The dealer who tried to protect me

The best advice I ever ignored came from a dealer trying not to sell me something. I was about to buy my dream speakers, the Bowers & Wilkins Diamonds. He was a friend of my father, also an audiophile, and he knew exactly what was coming.

During the audition he had them connected with cables like two massive anacondas. When I told him what I was using at home, he looked at me and said: wait a minute, I am about to sell you Diamond Series speakers, what the hell cables are you using? Then he tried to talk me out of the purchase.

His words: you are still a virgin, stay a virgin. Buy these and you will discover everything, sources, cables, amplifiers, and enter a never-ending loop of upgrades that will drain you of any joy for the music. The Klipsch sound great, he said, be happy and stay with them.

I didn't listen. I needed those speakers in my living room; they were a childhood dream. I understand now that he was not protecting a sale, he was protecting me, and that is a rare thing to find on the other side of a shop counter.

He was right about the loop. I would still walk into it again.