Was I Expecting Too Much

No, you were not expecting too much. You should expect to be taken seriously and with respect. It is a real shame that some dealers are like this. But some are. Good dealers realize that todays demos produce sales down the road. Sometimes years in the future. They build a reputation and business over years.

Personally, I would find the next closest dealer, even if that means traveling a few hundred miles. I see if that dealer is better. If so, explain what happened. Most audio companies protect their brands… they evaluate their resellers. I think it likely if a custom pops up in another territory they will allow you to buy through that dealer. 

Obviously, your request was perfectly reasonable.  I am going to guess that your dealer's salon is located in an area of a large major city and in a neighborhood where his walk-in customers are apt to be affluent.  In most parts of the US, which do not fit that demographic, his attitude would eventually be fatal to his business, but in Beverly Hills or in the posh shopping heart of Manhattan, for examples, he could get away with it. If they really have both of the Brinkmann TTs in which you are interested set up and running, it really boggles the mind how they could be so snotty about doing a demo.  Why else have them set up at all? Anyway, why not just walk in, wave your checkbook, and pretend your are hot to trot?  By now they've probably forgotten your name. Unless they ask for a deposit up front, you would not be under any obligation to buy.

WTF. It’s like their job to setup and demo the products that they carry. Maybe they don’t know how to setup a TT? What a shame.

Maybe just go to that store in person and see if they have 1 setup or ask for a demo. Have a few hundred dollar bills hanging out of your pocket? 

Joe Nies

@cbl117 

I agree with the sentiment expressed by the above posts. Your request is very much within reason and expectations. In my opinion the store owner was quite arrogant and dismissive toward you. I’d certainly want to hear an audio component I’m considering purchasing. Unfortunately some people behave as jerks.

Charles

By the way, if you are deciding between the two Brinkmann models only, then the odds of your hearing the probably subtle difference between them in a system with which you are not intimately familiar are small.  If between a Brinkmann and something else, then the "something else" evidently is not on demo in that store.  So maybe you needn't bother.