I don’t understand how someone can buy an expensive piece of audio equipment and not audition it in their system first. Many places today, you buy it and your stuck with it. OH yes you can sell it on Audiogon or eBay. Reviewers are nice and give good reviews but the problem I have is the equipment they are auditioning is on their system in their treated music room which is going to be different than what you have.
I haven’t either but as I haven’t been involved in audio very long (+/- 15 years) I’ve attributed my lack of understanding in this regard to lack of experience/expertise. I find it encouraging to read your post even though it describes a frustrating scenario.
I understand not wanting to tie up 25k+ in a set of speakers they might not sell but I’m not sure who’s dropping that kind of money without being able to hear them. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What other conclusion can be drawn except that there must be enough people who are sufficiently wealthy to support such a business model? I'd be interested in knowing.