As a member of the first group of US dealers that Ivor brought over to Scotland in 1981, I remember his position well. Fortunately, we had already been doing single speaker demos in my shop, as the US Distributor at the time, Gary Warzin of Audiophile Systems, discovered on his initial visit.
On a side note, of the so-called Top 10 dealers who went for that one week tour, Peter McGrath was in our group.
But I digress...
As a relatively quiet member here here, I try not to get pulled into the threads, but this one hit a hot button.
Though I have MUCH more I could say, let's just look at the demo issue:
- I always felt (and still do) that the other speakers in the room are passively playing along with the demo pair, only out of tune. Depending on the type of unused speaker and where it is located, the effects can be somewhat deleterious to disastrous.
- There is only one best spot in the room for each speaker and often, only one best listening position. The chances of two high performance speakers working at their best when sitting adjacent and one pair inside the other are slim and most likely, none.
- The acoustic wave launch into the room that affects staging is compromised by any large adjacent object - in this case the other speaker.
I will go so far as to say that - IMO - specialty audio dealers should go out of their way to deliver an effective demo for each product they carry. If not, what separates them from the ordinary dealers and even the Internet? I suppose that looking at the product's fit 'n finish can be of great assistance, but its performance is our primary consideration - at least in most situations.
This is a small part of why I have taken the position that high-end audio is not dying because of a lack of interest. If it is suffering, it's because the industry itself is contributing to its demise.
Believe it or not, that was a tiny bit of what I wanted to say.
On a side note, of the so-called Top 10 dealers who went for that one week tour, Peter McGrath was in our group.
But I digress...
As a relatively quiet member here here, I try not to get pulled into the threads, but this one hit a hot button.
Though I have MUCH more I could say, let's just look at the demo issue:
- I always felt (and still do) that the other speakers in the room are passively playing along with the demo pair, only out of tune. Depending on the type of unused speaker and where it is located, the effects can be somewhat deleterious to disastrous.
- There is only one best spot in the room for each speaker and often, only one best listening position. The chances of two high performance speakers working at their best when sitting adjacent and one pair inside the other are slim and most likely, none.
- The acoustic wave launch into the room that affects staging is compromised by any large adjacent object - in this case the other speaker.
I will go so far as to say that - IMO - specialty audio dealers should go out of their way to deliver an effective demo for each product they carry. If not, what separates them from the ordinary dealers and even the Internet? I suppose that looking at the product's fit 'n finish can be of great assistance, but its performance is our primary consideration - at least in most situations.
This is a small part of why I have taken the position that high-end audio is not dying because of a lack of interest. If it is suffering, it's because the industry itself is contributing to its demise.
Believe it or not, that was a tiny bit of what I wanted to say.
