Beautiful stufff Gary ,
Unfortunately not just the economy Gary, but decades of bad dealers have killed the sales on big ticket items. i dont even go into stereo stores anymore , i buy online , if i dont like , then i sell and move on . So buying a big ticket item like yours is very difficult for most, ( cash aside) when you cant mosey on down and see it , listen and or touch. Decades gone , i could walk in look around listen , rinse , repeat , then come back and purchase.
My last time was with a friend who asked me to come and listen to the new 3.6 Maggies, he had an "appointment " and wanted me to hear before picking up the speaker. Well the setup was horrible, really bad and i guess this dealer had no clue, We were not impressed and asked if we could hear the 20.1 in the main room . Not possible, we did not have an appointment to hear it , it would take them an Hr to set it up ( it was already playing in the back ground) blah, blah, blah . To make an already long story short ..
I told him the 3.6 setup was bad and if could not hear the 20.1 to see if he liked it , then we would not purchase. We left, he purchased used from a local audiophile, who had them well setup . So far , most audiophiles i know of , purchase off the internet ( amps etc.) instead of the pain and agony of dealing with these goons ..
My XA30.5 was purchased online without hearing it ......
That is the saddest thing isn't it? Decades of bad dealers. I've had dealers tell me that there is nothing I can teach them about how to set up speakers that *I* designed. I know that the "By Appointment" thing is really bad for good customer service. Why should the one spending the money be the one making an appointment at the convenience of the dealer? I can understand it if the reason for making appointments is to ensure that the dealer has the dedicated time to spend with you and/or to set up exactly the system you want to listen to, but your example of not being allowed to hear the system in the main room is the worst.
Nevertheless, from talking to dealers, I also understand that there are two sides to the coin. They have numerous examples of audiophiles who take up their time and expertise, and then when they finally pick the gear they want - turn to the Internet to buy them cheaper. What is worse is then they expect the dealer they just screwed to support them when they have a problem with the gear because the dealer is the only local source of support. I don't think that the blame lies entirely at the feet of the dealers. I've even heard of manufacturers selling directly to customers after the dealer has done the demo.
