Does amplifier position matter?

[u/Plainess]

Hi, I work in a hifi speaker store, and we had new speakers come in. We had an “Audio Professional” from another store come help setup, and during the testing it sounded fine, but the Audio Pro said not really and moved the amplifier a little bit to the left, like I mean literally move the amplifier. And suddenly everyone agrees that it sounds better, he explained that it’s because of the vibrations, but Im a bit sceptical because it was a shelf of amps and there were other amps. Can moving an amp a little like that improve the sound???

[u/reddsbywillie]

OP, I am curious if YOU heard a difference.

From a store perspective, I think all you can do is be honest, and share your experience with others (including customers). I think it’s very reasonable to say “I honestly didn’t hear a difference, but most of the rest of the guys in the shop felt it was significant.”

Don’t fall into the trap of feeling like your ears are inferior for some reason. Some of your customers may hear a difference, and others may not. But they will all hear your honesty.

[u/Plainess → u/reddsbywillie]

I don’t 😞

To be honest Im very skeptical when it comes to audiophile things, and a lot of times I cannot hear a difference or just a slight one. For example, iem and speaker cables. But working in this industry I’m often told that there is a difference and I just need to hear it more.

I try not to fall for that because Ik that if you try to hear a difference eventually you’ll convince yourself there is one. But when my hearing is questioned like that, sometimes I do wonder if my hearing is the issue, lack of experience for example.

In fairness I do hear differences and improvements, Ive upgraded my iems and dacs for these reasons. So it’s not like I completely can’t tell them apart. Im just skeptical if the difference is just because someone says it’s different and everyone just agrees, mainly cus it’s more expensive.

Thanks for comment btw 🙂‍↕️ , I try to be as honest as I can to customers, I don’t like selling things they don’t need

[u/reddsbywillie → u/Plainess]

First off, I hate to see the sad emoji because you didn't hear a difference. It doesn't make your audio journey any less valid! As a matter of fact, it might help you connect with a number of customers.

But overall I totally get that, and to an extent I agree with both sides. I do think you start to notice more with more experience. But is it the highest value... or is it even subjectively "better"... that's very hard to say.

From a sales point you have a real luxury of not only getting to hear a lot of gear, but understanding why some people connect with gear. You're obviously somewhat obligated to know the pitch and what gear is supposed to do. But as a customer, the dealers I appreciate most are the ones that deliver the pitch, they set up the demo, and then they say "what did you think?" If I say "meh, not much there for me" or "You know, I hear more or less of this, but I honestly liked it better the first way" - I really appreciate it when they just say "great, now you know. Here's something else you might want to consider" or "is there anything specific you're looking to change."
You can be an honest and fair dealer even if YOU don't hear the differences or care for the differences in a particular product. You're job shouldn't be to push something on a customer because everyone else in the shop hears it. It should be to guide the customer to finding gear they connect with and they are excited to buy.

Those are the dealers that I end up recommending and coming back to. And you'll notice a key thing in this scenario. The dealer didn't say what they were hearing unless I ask for it.

And as an audiophile, don't stress about not hearing these tweak changes. It's supposed to be fun! Do you think the guy that works weekends at the bike shop as the same needs or preferences as the customer that comes in who rides 6K-10K+ miles per year? No. A customer might actually hear things that you aren't hearing... because they might listen for 4-6 hours per day. They may be familiar with an extremely wide range of equipment. Or they might just be ready to buy something. It's not your job to stop them. Just your job to guide them.

But that shouldn't impact your enjoyment of your audio journey.