Goodwins High End

Very helpful to a HiFi newbie.
5 8 years ago (31-08-2017)

The store has the best items, these guys really know what they are doing, and they are friendly too. Perhaps you get some idea of the efficient and personalized service that Goodwin's High End provides from the story of my system upgrade, which is why I describe it here. My first contact with the store years ago, when I was buying a subwoofer, already had left a positive impression. More recently I was looking for a remedy for some harshness in the sound from my system. After discussing with Paul at the store, he let me audition in my system a D/A converter at my indicated price point that was critically acclaimed and that he judged to be outstanding. Yet while it was better than my old DAC, I did not hear significant enough differences, and it did little to solve my harshness problem. Like me he thought that under those circumstances it made no sense for me to purchase it, and indicated he was no fan of too small improvements for the price. We discussed what was likely to blame for both harshness and the fact that I did not hear so many differences between the DACs in my system, and we ended up agreeing on acoustic room treatment, which they offered unlike other high-end stores in the area, and which they have equipped all their own listening rooms with. Paul worked with the respective company to get plans for custom designed treatment of my room (tube traps, sound panels). He also advised me how to implement it in steps, according to my budget. The result was far beyond expectations. The room treatment solved practically all my problems with harshness (while natural hardness of sound was preserved), and gave incredible additional sonic benefits, including much better detail, dynamics and acoustic separation of musical strands, as well as a deep and layered soundstage that before had been flat. Yet ultimately I still was looking for another DAC. Upon request, Paul let me test in my system two cheaper yet also highly acclaimed DACs first. After they turned out to perform less well than my own DAC, I decided to try again the DAC that I had initially auditioned upon Paul's suggestion. This time it was a hit. With my vastly improved acoustics, the unit indeed turned out to be the immense bargain at its price point that Paul had said all along that it was, and provides jaw-dropping resolution through my system that I had not thought possible from CD. A slight remainder of harshness left after acoustic room treatment, which I had hardly noticed anymore, is gone as well. Paul also sold me a great second-hand digital interconnect between CD transport and DAC for a really low price. Overall, with the room treatment and the new DAC, my system has undergone an incredible transformation towards extraordinary sound and superb clarity of musical presentation, a transformation that I could not have dreamed of some time ago. I obtained enormous value for my money. All this played out spread over about a year's time, and Paul guided me through the process with great knowledge and always friendly service, and never put any pressure on me. Rather, he made sure that I was able to appreciate the value of my purchases by testing all the options in a proper way, and that I obtained tremendous value based on the excellent products that the store had selected over the years. My encounter with others at the store, including Alan, the owner, left a favorable impression as well. I highly recommend Goodwin's High End, it is the best store of its kind that I know.
5 12 years ago (01-07-2013)