Free in-home testing?

Crutchfield charges 75 dollars to return a pair of speakers.

Brick & Mortar stores have to pay rent, staff, benefits, etc. and maintain an inventory of demonstrators to show, which is all part of the overhead.  And we all know shoppers want to hear a variety to choose from, so there have to be redundancies.  Home trials of products that are big and heavy require manpower and transportation to get set up.  If you can't determine whether a product is suited to your needs without an in-home trial, you have to be willing to pay for the service, and by paying retail for the product if and when you decide to buy it.  If the dealer waives the cost of setting up the in-home demo that is already a substantial discount on the item because the manpower and transport are expenses that the dealer is paying regardless.  In contrast, internet sellers have much lower overhead, higher volume, and therefore can afford to put some of their margin into generous return policies and free shipping.  DO NOT equate the business models of these two kinds of stores...there are different pressures on them.  If you as consumers of audio value your local B&M retailers, don't expect them to match the policies offered by online or direct-to-consumer sellers...and by all means, if you have a great experience and decide to buy what you are shown, be willing to pay for it!

Also judging sound at shows is for the most part futile. For years, best of show and runner ups rarely have anything to do with the gear but the set up skills of the manufacturer. The really smart ones hire the best, guys like Jim Smith.

For example, every Tekton speaker I've heard at a show sounded so bad that I'm baffled at their popularity. The Schiit room is consistently painful. Etc. In this industry, great marketing coupled with some really creative online shilling rule the day.