Speaker placement at dealers

This is exactly why you have to take what people say with a BIG grain of salt when they place a review or give a report on hearing a given speaker or whatever based on hearing it at a dealer. I have always said you are wasting your time with high dollar speakers if you can't set them up correctly. Being one who loves Vandersteen's (one of the hardest speakers to get set up correctly), I see post after post of people who say they're laid back, dull, lifeless, rolled off and etc. I just have to laugh about it.
Dealers want to sell. Yes, they're a few dedicated dealers but a lot of dealers use sales staff that don't have a clue. Also, they might have a certain product they want to push so they set other stuff up wrong to grab an advantage. A louder speaker ALWAYS sounds better than one compared at a lower volume. How many dealers match levels for you? Just because you have the lingo doesn't mean you know squat. It takes a LONG time to learn stereo just like any other trade or job.
Then they're some who just don't get it. Like the ones who think you have to spend mega bucks to get good sound. A dealers BEST friend!
It is hard enough when we do not have an absolute standard for accurate sound. It's even worse when dealers sell you "Perfect sound" on an absolute basis!

I find it amazing that even owners with very good equipment have speakers buried in a corner with "lamp cord" wire as an interconnect...I am by no means an expert...but if you went into 9 out of 10 homes...90% of the households would have speakers set up incorrectly...I applaud Symphony for SOund for having the integrity and insight to do it "right"...most owners emulate how their speakers were positioned in a shop...assuming the shop knows best...this is a disservice to the buying public...i should know...I had my first sytem set up incorrectly...unitl an audio buddy showed me "what was up"...that alone improved sonics by 50%...before you upgrade...try experimenting with placement...

I think this hits a nerve with a lot of folks. Along with the other comments, I have also found that stores will also showcase their best speakers far into the room, well beyond the aesthetic limits that most people can live with. An example of this was with some Proac Speakers that sounded exellent away from the walls, but sounded perfectly awful at distances comfortable in our home. Dunlavys on the other hand was much less affected by the same distance reductions.

If the dealers were honest they'd ask where you are able to place them at home before letting you listen to ANYTHING. If you answered that the speakers have to be placed against a wall then an honest dealer would have to recommend that you save your money and buy some midfi, because the money is wasted if speakers are not properly placed (IMHO).
Since very few people are prepared to live with speakers way out into the room I think this would completely kill whatever bits of the hi-end business still exist.

Would have to agree with both Bigtree ..in regards to Vandersteen...few dealers let alone owners know how to intergrate these into a room...a buddy of mine who knows his stuff went Maggies...but swears by Vandersteen if you dont want a sub...I auditioned them on several occassions...
but due to space limitations went with a monitor...some have said they dont require much room "to breath"...but my experience has been the opposite...they "throw out" so much sound...I was concerned about wall interactions...I do have to admit...their soundstage is HUGE...some have complained about 1st order "lobing"(small sweet spot)...they sounded pretty good to me when set up correctly...the only downside...and this is being honest...they do lack speed...especially in the bass department...however...the bass is very clean...no speaker is perfect...at least you are getting some low frequency...too many speakers today sound bright and thin...Vandies dont...