Hi-end audio is a big zero

There has never been a better time in history to get into this hobby. Every song in existance practically can be streamed in seconds. Technology continues to bring down the price of semiconductor chips which go into everything digital (Moores law). A DAC that cost $5000 5 years ago probably costs $900 or less today. You can have an entire system by buying a pair of active speakers like the Kef LS60 and plugging them in and connecting your CDP, turntable whatever. You have any component in the world you want online, most with in home auditions, on your doorstep by clicking a mouse and banging plastic. Then you got this forum to get feedback from fellow hobbyists before you pull the trigger.

This is better than I would have ever dreamed 20 years ago when I bought ny first pair of speakers that weren't a POS.

@kota1 gets it. 

You also have automated room correction, and a much better understanding of acoustics, so unless you are stuck in being a failed purest, you can get way more out of the equipment you have than you could in the past.

What would the OP expect? The dealer recreate his living room? As if in 2023 there’s a lot of realistic alternatives in actually hearing a pair of speakers you’ve been researching.

Sounds a little like making exuses for being a little bit of a tire kicker.

I always have a hard time believing the posters who tell us improbable stories about dickish dealers who refuse to audition equipment unless they’re pre-committing to buy. I’m pretty sure there’s something about them or their approach that makes a dealer who’s paying a lot of rent and day-to-day overhead to sell stuff get standoffish when dealing with them. People very much want to sell you but they don’t want to be treated rudely or be your slave or your dad on a transaction. And as a guy who’s been in customer service to one extent or another my entire life, I guarantee there’s something unreasonable or unsavory about a customer who inspires such a reaction. If you want to be the magnanimous big shot with your money, do all the requisite research, buy the equipment at the most affordable price you can to audition all you like in your special listening room and if you don’t like it you sell it like a desperate hooker to the first guy waving cash in your face.

Wasting someone's time or getting to use their stuff for your purposes will always require a little commitment on your part. That's just a fact of life.