Guys, I just want to share a little experience I had yesterday while shopping for a PA system for my band.
Before we visited any stores, we did extensive research on prices and quality of equipment. We settled on 2 Yorkville U15 (Unity series, 15") Mains and a Yorkville AP4040 amp (plus accessories).
First, I visited "The Arts" in Newmarket, Ontario. Great store, great staff. They always speak to you with respect. The prices they quoted me were good, but not as close as I wanted to the dirt-cheap prices of some of stores in the US, such as Cobra Sound.
Second, we went to Long & McQuade's in Toronto, Bloor st. Spoke to a sales guy named Jason, who really didn't know the difference between a PA and a state. I felt like I was talking to a used-car salesman, both in tactic and knowledge. His "BEST" price after intense negotiating was still worse then the prices I got from "the Arts" without trying. I showed him Cobra Sounds prices and he started into the "you're an idiot if you think I'm going to lower my prices any more" argument - you should never disrespect a customer as he did. When he finally stated that this was the best he would do we walked out of there. ( Just a little bit of history, this is the second time I've walked out of L&Ms - I left a huge software/hardware purchase on the desk when they refused to budge on price several years back. I then went to Steve's Music and bought the same thing for WAY cheaper).
So we went back to The Arts in New Market, showed them the Cobra Sound prices. Peter, the store manager was very gracious. He went and did some calculations and came back with a counter-offer (just as I was expecting) which was VERY competitive indeed.
We ended up purchasing from The Arts - and I can tell you with confidence that Long & McQuade's will always be a last-resort for me and my band - Which is too bad since Yorkville and L&M's are owned by the same people. I can't understand why Yorkville is such a great company while L&M appear to be disinterested in any kind of customer satisfaction. Maybe its because we only wanted to spend $5000, compared to a "high-end" customer who spends $100,000? I don't know.
I can also tell you, The Arts will always be a first choice for me and my Band - I've purchased every bass I've owned from them and much other gear. They have always been professional and very accomodating. They do not work on commission, so there's no high-stress sales tactics going on.
If you are looking for any kind of equipment, go see them. Its only 35 minutes north of Toronto in Newmarket on Eagle st. Tell them I sent you
Or if you want to kill some time, go talk to Rik, he's quite the interesting guy for conversation. We ended up saving over $700 on our system, and over $100 compared to L&M's "Best Price".
- Andrew
ps. The Unity speakers were incredible sounding! Everything else sounded like listening to an AM radio when compared to them (except the NX series, which also sounded good, but not quite as detailed in the high-end as the Unity series, although the NX series had some great bass response).
