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Are You Old Enough to Remember Those Jaw-Dropping Manufacturer Demos?

There you are, minding your own business at a dealer/audiofare/trade show demo when someone does what appears to be "the impossible."  You just have to stop, gaze, scratch your head, or make an urgent unexpected visit to the restroom.

Here's a couple that I can (still) recall:

Dual Turntable Demo:

Those familiar with the brand know that tracking force is applied with a spring vs a counterweight.  So, those cleaver folks at Dual attached a record clamp that screwed on, then  mounted the turntable upside side suspended by springs and played a record.  To add a more drama to the demo, they would pull the turntable down to extend the springs and let it bounced up and down while the record played.  What the ...?

Pioneer Spec 2 Demo:

The guys at Pioneer were a robust bunch and wanted to show just how powerful, and indestructible their new flagship amp was.  So, they'd sharpen a pencil at both ends, attach some alligator clips to the amps output, and power it up.  A few moments later the pencil would catch ablaze and the crowd would react in a chorus of uniqued gasps.  Got to admit, it got my attention.

Honorable Mention:  William (Bill) Lowe's Speaker Cable Demos

As a new Audioquest dealer, it was customary for Mr. Lowe himself to visit the dealership and do in-person training.  Out of the "demo kit" comes this little jam-box (JVC?) and you're wondering:  "What the heck is he going to do with that?"  So Bill would quietly, and confidently, conduct "good" "better" and "even better" audiophile speaker cable demos with this ($200) jam-box.  Even the hard core "premium cable" deniers in our employ became converts.

How's your memory? 

128x128waytoomuchstuff
salectric
751 posts
 

The dealer driving Klipschorns with a Phase Linear would have fit right in at this year’s CAF.  A number of rooms had ridiculous ear-splitting volumes.  Maybe it’s because baby boomers are all going deaf.

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff OP
1,113 posts
 

@larryi 

"Before I could object, the desler cranked the volume till the meters on the amp were pinned at +3 db (700 watts?)"

If my math is right, those peaks were somewhere north of 132 decibels with that amp/speaker set up. Surprised you didn't have scorched eyebrows to accompany permanent hearing loss.

"The plasma glowed a blue color which was fascinating and pretty to look at.  You could faintly smell ozone even with the nitrogen gas feed."

I love the smell of burning plasma in the morning.

 

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff OP
1,113 posts
 

@salectric 

"I was so impressed that I bought a pair of A25 within a week."

I missed the demo, but I do recall how impressive these speakers are.

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff OP
1,113 posts
 

During Winter CES, I was strolling around the "HIgh End Audio" corridors and heard (and felt) something that sounded like live percussion.  As I approached, the sound seems a little familiar to me.  Oh yeah, the Sheffield Drum Record.  This is recorded music I'm hearing!! The sound drew me into the room, and there it was ... the M&K Satellite/Subwoofer system.  This was my first experience with a "big boy" sub/sat (actually dual powered subs) that played really, REALLY loud.  

The demo "worked" and we became an M&K dealer and had good sucesss with this set up.  It aged well, but gave way to newer thinking and alternative brands.

waytoomuchstuff's avatar
waytoomuchstuff OP
1,113 posts
 

@bigtwin 

"They pulled the grills off the front and inside were a couple of the Bose double cube speakers.  It was hilarious."

The folks at Bose certainly knew their audience and were masters at marketing to them.

After spending some quality time with small speakers accompanied by competent subwoofer, I came to the conclusion that the lion's share of the girth and weight of a serious full-range speaker system was the section required to make bass.  Thus, my observation that if you took a large, full-range speaker, took a chain saw to it and removed the mid/high section, that mid/high section would have been fairly small.  So, sub/sats can be a legitimate approach to high fidelity.  Ultimately, there are physical limitations if the goals are pretty lofty (and, expensive), but for the most part if your "sats" can produce adequate energy to below, say, 80 Hz, you've got something real to work with.

 

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