About Us
The company was formed by Dr Norman Solomon and Mr Ian Rocchi; as the name suggests, offering Ultimate systems. That is not to say that they are necessarily extremely expensive, but rather that they are indeed the ultimate of their type in their respective price range and suitability to the size of the home into which they are to be installed.
The founding partners, Solomon and Rocchi are both music fans and the equipment is viewed as a means to that end, and not the end in itself. After years of personal experimentation they found for themselves equipment from specialist manufacturers which met their demanding requirements. This made choosing the equipment suppliers for the business quite straight forward and their hope is to share what they have discovered with others looking for that all illusive Ultimate Audio or Visual system.
To this end Solomon and Rocchi entered upon the vision quest of rethinking the whole idea. What was retailing to be in the 21st Century? Their conclusion was that most products would become mere commodity items and would be purchased at the lowest price on-line. The retail shop on the high street was perhaps the most unsuitable place to listen to or view a truly great Music or Cinema system as they are quite rightly designed to work in homes and not in retail shops. Imagine for a moment what even a Steinway grand piano would sound like if it were set up and being played in your local supermarket: truly awful of course, so what chance would a reproduction system stand of showing what it can do?
The answer seemed self evident to Solomon and Rocchi: what was needed was a country house large enough to accommodate various systems setup in real rooms like the ones you would have in your own home. The level of service would have to be exemplary making the whole experience one to be enjoyed rather than endured. The attention to detail extends to the all important setting up and installation and here our 40 years of experience and absolute attention to every detail is almost unique, our reputation is second to none, so much so that we are just as likely to be setting up a Linn LP-12 in Zurich or Vienna as locally here in Cheltenham or Gloucester.
Experience
Ultimate is the result of a great deal of thought being given to how to approach retailing of; Hi-Fi, Home Cinema, Custom Installation and Home Automation products in the 21st Century. I doubt there has ever been a time when consumers have ever had greater choice of both suitable equipment and ways to purchase it.
Our belief is that our new company had to be customer orientated and in a highly competitive market place, provide the highest levels of customer care, the very best equipment, all at competitive prices. Perhaps the most radical idea was to turn our backs completely on the two major conventional ways other 20th century retailers set about it.
Deciding against either the High Street shop or the faceless website we decided that a country house would be the ideal place to setup. Such a place would provide our customers with a variety of demonstration rooms, very like the ones you have at home and we settled upon the lovely Honeysuckle Lodge in Painswick Gloucestershire.
This lovely Cotswolds location and that the Lodge has many rooms of modest proportions, secure parking makes the whole experience of visiting here a great day out in its own right. We will treat you like a King, and provide the expertise you need to come up with your own Ultimate Home Entertainment Solution.
You could be forgiven for thinking that all this would make us an expensive place to shop, or that you need to be wealthy to enjoy these levels of customer service, but you would be wrong, we are truly enthusiasts who love what we do and you will be amazed how welcoming a trip to the Lodge can be. So if you have had enough of fighting your way through urban traffic, parking expensively (if you can find somewhere at all) usually miles away from where you need to be. Going to crowded shops with youthful and inexperienced staff maybe it’s time you gave us a call, you will never go anywhere else afterwards.
Internet Pricing
Perhaps one of the biggest changes in retailing over the past few years has been the introduction of Internet shopping which can bring huge savings when purchasing items for your own home entertainment system. At Ultimate we refer to these items as “commodity items” which loosely includes virtually all the Electronic Gadgetry, LCD and Plasma “flat panel” TV’s produced from any of the household brand names such as SONY, Panasonic, Yamaha and the like.
Where prices on the High Street can be as much as double for these items it is unsurprising that many are choosing to purchase them on-line. However, more often than not the end results are not as happy as you may think. With this complex technology arriving on your doorstep and being left to your own devices to set it all up the results can fall far short of what the equipment is capable of.
Even at this point we have not even touched on; the frustrating experience buying on-line can be, is this the right item for your system, is it even the genuine article or perhaps some “grey import” and perhaps the greatest worry of all are your financial details secure. If as often is the case to get the very best price you end up buying items from more than one supplier in the event of something going wrong it can be very difficult to know which item is at fault and of course the suppliers may all blame each other.
Often the systems we provide to our customers will have these “commodity items” included within them and we take a radical approach to supplying them. To begin with we will help you choose the ideal unit for your individual needs, then we will search the Internet for you to ensure you get; absolutely the best price, that it’s the genuine article, ensuring through our trade connections that the company supplying it is of good reputation, buy it for you and supply it as part of your system purchased from us.
The results are that you enjoy peace of mind, get a great deal, your financial details remain secure and probably most importantly the item will be competently installed and set up for you. Contact Us to have a chat about this exciting service.
Contact Us
Honeysuckle Lodge
Knapp Lane Painswick
Gloucestershire
GL6 6YE
T: +44 (0)845 678 0787
F: +44 (0)845 678 0788
E: sales@uhes.co.uk