Would you pay to audition speakers

that's in something...

oh, right - "sane", it's inSANE.

I won't pay $500 to audition speakers. They exist to let us audition different brands and we, as customers, should pay him at retail, unless he offers discounts. This has been the practice since day one until the internet came along. In any case, I rather put $500 deposit and borrow the speakers and try them in my home system. Huge speakers would be another story.

It is kind of a crappy attitude, but I can understand why it is his policy. There are an awful lot of people who use the brick and mortar stores as their source for auditioning equipment, when the entire time they are planning on buying their equipment used on Audiogon or Audio Asylum (or where ever they like to buy used and/or demo equipment). Doing so is just plain wrong in my book, as it does indeed "waste his time", as you write, (and wear out his equipment as well).

However, for the $500 deposit, he should allow the client to audition the equipment in their home, since he now has an almost assured sale.