I think the premise of this is horrifying.
So you have $100,000 worth of gear sitting around and that means you’re foregoing about five grand a year in interest income.
So the $5000 Plus the hundred thousand dollars is what it cost to occasionally turn on music.
And then to say I can rent something for $75 a day which is about $25,000 a year for a dac really seems absurd. Equating money for audio gear after you purchase it is cruel.
I think a better choice would be if dealers were to create an exchange program between their customers who like to sample different types of gear. This is certainly more convenient and it’s a service that might be worthwhile to pursue for a dealer. Smaller gear that can be easily handled between customers and certainly a dac or a preamplifier or a receiver or a D amplifier is something that can be handled without getting a lot of people involved but for speakers and amplifiers forget about it
I have idle gear sitting in smaller boxes and if the dealer doesn’t want to buy it back which I can’t imagine would make sense since I don’t wanna give it up I could see offering it as an exchange or loan if I got something in return that I could try. But I hate bringing the money factor in all the time. It’s just something nice to do that the dealer can offer up since they’re making money on your loyal business.
And likely it may lead to something of benefit to the dealer.