Hawthorne Stereo

My 3 year old Marantz receiver was acting up, so I took it to the only place I know that will diagnose and repair such equipment in Seattle. After trying it out for two hours, they were unable to reproduce the problem, and called me to pick it up. Intermittent problems can happen and are frustrating to diagnose until they become more regular. I was pleasantly surprised and grateful that they charged me nothing for their time. I took to the shop my old SONY DVD player, which I’m using to play CDs at home. I had purchased it for $15 used 13 years ago. I shall refer to the gentleman who helped me as a “representative”, because he sure was not behaving as a “salesman.” He was happy to set up their listening room with my stereo receiver, my old DVD player, and a CD deck which is used, but much higher end, with a price of $500. I told him I had always believed that “digits are digits”, and was skeptical that there would be any real distinction. He encouraged me to try different CDs (which I had brought with me) and to take my time to listen for the distinctions between the units. I’m almost 70 and have some military service related hearing loss. After listening for a while to three different types of music, I decided that indeed the more expensive unit sounded better. However, I decided that in my case, I can’t appreciate the difference sufficiently in my casual listening to justify such extra cost. Here’s the wonderful part. The representative was not at all defensive about my selection. He merely said that stereo is a subjective experience and if you can’t hear the difference or don’t care that much about the distinctions you do hear, then it isn’t worth it for you. How many places will give you this opportunity and be so gracious about it? When I next need some stereo equipment (which could be soon when my receiver gives more trouble) I am going first to Hawthorne stereo where I believe real value can be found. I recommend that you do as well.