers
My next visit was to this shop selling Jamo speakers. Wow, the service was totally different. When I walked into the shop, the lone salesguy immediately asked me how he could be of assistance. When I told him that I was looking for a HTS and gave him my budget, he politely ushered me into the demo room and proceeded to let me listen to the E700PDD speakers. The speakers were really quite good! I loved the rumbling and it was really quite a moving experience. The effects were crisp and clear, though I thought the speech could have been a little better. Anyway, after the first few minutes of listening to the demo, the salesguy started explaining the speakers to me, telling me about their construction, the features, etc, etc. When I left the shop, I was seriously considering the Jamo speakers. Such is the power of excellent service.
Jamo E700PDD Speakers
My friend had recommended that I try out the KEF speakers. At first, as I looked into the shop window, I kinda wondered if I could afford them. The shop looked a little too upmarket. Anyway, I finally went in and again, the salesguy was quite friendly. He sat me down and let me listen to the demo. For the KEF, I found the demo quite limp. He showed me a dogfight scene from X-men 2. Frankly, I found it noisy and the sound was thin with not much of a kick or oomph. After the demo, the saleguy explained some things like which amp I could consider. On the whole, a nice friendly guy, but I think it was a wrong choice of demo and the speakers maybe weren't really optimized. The KEF were supposed to be very good... but I couldn't get that from the demo.
KEF Speakers
The final stop I made was at this shop displaying the YAMAHA brand name. I thought I might as well give it a try coz at this point, I was getting kinda tired and was thinking of going home already. Well, the salesman was also friendly, but I think he didn't know what he was really doing, other than switching on the amp and letting me listen to the speakers. To add to that, the HECO speakers (sound a bit cheapo, but I found out later that they are actually some German brand) were in a sad state. THey looked old. THe subwoofer had a ugly scratched surface and looked lousy. Although I must say the sound was decent, the lack of professionalism, the poor setup, really turned me off.
Heco Speakers
So, after two trips to Adelphi, what have I decided? I'm actually considering either the Jamo E700PDD speakers or the Mordaunt-Short Genie speakers. I realized that one main reason was that both shops had taken the time to explain things to me and their demo setups were really good. THe other shops either had poor service or poor technical demos. Quite a waste. I'll probably think on it for a couple more days before making a final decision.
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