Hi Hal. Acquired skill. : ) Had I not, I would have come to a far harsher conclusion. And that would not have been fair.
Demos are, by their nature, conducted under constrained circumstances. I've learned to listen to aspects that help me better understand how the gear may work in my own system / room. Is it perfect? No. But has it been helpful in guiding me? Absolutely.
Even when I love what I'm hearing with a component in a dealer's system, I do the same. Why? Because their entire system is almost always different than mine. For example, when I demoed the Devore O/96s they were driven by Line Magnetic tubed gear. I had to factor the amplification out since I was not planning on tubed gear at that time (my son was a 1 year old then).
If you recall, you had a hard time hearing a difference between your Oppo 205 and the Schiit Yggdrasil, until you worked through what to listen for. It's similar, in that vein.
The Triton Ref is a good speaker. It would have outperformed the dealer's setup, had I set it up (all of course, subject to my preferences). If given the opportunity to have set them up in my system and room, with the gear of my choosing, even more so. After two demos, including the Triton Ones, and a Triton One vs the T Ref comparison, my assessment was the same. Just so those reading understand, I was actively considering the Ones and then the T Ref. My intent to purchase was serious.
As evident from a number of posts in this thread, my findings are consistent with others who have found similarly, all in (surely) very different systems and rooms.
To restate the ending of my first post: "Having said that, you may Love them! Others do." I know you do.
