I have noted a common theme among people looking for upgrades and all-new listeners looking for opinions of what to buy...especially speakers.
Many people simply have NO place to go audition stuff. Or if they do, they carry a couple lines and are limited in inventory value. I think this is bad for long-term hi end survival.
Those who are interested in better sound are stymied by no place to listen. Any possible support groups will be so opinion laden that new listeners will be swamped with unknown opinion. Buying via review and available price is probably not the best way to go about this important purchase. Dissatisfied persons are not likely to jump back in with more risk money after a marginal experience.
I feel lucky to have several places, one of which has at least 9 rooms and has never failed to be of good help. The lines these guys don't carry can be picked up at an even closer, but fairly small store which even has Mac and Pass.
I'm blessed as well, Leo. Many times I'm blown away by how folks limit themselves relative to auditioning gear. Some folks truly have nowhere nearby but most simply aren't willing to put in a few hours drive and perhaps stay somewhere for a weekend to audition thousands of bucks worth of gear. Makes no sense to me. It can be a big investment. Obviously I understand not wanting to drive a 12 hr round trip to audition a bottom of the line NAD CD player....but Mac and Bryston or Gallo and DeVore. I don't get it.
Your point is well taken though, Leo. What are folks to do when they really don't have anywhere to go...hmm.
I don't know how things work over there Art, but find me one good store in our state's capital that stays open after 2pm Saturday on a weekend and I'd be there. It's pathetic actually. The same goes for the few locally. The big box stores are open all weekends and holidays and they get most of the business.
Sounds like you have stores an hour away but don't like the traffic. Hey, I sure don't like the Portland traffic but I've braved it on many occasions to listen to gear and that's about 1 /12 to 2 hrs from my home. Eugene is 45 min to and 1 hr away, and I've been know to go to Seattle and listen to gear and that would be about 4 1/2 to 5 hrs away. It may not be easy but it's doable.
So MR, head up on a Friday night. Enjoy a good meal out and some night life and then Saturday go and visit the audio stores.
To do that Art, I'd be lucky to get a decent audition in one store let alone any others. The only time for auditioning is setting up times during the week when they are a bit quieter.
And doing what you suggest would add about two or three hundred bucks to anything I might come home with. That would be of course, when the time came to buy somthing else. This year it's another holiday at Byron Bay. See, Mrs R is spreading her revenge over a few years.
Ah...but MR, I know you have skills...have at least one vacation a year in a metro area where you can wine, dine and whip out....your tunes for an audition.
Yeah, it'd be good Art, but she works much harder than I and deserves (and needs) her relaxing breaks. Besides I'd end up doing much more than auditioning. But one day . . .
Unfortunately buying unheard is the option a lot of us have to take. Even in Ottawa in a city of almost a million people our options for serious auditioning are somewhat limited. We have 3, maybe 4 half-decent brick and mortar audio shops, but I find their inventory quite limited.
One shop carries Totem, Monitor Audio and Paradigm, another seems carries Energy and B&W (mainly), and another carries stuff that's way out of my price range (Harbeth).
I guess we are pretty lucky here in the GTA. Within two hours of my place I probably have like ten to fifteen different stores I can go to. And I've been to almost all of them!
If you are going to buy off of Audiogon though, you probably have to go based on reviews and forum talk. The value offered can be great. It's a bit of a tradeoff then but clearly there is merit to buying used.
For most gear I want to hear, I have to go into Manhattan. That's a nightmare in and of itself. Then there's the arrogant Manhattan hifi salesmen. I honestly dread hifi shops in Manhattan. Two have been very good to me. One had 2 horrible rooms. All the negative things you hear about with hifi dealers are in full effect with pretty much every Manhattan dealer. Its a shame.
There are a few very good dealers one county north of NYC (where I live), but their hours are usually limited to Tuesday-Friday 9-5, and 10-3 on Saturdays. Its not easy clearing my schedule for them.
When I was in Albany, NY, there were about 2 or 3 hifi dealers within 2 hours' drive. They were limited to NAD/Rotel level stuff and Mac. Nothing in between.
If I were in an audio desert, I'd rely on Audiogon. Buy stuff based on reviews that fits my budget and sell it if it doesn't work out. Or buy online with a full refund policy.
So, Stu, Manhattan is the Paris of the audio world? At least they don't speak French.
If I were willing to drive say.....100 miles each way, I would have access to all of Orange County, otherwise a cultural desert or most of LA LA Land, which has its own.....unique charm.
But I have heard stuff local that I've never heard before. Dali was impressive. Paradigm at the same store was very nicely presented. Both thru Pass amps that'd give an Olympic weightlifter a hernia. At my other favorite store, Naim, Wilson and a moving van full of B&W. I flipped when I first found the store with Magnepan, with about 5 pair setup at all times in different rooms.
I was hoping for something better than read reviews and trust postings. I wonder how those people without places to go LISTEN actually make out? Do they buy than leave the market? Do they get upgrade fever and enter the buy/sell/buy loop? Do they have a few bad experiences than say 'screw it'?
I don't know how long hi-end will be around. Cost/benefit squeeze will hit the retail places hard. Just curious, how do you all see the number of stores? up or down? Better or worse? How about inventory and selection?
