Nowhere to hear speakers and amps anymore!

Even in large cities, there aren't as many shops. The idea of a dealer network has been successfully challenged by direct sales models, which diminishes the opportunities to audition equipment in a showroom. Some manufacturers at the high end have taken the boutique approach where they showcase their products along with a few partner company products. Bang & Olufsen does this. Magnolia is the largest seller, and even then, there are limited ranges of gear on sale: speakers by KEF, Definitive Technology, Martin-Logan, B&W, electronics by Marantz, Denon, but not McIntosh, at least not everywhere.

@aldermine - the unfortunate thing about Audio Vision is you don't get all day to audition as much as you want for your $250. I got to audition 3 speakers (plus the ones I brought in as reference) for an hour or so in total. Fortunately, I found something that was just right for me, but others may not be as lucky. 

@soix yeah, never ending resentments. I hate my neighbor's screaming kids, he hates driving 2 hours for sushi. (He probably hates sushi, his wife loves it)

I deal with the same issues as far as being able to try new gear. I have a couple high end Theater dealers installers in the area. They do Mac gear as well. They have a few rooms set up but that's all they have..the stuff that is set up. No shelves or other equipment on display. No prices on anything and if you're interested in any of the theater equipment it has to be ordered. 

I came across a stereo store somewhat local that had nice gear. 6 different setups where one could sit in front of each setup to listen. Choices were pretty much between Mac, Rogue, Arcam, all integrated stuff..speakers were basically Klipsch and JBL unless they had some trade-in/used gear in a corner. No prices on anything and when I asked about price everything seemed a few bucks above average retail. 

I've always been of the mindset that if a store doesn't have prices on products I'm in the wrong store. Unless I know exactly what I'm looking for and asking a dealer to order that specific item. If I wanted to compare a few different preamps or dacs or streamers I wouldn't know where to go. 

So mostly one in my position has to scour the Internet for user reviews or half truth YouTube videos. Always taking a chance ordering gear from big online retailers, the 50/50 chance whether I'll actually like the product. Returns can be an issue. Especially ordering boutique type stuff. Usually a restocking/reshipping fee. The 3rd time I returned something (in 24months) to an online retailer with initials MD I literally got bitched out by an employee. Nothing was wrong with the $500 product but I just didn't like it. After getting an earful from the employee he said he'd send me a return slip. He never sent it. I ended up just selling it at $100 loss, which is about what I was going to lose on shipping and restocking. A waste of time and money. When it comes to big tower speakers one should have the expectation that they will work for you in one way or another. Few hundred bucks easy to return with insurance. 

As others have mentioned Best Buy has actually been easy to deal with. As long as you are cool with most newer mainstream products. The problem is you can only sample what they have set up..which is different at every store in my experience. But they carry KEF, Martin Logan, SVS subs,  Klipsch, Wharfedale, Elac, B&W, Arcam, JBL, Technics, Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, Pioneer..I'm sure I missed a few.  They offer a couple higher end brands like Mark Levinson, Classe, and Devialet on line, you just have to have  it shipped to store for pickup. Even when they didn't carry the Wharfedale Lintons I was able to order them thru BB by calling their Internet phone number. Even got them to price match another verified Wharfedale dealers prices. 

Once upon a time or maybe even still now I feel people looked down or joked about buying gear from BB. Just Polk Klipsch crap and AVR receivers. They have great stuff available usually, no questions asked returns or restocking fees and I can just drive it to any local store to return or pickup stuff, plus no interest financing if you use their card. I don't work for or affiliated with this store, just mentioning it as one of the last  local stores that aren't a hassle and have a variation of stuff. 

@aldermine There is a nice store in Mountain View, CA right near the CalTrans or was it BART station. 

CONTACT - Audio High

I heard the KEF Blades with Chord gear there long ago. That was an amazing sound and good store setup.