GO OFF MENU

PACKAGE DEALS & PACKS? NAH. GO OFF MENU.

Nick would like a word with the chef.

If you’ve ever dined with Nick at one of the finer restaurants, you’ll know the menu is usually the beginning of the conversation. A different pairing? A little less of this? A little more of that?

The chef has a menu. Nick has a few ideas.

And you’re allowed to have a few ideas too. Going off menu doesn’t make you pompous or aloof. You’re simply asking for something that suits your taste.

Hi Fi deserves the same conversation.

That’s the idea behind Go Off Menu. Packages are useful starting points, and some are excellent just as they are. Sometimes, though, we’d recommend a different combination for your room, your equipment and your budget.

Over to Nick.

Got a room, a budget or a combination in mind? Text us what you’re thinking. Or explore Go Off Menu and find a combination that suits you.

Who put the pack together?

Many of the packages you see on our website originate with our suppliers. They often begin as a trade offer: a selection of products put together by an Australian importer or distributor, offered to retailers, and then made available to customers.

The starting point is usually the supplier’s own portfolio.

If a supplier represents an amplifier brand, a speaker brand and a turntable brand, its package will generally draw from those brands. Products outside that portfolio are unlikely to enter the selection, even where we might prefer a different combination for a particular customer.

There is a commercial reason for that. Suppliers are in business to sell the products they represent, and packages give retailers a convenient way to offer those products together.

That can deliver good value and very good systems. It also defines the menu.

What it doesn’t tell you, by itself, is whether the combination was selected for its tonal balance, how the components complement one another, or how well it suits the room where it will be used.

A supplier’s package is a commercial offer. The fact that several products are offered together isn’t, on its own, evidence that they are the most appropriate system for you.

Good ingredients. The combination still matters.

An amplifier, a pair of speakers and a turntable can each be excellent products. We still need to consider how they work together.

Matching goes beyond the names on the boxes. We consider compatibility, the overall character of the sound, the space the system needs to fill and what you want it to do.

You might want a system for quiet evening listening. You might want a home theatre with real impact. You might already own an amplifier you love and have no reason to replace.

Those details can change our recommendation. So can your budget.

Some supplier packages are combinations we’re happy to recommend. In other cases, we believe a different pairing makes more sense. That’s where we go off menu.

We’re putting our name on the combination.

We’re introducing our own curated packages, selected from across the brands we carry. We can bring products from different suppliers together when we believe they make a more appropriate system.

Look for the gold Melbourne Hi Fi Approved Pack badge.

That badge will mean our team has considered and endorsed the complete combination, with compatibility, tonal balance, intended use and value guiding the selection.

We’re lending our name to the system as a whole. We’ll explain why we recommend it and help you decide whether it makes sense for your room and priorities.

You’ll know who’s in the kitchen.

Over the next couple of months, we’ll progressively identify the origins of the packages on our website and distinguish them from those carrying Melbourne Hi Fi’s endorsement.

Supplier-initiated packages will identify the supplier or curator responsible, with a link to its website. Where the importer and curator are different, we’ll make that distinction clear.

Packages we put together ourselves will identify Melbourne Hi Fi as the curator. Those we endorse will carry the gold Melbourne Hi Fi Approved Pack badge.

A supplier-initiated package can earn our endorsement too. If it does, we’ll still credit the original curator. You’ll be able to see both who selected the combination and whether we stand behind it.

The menu is a starting point.

You’ll still find Speaker Packages, Home Theatre Packages and Turntable Packages on our website. The existing packages remain there to browse and compare.

If one looks close, tell us what you’d change. If you’re starting from scratch, send us a photo of your room, the model numbers of any equipment you want to keep and an idea of your budget.

The answer might be an existing package, a small change to one, or a combination we put together specifically for you.

We’ll explain our recommendation. You decide what suits.

You’re allowed to ask the chef.

Ready to go off menu? Explore our Go Off Menu page, or text us what you have in mind. Tell us about your room, your budget and what you’d like your system to do.

#FightThePack #GoOffMenu #MelbourneHiFi