Remember when "meet your dealer" meant something else altogether? No... just me then

[Ivor]

https://www.hifiplus.com/articles/meet- ... E5B62F4ruc

[nige2000]

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/meet-y ... n-ireland/

link dont work

[Fran]

Nice to see them getting the profile and recognition - you gotta say fair play and well done for the years put in.

[cybot]

There will never be another one like Noel.

Thanks for posting Ivor.....

[Sloop John B]

......... And most importantly, find a dealer who will listen to you and who is open minded rather than ideological. The dealer is there to serve the customer and not the other way round.

I remember in 2004 going to Cloney interested in buying a new CD player only to be lectured on how guitars really needed vinyl replay to sound any way proper. I fully expected Rowan Atkinson to appear from behind a speaker at any moment. I went to Peter Williams who had the Naim dealership at the time and started my long association with Naim. I’ve drifted in and out over the years, always found Noel a gentleman but that other staff were very hit and miss. I moved to Signals and the service I have got from Signals in Ipswich in the UK over the years has been truly superlative, with 4 full home setups over the years.

Recently I’ve dealt with Lee from Strictly Stereo and once again the service is so much better than any I received at Cloney, HiFi Hut or Listening Suite that it makes me ponder how the ghost of Rowan still haunts Irish hifi retailers.

Sorry for raining on the parade.

.sjb

[Ivor]

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/meet-y ... n-ireland/

link dont work

Fixed.

[Cyndale]

I bought my first ever hi-fi system from International Trading Company (Cope Street) where Noel worked, I think it was a guy called Tony Wall who ran it. Then when Noel opened Cloney Audio I spent many a Friday evening and Saturday listening to various items that Noel would have got in. Personally, I have nothing but good to say about Noel, he was always very friendly to me whenever I arrived on his door and I got great advice from him which stands to me to this day. I was probably the only customer he had who never switched to CD when it came out and never did. Long may he reign.

[Ivor]

I’ve been a customer of Cloney’s from around late 1980s to early 1990s. When I moved from “entry level” to “entry upper level” Cloney Audio was the only retailer I’d really trust. There were other retailers in Dublin that offered serious equipment, and I did visit them, but I found Cloney had the knowledge and flexibility that I needed at that stage.
In those early days Noel barely knew me but still regularly handed me hifi to try at home at my leisure. While waiting on the arrival of a trade-in amp Noel lent me a serious and shiny Ayre amp while we waited on the S/H amp to come in – probably worth 1/10 of the Ayre! Yes I knew I was being given a taste of High End to fuel a burgeoning appetite but no matter, I appreciated the amp and the personal service. I have bought from other retailers over the years, usually if Cloney didn’t stock something specific I was looking for or, more likely, I spotted a bargain elsewhere.
I dread to think what sort of system I’d have today if I hadn’t been so well advised by Noel and the lads over the years (and all the advice from the Cloney customers who have become valued friends). Still today I look at, and listen to my system, knowing that so many important components came from Noel and his family. Long may they continue!

[cybot]

Great stories lads! Keep them coming.

[JAW]

The first thing I bought from Noel was some speaker cable, way back when he was in Rathmines. I remember that he treated me with the care and attention he would have treated somebody buying a complete Linn/Naim system. He asked what speakers and amp I was using and recommended a particular cable, not particularly expensive. Since then I have bought the bulk of my hifi from Cloneys, always without fuss. I agree that occasionally others in the shop can be a little abrupt, but Noel has always been a gentleman.