Nowhere to hear speakers and amps anymore!

It’s a problem. For example, there are no high-end dealers with showrooms in my entire state, except for a sound-reinforcement company that has a small room with a few McIntosh components.  And unfortunately, traveling out of state is not an option.

So I wind up being forced to buy without any chance to audition, using reviews, spec sheets, and online forums as my only guide. For example, I just ordered an $11,000 amp that I won’t hear until it arrives (and breaks in a month later). I’m sure I’m not alone, since a whole heckuva lot of people don’t live in places like SoCal, NYC, or Boston.

Yes, I know that there are a few dealers that let you try before you buy, but I haven’t had great experiences with that. For one thing, shipping out here is incredibly expensive -- paying return shipping on an amp could easily run $300 -- and the one time I did return an item (some four-figure cables), the previously congenial salesman was so prickly about the return that I swore never to buy from that outfit again. I guess it’s different if you live in a place that’s less isolated.

Hey listen, if you live out in the hinterlands or the way outer burbs Goodonya! There are huge benefits to that. But then don’t complain that you have no high-end audio stores. You chose that life/location and as a result you don’t have the best restaurants, audio stores, etc. Deal with it, take the benefits you have, and just stop complaining that the world doesn’t cater to you because you chose to live where you live (and yeah, I realize the OP is in SF but apparently hasn’t done the least bit of research to find audio shops that are in his area — duh). Or go live in a city where they still have some good audio stores and pay the taxes that allow the places in the hinterlands to even exist because they suck much more from the government than what they pay (can u say Wyoming?). Either way, stop complaining. We all know brick n mortar stores are struggling and declining, so just stop stating the painfully obvious. I know, here come the flames, but that’s ok.

@cundare2 It would appear the entire high end audio industry has a consumer problem; their consumers can rarely touch, feel and hear their products before purchase which wastes untold time, money and, carbon on the part of everyone. The industry is (to my way of thinking) limiting its market to (1) those who don't care how much they spend and buy equipment based on how much it costs and (2) those who buy on the web and are willing to play the return game. Yet the conundrum faced by brick & mortar stores is fully understandable. I get it. But there remains a need to hear the equipment before purchase. A participant in this discussion mentioned a fee a store was charging to come in and listen. While not ideal, I think this is fair. I'd pay $250 for a day of listening if the store had every product I wanted to listen to. And while the problem would remain for those not living in large metropolitan areas, one solution would be for the industry to establish an association that would open listening stores in major consumer hubs. The goal would be to showcase every high end product while simply breaking even on their cost through the imposition of an entrance fee. As mentioned, I'd pay a price to compare all the great equipment and I believe others would also. I'm sure everyone has an opinion on this idea (good, bad or ugly), so let's open the flood gates for discussion...

@soix: Sigh. To be clear, I’m not complaining (at least I wasn't intending to), just summarizing the current situation, which I’m sure I share with many others. If you have a solution, let’s hear it. As for me, I’ve, um, adapted.

I simply research the heck out of any major purchase online & in personal discussions with product designers & company reps. Only after a trusted consensus emerges do I actually pull the trigger. That’s a lot different than the way things worked back in the 70s & 80s, but I’ve always been an under-the-hood kinda guy, so I enjoy the process. And when you’re talking about five-figure purchases it becomes easier to access people who are directly involved with the design & production of candidate products -- and who often have interesting, educated comments on the industry and the tech.

To some extent, the current situation is only quantitatively worse than the way things were when hi-end shops were plentiful. Even hearing components in a showroom didn’t reveal how they would sound in your own system, in your own room. And when it comes to latter-day product classes like power conditioners & cables, that’s now truer than ever. So even if I was surrounded by showrooms, the same problem would still exist, even if in mitigation. And I’d probably wind up choosing to do almost as much research, and flying just as blindly, as I do today.

@rick_n 

@soix 

And then "metropolitanism" reared its ugly head. 😁