Charging A Fee To Demo An Amplifier In A Brick & Mortar Store

Yes in my serious search for an amp or amps to replace my Ayre, I have auditioned both the 650
and 750. They are sonic wonders w right speakers and imo a tube salesman dream. New with zero hours, home setup, etc they are in the realm of coin Sunil is talking - obviously less demo or used. Let’s be clear, a pair of these are exotic and not inexpensive- do some research on this family of amplifiers and ARC design philosophy and you will understand- minimal fusing - parts on the board are the fuses.... so this ain’t a deep market product. Now ( lots of years managing a 6 + high end showroom store ) if any of us are honest there are tire kickers. The guy here has a name, it’s Sunil - I don’t know him super well. Like all humans, he has his fans and detractors.  Btw that  price is right in line with values for the 650 when I was looking. Magic if you can stand the heat, tube bills and like soldering now and then...

Jim

One thing to consider, with 800 hours on the tubes, its going to cost a few grand to retube the units if you buy them from ARC.   I think why they have been sitting for so long is huge the price to retube them when it is needed.  It is a BIG expense.  I hope you live in Alaska or Siberia as those amps will probably keep your house hot year round.

I was also fortunate to run a high end store w no commission sales team...

when a customer came in and after asking them “
how can I help “? Sometimes they would reply “ no, I am just looking “
I always said in reply “ when I go to the bookstore I tell them no thank you I am just listening “

tended to break the ice, music was next !!!!

Just to be clear, the $500 gets you a store credit that can be used towards anything else the retailer offers.  Quite often when I visit an audio retailer and audition something, I typically purchase an album or 2 as a way to show my support and appreciation for their time.  

Also our local Porsche dealer required a signed purchase agreement to drive the big HP turbos.... wishing I could get one for $17 k.... tubes or not :-))))