Sadly, speaker auditioning is a challenge everywhere now. We're continually told by reviewers to go hear for ourself before buying, without any acknowledgement that going to hear a pair of high end speakers is no simple matter. I ended up going to RMAF but never did get to hear some of the speakers I really wanted to listen to as potential purchases. Hello Revel? Quad? Where were you? Not there when I paid for a flight and hotel to audition your products.
I understand the problems of sustaining a dealer network but the industry keeps acting as if $20-30k speaker purchasers are everywhere and don't need to be enabled and supported in their decisions. Imagine the car industry making it that difficult to test drive. If the industry cannot make home auditions easier and more affordable for many, I don't see how many people can be encouraged to experience high end sound.
I understand the problems of sustaining a dealer network but the industry keeps acting as if $20-30k speaker purchasers are everywhere and don't need to be enabled and supported in their decisions. Imagine the car industry making it that difficult to test drive. If the industry cannot make home auditions easier and more affordable for many, I don't see how many people can be encouraged to experience high end sound.