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Convincing your local dealer to let you try speakers at home

So, I had a great experience listening to some Devore 0/96 speakers yesterday. The challenge for me is that the room I heard them in is wildly different than any other room I’d ever listen in. (I’ll share a photo, below.) I really have no idea if spending $13k plus on these speakers would work out. I’d need to try them at home.

For all I know, these dealers might be ok with me trying some speakers at home. I don’t know and am not yet ready to ask.

But I’m curious whether folks here have any stories to tell about the reactions they’ve gotten when they’ve asked to try speakers at their home. If you have a story, especially if it’s a more expensive speaker, I’d love to hear your story. How did you convince them? If they turned you down, what was the reason? Did you agree?

 

128x128hilde45
rsf507
2,314 posts
 

@lonemountain curious if companies did home demos then why need a dealer network? Are you suggesting a company that is located in CA ship a speaker to someone in FL then fly out to do the setup? I would imagine this type of scenario would raise the price of the component by hundreds if not thousands of dollars

wideload's avatar
wideload
147 posts
 

Our side gig, selling from his home, guy doesn't wait to be asked for home auditions, he volunteers them. "Hey Chris, are you busy this Saturday? I've got a beautiful pair of Magico S5 Mk II's that I'd like to bring over and set up. I can leave them for a few days. I'll bring a bunch of different cables to play with too." He delivers and sets up everything he sells unless you really insist on doing it.  Allows returns for full refunds as well. 

I didn't take him up on the offer-waiting for him to get his hands on another pair of S7's. Maybe then. Fun shoot-out between those and my Vandersteen 7s.

hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,974 posts
 

Home demos are such a conundrum.

Not for many companies. I guess the issue is that some audio companies are so small or cautious that they can’t take the risk. But The Music Room, Audio Advisor, Crutchfield. Fritz speakers, Salk Speakers, Ohm speakers, Joseph Audio, Magneplanar, Upscale Audio, and many others do it. In some cases, you pay the shipping fee if you return them. All require an outright purchase up front; that protect the seller.

 

ghdprentice
6,967 posts
 

@kevn

 

Your analogy of a person putting together a car… like choose an engine, a transmission, body and assemble them to be a great car. Excellent. There are so many variables, like weight distribution… it would be really hard for a hobbiest to put together in an optimal configuration. Choose the very best engine, best transmission, and best body… I bet a disaster.

Also interesting that after over fifty years of pursuing high end sound (constantly restricted on funds), and having heterogeneous components, that I find myself with an all Audio Research system… sounding better than anything I have heard before… to my ear.

hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,974 posts
 

@ghdprentice 

sounding better than anything I have heard before… to my ear.

May I ask why you appended "to my ear" as a qualifier to your last remark? I ask this out of respect for your experience in the hobby. It would seem that adding that qualifier is done to prevent the interpretation that you are asserting your gear sounds better objectively. But since the only way to judge it would be with your own ears, it seems odd to add that remark. Is there another reason? Do others you play your system for not hear the improvements you hear? Is there something idiosyncratic about how you hear your system as compared to how others hear it?

I'm interested in why there is seems to be a reflex defensiveness in this hobby about how things sound. But you might have been saying something else.

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