New York HiFi Show: Tubes and Turntables

It seems that a city like NY, which still has quite a few dealers in Manhattan, could do a traveling show among the various dealers- call it NY Audio Day. The dealers batten down the hatches, set up a couple systems, one primo, one reasonably priced, and cooperatively promote this to occur at their various store locations. They save on the cost of show overhead, entry fees, etc., have better control over the rooms, and draw traffic. You could have 6 or 8 dealers participating and make it worthwhile. Yeah, it's a bit of schlepping for the show goers, but if the dealers stepped up, used it as an opportunity to show off what they are capable of, got some of the manufacturers to come in to hang out and talk with show attendees (not a problem since most dealers feature different high end brands), you could have something that potentially beats the usual hotel room hi-fi show. Granted, it may not have all the latest, never before seen gear that is introduced at shows like Munich, but it is an alternative. 
I rarely attend shows any more, and rarely go to retail shops. But, if I wanted to hear or see something special, I'd probably make an appointment with a dealer and get the time a buyer deserves for the spendy stuff. 
What's the downside for the dealers?

NYC has gotta be the worst case scenario for seismic vibration, you know, what with the traffic, the subway, and the pedestrians! One imagines the power grid in NYC and RFI are not without issues. 😀It’s no wonder systems sound horrible in NYC. Las Vegas is not exactly the Fortress of Solitude when it comes to seismic vibration. It would be pretty much a fool's errand to try to set up a HiFi system in either city and expect very much.

Guys as a dealer participating at this and other shows here is some perspective.

The show was small

Part of the problem is the lack of business being generated and the high costs to do a show.

Show promoters are doing a terrible job of bringing notice to the non audiophiles

Imagine a show with thousands of people who dont know about hi end audio were suddenly introduced to the experience that we take for granted.

Did you see coverage by the new york times or forbes or local papers?

High end audio is like a great secret that most people dont know about.

As per affordable the Legacy Calibres wtth built in amps were $6700 add a streamer with volume and you got a killer rig for under $9k okay not cheap but still reachable and the baby Legacys sounded fantastic.

A full Technics set up is about 5k

Cambridge Audio was showing 

$1299 floorstanders and $599 monitors
With a  $899 amp.

So there were actually a number of great setups that were affordable.

The Cambridge setup was amazing.,

Dave owner
Audio Doctor NJ

Audio Troy,

I don’t know what Cambridge demonstration you heard, but, to my ears, the sound I heard was by far the worst in the show!

@audiotroy Dave, leaving aside the costs and challenges of the typical hotel show, the niche nature of quality audio has long been an issue--the people who attend are typically people already engaged; the difficulty of introducing "normal citizens" to the hobby has existed as long as I have been involved in the hobby (which is pretty long).
Add to that- hi-fi is not an aspirational product -- I can see "guys" going to a car show to lust after some high priced iron (well, now it’s mostly plastic) as a "thing to do" but hi-fi? I think the checklist of essentials that included a good stereo went out with the waterbed.
This has been the challenge of the industry forever- and I don’t think it is necessarily linked to high prices (by audiophile standards). Someone not terribly interested in the field isn’t going to find a 5k total system price attractive-- even though that would seem to be budget pricing- when they can buy some pod with streaming and a few cheap little better than desk top speakers for what? A grand or less? (Apple Store type stuff). People will spend that money on a phone, though..