Would you pay to audition speakers


A dealer told me that he will let people audition 1 pair of speakers for free. If you want to hear multiply speakers
he charges 500.00. If you buy a pair of speakers he will credit you back the 500.00. He says he does this so people don't waste his time. He says If someone is serious about purchasing speakers they won't have a problem with the 500.00 deposit. I'm Interested in knowing how the Audiogon community feels about this.
taters
I just visited some relatives in Dayton Ohio. As I always do in new cities, I shop for vinyl and try to scope out audio I don't have access to at home. I went into Hanson Audio and met Kevin. I stated my circumstance and intent was to listen (I never said buy) to some equipment I had only read about before in the Hi-Fi mags. He seemed glad I was there and asked if I had a couple of hours, which I did. He auditioned equipment in four different rooms (including $30,000 Focals) and even allowed me to help carry some speakers/stands from the showfloor downstairs to setup and listen (Thiels, I believe). We discussed what we both heard differently and liked/disliked. I had a great time and heard some terrifc stuff (I was truly enamored with the Pathos/Dunlevy setup). He also provided directions to the record store and said if I found something good, bring it back and could check out the analog equipment. Kevin said his job wasn't to sell, but to educate about audio. He certainly taught me about a place I'd drive seven hours to spend my audio money. Thanks Hanson Audio.
Mt10425,

I heard a similar story from another traveling A-goN'r concerning Hanson Audio in Dayton, OH. Interestingly enough, I'm only an hour away from Dayton and I had never heard of Hanson.

I think we need to invite Kevin and company to join our Cincinnati Audio club. We've got more than a few BUYERS here in Cincinnati and I'm sure there are more in Dayton. It would be great to do something to help out a dealer of this calibre.

Enjoy,

TIC
In my opinion that is a deal breaker; I would even think of calling the speaker manufacturer and dropping a dime on the dealer; I don't see how a manufacturer would support this sales approach;just my opinion though.
Please let us know the name of the dealer so I can be sure not to waste MY time visiting him. If I wanted to pay to audition speakers I would try several I.D. brands... after all aren't you "paying" to audition them by returning them at your expense ?
Take the $500 and invest it in a trip to Denver this fall for the RMAF. There you can audition as many speakers as you like, talk to the designers and leave feeling like you got your money's worth.

What happens if you don't like any of the speakers in the dealer's arsenal? You just handed over $500 and leave a fool.