Local dealer cuts store in half says audio is dead

Sorry to hear all of the horror stories with local dealers. I live in Dallas and am fortunate to have Dallas Audio Concepts. EVERY purchase that I have made there over the past 10 years has been preceeded by a home audition for two to three days or more. I wanted to try a vinyl set-up, so the OWNER delivered a Linn, ARC PH5, cables, rack, to try for a week. I loved it but because my listening room is on the second floor I learned that "foot falls" were a real problem and I decided not to buy. No problem. Last week I called him and said that I wanted to try the ARC DAC 7 for a few days and stream digital audio from an iMac over my wireless network to an Airport Express to the DAC7. I picked up the DAC7 from the store myself and kept it for a few days; no credit cards. I've decided that the "fun factor" of feeding Apple lossless to the DAC7 is a 10+ but the sound is not equal to my ARC REF CD7 so I'm not going to buy. Again, no problem. I buy the odd interconnect or power cable on A'gon but all components have been purchased at Audio Concepts and will continue to be. If we want the kind of service that I described it means we are probably going to pay list. One other story; I recently sent my REF CD7 back to ARC for an upgrade. I dropped it at Audio Concepts and they took care of it for me and delivered it back to the house in two weeks. I actually think I save money by NOT grinding through purchases of gear that does not work for me or meet my needs. I tend to keep what I purchase for several years before upgrading.

Some of the issues are that most working class people do view high end audio as fairly expensive. Most people do make sacrifices to build their system. If you have been doing your homework you know that there is a rapid law of diminishing returns once you reach a certain price point. Beyond that you begin to build an audio jewelry museum. Dealers should be able to negotiate more with the manufacturers and then with the customers to make a sale, especially in this economy. I have a good dealer and he has been very kind. All of the opportunities I have I do purchase from them however there are some pieces I would not get. I have purchased two CD players from him in the past at retail, both were close to 2K each. One went bad after a couple of years and was not repairable because the manufacturer went bust(CAL audio) and the other one the transport died and am still trying to get it fixed. I have had a sony, cheap CD player that has not died on me for over 10 years. So essentially I am out 4K, so sorry!
Another case in point are speakers. They only carry a couple of lines and the next step up for me would be around list price 10K. At that price either they would have to lower the price to match a recently used speaker or I would go find something else. I am not married to one brand and would not necessarily go out and purchase a used speaker that I auditioned at his store, however if the opportunity did arise I would try to negotiate a better price with them and if they do not want to deal I would purchase them elsewhere. The price of audio equipment really should not be continuing to escalate at the current rate.
A new paradigm needs to developed or their market will become more and more of a niche. Just look at the exotic car market's

Usually, I would be with the customer, but I don't know any dealer that will let you in-home audition speakers. It's a logistical nightmare.

Yeah, everything is about dead in todays economy, but it sounds like you were looking to be treated like a lady. Get a spine.

This is not a new development.

Tvad hits the nail on the head regarding geeked out enthusiasts who somehow think their audio experience qualifies them to condescend to their customers while still somehow succeeding in business.

Horrible "businesspeople" (using the word loosely) have wreaked far more havoc on the 2 channel industry than home theatre and/or global economic depressions combined.