West country hi fi shop?

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Hi, can anyone recommend a hifi shop in the west country (Devon) where I can try out different speakers with my setup in a listening room?

Cheers!!
 
Sevenoaks have shops in Plymouth, Exeter, Yeovil, Bournemouth and Bristol. There's also a Richer Sounds in Bristol. I'm sure there will be some independents around the region too.
 
new_tangled:
Hi, can anyone recommend a hifi shop in the west country (Devon) where I can try out different speakers with my setup in a listening room?

Cheers!!

Where are you based exactly so as to avoid suggesting a dealer thats too far away to be a practical option.
 
shuggieb:Sevenoaks have shops in Plymouth, Exeter, Yeovil, Bournemouth and Bristol. There's also a Richer Sounds in Bristol. I'm sure there will be some independents around the region too.

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Of course there are HiFi dealers in our area too.
 
floyd droid:Where are you based exactly so as to avoid suggesting a dealer thats too far away to be a practical option.

I'm in North Devon near Barnstaple but am happy to travel a bit to find a good dealer 🙂
 
new_tangled:floyd droid:Where are you based exactly so as to avoid suggesting a dealer thats too far away to be a practical option.

I'm in North Devon near Barnstaple but am happy to travel a bit to find a good dealer 🙂

HELLO!!!

I've previously mentioned Bernard Smith in Barnstaple, they're mainly a TV dealer but they carry Pioneer AV amps and Blu-Ray and KEF speakers, other than that you'll have to go to Exeter, I managed to find the Sevenoaks finally a couple of weeks ago (it's near St. Thomas' train station), but it was Sunday and they were shut, there was a notice on the door as well, I didn't see what it said though. Looked a little run down to be honest, a letter missing from the sign above the window (it's not a great looking area to be fair), but I think there's free parking across the road, which is nice. I bought my Sonos kit from the Richer Sounds in Exeter as well, very helpful, although I knew exactly what I wanted, which helps, got the Pro-Ject USB phone stage from them too.

Pretty sure there used to be an Audio-T or Audio Excellence along the road from RS but it seems to have closed down.

A colleague here uses Audio-T in Bristol almost exclusively, never been there myself but he recommends them.
 
new_tangled:Oakman:

Try this one. Im sure they will be most helpful

http://www.audiodestination.co.uk/

Also Gulliford HiFi in Exeter

Hope this helps

Cheers to everyone for their suggestions... this one looks ideal and not too far either!

I was about to say they don't look like they carry too many different brands but then I noticed one of them was Focal, so I'll keep quiet!
 
the_lhc:

I was about to say they don't look like they carry too many different brands but then I noticed one of them was Focal, so I'll keep quiet!

And lots of other high end stuff. Whoops,tee hee. a/d was going to be my suggestion if the op was close enough, which he is innit. Good hub and wifey team.
 
floyd droid:the_lhc: I was about to say they don't look like they carry too many different brands but then I noticed one of them was Focal, so I'll keep quiet!
And lots of other high end stuff. Whoops,tee hee. a/d was going to be my suggestion if the op was close enough, which he is innit. Good hub and wifey team.

Not overloaded with AV stuff but it depends what you want, they've got all the Focal Chorus 800 range! I might have found where my new speakers are coming from...
 
floyd droid:If you are within range he will bring gear to your home AFAIA.

You mean delivery or for testing/demos? I couldn't do that, puts far too much pressure on to buy, I'm really weak when it comes to wasting salespeople's time, I walked into a Sevonoaks this year looking for speakers, spoke to the sales dude for ten minutes and ended up buying a pair of stands, largely out of guilt for "wasting" his time! I'd end up buying everything he had in the van if he came out here!

It's a good 45 minutes from Tiverton to ours anyway.
 
They dont operate like that. Go on his site and trawl around to find the testimonial emails,interesting read which will put your mind at rest. I rang him up once to talk speaker geek stuff and was on the blower for ages, not a hint of ' what you need is this that or the other ' pressure selling. A really nice guy.
 
floyd droid:They dont operate like that. Go on his site and trawl around to find the testimonial emails,interesting read which will put your mind at rest. I rang him up once to talk speaker geek stuff and was on the blower for ages, not a hint of ' what you need is this that or the other ' pressure selling. A really nice guy.

That doesn't really matter, the problem is *I* operate like that! The guy in Sevenoaks was quite happy just chatting, didn't even suggest anything that I "must" buy. They don't need to put any pressure on me, I put it more than enough on myself! I forgot, I bought a Tacima mains conditioner while I was there as well! I did need that though really, if only for the two extra sockets. I needed the stands as well, although I could have got away without them for a while.
 
Is it ok if i bring my car around for you to look at, i will catch the train home !!. Never mind then,i was only trying to help regarding audiodest
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floyd droid:Is it ok if i bring my car around for you to look at,

What sort of car is it?

i will catch the train home !!.

You'll be lucky from here!

Never mind then,i was only trying to help regarding audiodest
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No, that's cool, I'll probably end up down there at some point, I really want to have a listen the Focal Chorus 807s, I notice you've got the Electras Frued Drude, how would you describe the sound? Clearly the Chorus' won't be as good but I'm hoping they'll share some family traits.
 
Revealing. You will get folk saying focal are bright. ignore them as they know not what they say. I upgraded from the 826V. They are very good speakers end of.

One bit of advice though. Dont listen to em from cold. A trait of focal is they need some some gas thru em before you listen, to get the bass driver/s working,otherwise all you will hear is the tweeter and think these are rubbish, wheres the bass ?.
 
floyd droid: Revealing. You will get folk saying focal are bright. ignore them as they know not what they say. I upgraded from the 826V. They are very good speakers end of.
One bit of advice though. Dont listen to em from cold. A trait of focal is they need some some gas thru em before you listen, to get the bass driver/s working,otherwise all you will hear is the tweeter and think these are rubbish, wheres the bass ?.

Hmm, ok, would that imply that they're not so good at lower volumes? They will get used for TV viewing (no speakers on the TV, not a lot of choice!), which isn't always up that loud. Mind you, not sure how much bass you really need in that situation anyway...
 
Cripes thats a toughy thrown my way. The thing is focals are voiced so you hear whats been laid down so if there is bass you will hear it etc etc, theres no tomfoolery in emphasising frequencys ( think ive spelt that wrong but heyho ) if that makes sense. What amp have you got ?. I feel sure that mike will give you a yeh or nay over the phone regarding what you want to do with them. Im not into av ( got a blu-ray,set it up and have never used it !). This may be of interest by the way.
 
floyd droid:Cripes thats a toughy thrown my way. The thing is focals are voiced so you hear whats been laid down so if there is bass you will hear it etc etc, theres no tomfoolery in emphasising frequencys ( think ive spelt that wrong but heyho )

frequencies.

if that makes sense. What amp have you got?

The plan is to get the new Pioneer LX-82, the amp I've got at the moment isn't really an issue, it probably won't get used with these speakers.

I feel sure that mike will give you a yeh or nay over the phone regarding what you want to do with them. Im not into av ( got a blu-ray,set it up and have never used it !).

Well my, possibly slightly naive, opinion is that if a speaker is good with music, it should be able to handle AV and I do listen to music, so it is a consideration.

This may be of interest by the way.

Yes I've spent many a happy minute ogling that site!
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Hi, have some useful information for all about Gulliford Hi Fi in Exeter. To begin with the address is 97 Sidwell Street after moving from previous premises further down Sidwell Street. Yes it was known originally as Audio Excellence. Mike and Grace have been known to me for 30 years, at the begining as Gulliford House, always in the Hi Fi business. A excelent Dem Room complements the firendly shop, the first to have one in Exeter. Ian, the shop expert has been with them for many years. THIS SOUNDS like a commercial for them, well I suppose it is as have used them for so long I would be hard pushed to find a better atmosphere to while away the hours!