Hi-end audio is a big zero

Not a total zero but not always what it appears for sure.  Has as much to do with glitz and bling as it does the sound quality.   It does not cost much to get top notch sound these days in most folks rooms at home.  These are luxury items that appeal to people for various reasons like any luxury item.   If you pay well above and beyond it had better at least sound good.  After that what sounds better or best becomes pretty much a totally subjective determination.  There may be something quantifiable to justify high cost in some cases but often not.   So high end is pretty much anything a vendor can get someone to pay for that most would not.  
 

I apologize for not being able to get past the title and first sentence of this post without being critical. The title is "High End Audio is a Big Zero" when what you meant is "High End Audio Dealers are a Big Zero". High end audio by itself is just fine and every once in a while (but not often), worth the high prices that are paid for it.

And the first sentence is: "This is no knock on dealers." and then you go on to spend the rest of the post knocking on dealers. The dealers may very well deserve to be knocked on but don't try to obfuscate what you're doing by starting with a counterclaim. Be bold and knock away.

• "Still great" family owned group is Listen Up A/v of Colorado.
• Listen Up has nice demo rooms and a better educated and experienced staff than big box stores
• They pride themselves on customer satisfaction

This thread is a big 0 good luck though. 

Half the fun of this hobby is reading reviews... Seems odd that a dealer does not want to demo a product. Simply expects the customer to purchase the item. That being the case, what is the point of a dealer? Go direct like AVA, Schiit, Ps Audio, etc.