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How do you get to listen to high end speakers?

Wierd question.

Since I was a little kid and my father bought his first "Hi Fi" rig, Ive been hooked on the stuff.

I am a fan of the hobby and my interests in it have flucuated throughout the years. Kind of bouncing between a mild involvement to nuerosis.

I am absolutley entranced by the workmanship, build quality and engineering of some of todays high end audio gear manufacturers.

So that brings me to my question.

How does a guy, that simply cannot afford the best the industry has to offer, get a chance to listen to some of it every now and then? If for no other reason than to hear what he might strive for in his own personal system.

For example, Wilson Audio. While Im not poor by any stretch, I also just cannot afford a pair of $125,000 X-2's, let alone the front end worthy of such a mighty speaker. Does that mean that I should forever be shut out of the kingdom of audio nirvana?

Dont get me wrong, Im not asking someone to let me take a pair home and audtion them. However, is it wrong to find a high end dealer that might have a pair on display as demos and ask to take a listen, at least for a song or two?

Im not asking for the keys to the kingdom, maybe just let a fan of the craft take a peek through the front doors now and again.

I live in South Florida and found a local high end dealer that had a set of MAXX's on demo. While in there to buy a $350 center channel speaker cable, I asked if I could take a listen. I was told no. That auditions were for potential buyers only. Meanwhile, two guys had just walked out of the room after having them cranked up.....employees, not customers.

Now dont get me wrong, I dont expect them to just let anyone and everyone in the world to come in and start jamming with their $175,000 rig. Im not just anyone. Im a customer that over the years has probably spent $3000-$4000 dollars in various stuff there. Cables, speaker stands and the like.

Am I on the market for a $40,000 set of speakers? Absolutley not.

Would I love to listen to them? Of course.

So has Hi Fi become the new class system. The realm of the rich and mighty where the "haves" dont even let the "have nots" take a peek into their realm?

If I was the owner of the business, I would love to let true fans of the hobby take a listen to perfection, even if I knew they could never afford the product. I would love to inspire people, to give them a glimpse of what is possible. To teach people to be excited about Hi Fi and music again and to give them a goal to work towards with their own personal systems.

Besides, a guy that knows that once a awhile he can listen to the newest and latest in esoteric gear, will frequent the store more. Knowing that, what Hi Fi junkie walks into audio nirvana without at least buying something?

Seems like a good way to get repeat customers.
nm512
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Here's what you do Nm512 - Do you guys have Costco or maybe Sam's Club down there in Florida? Well, just pick out your favorite warehouse store like that and get yourself down there. Don't go on a weekend now or you'll be having to fend off the crowds and you'll grow a beard waiting in line. So go on down there and pick yourself up one of those really HUGE Industrial-Sized cans of WhoopAss. Don't get the cases of the small cans, you want the huge ones that are good for a Batallion...you know, the ones you need those big platform carts to get to the cashier! So you buy yourself one of those huge cans O' WhoopAss and bring it on down to that dealer who wouldn't let you listen to his pathetic overpriced hyped-up Wilson's, and ask for the manager, or the owner, or whoever it is that created such an JackAss policy that has nothing whatsoever to do with the love of audio, music, high-end, nor reflects good business practices, nor even common decency. Once that person comes down you get out your can opener (you did bring the can opener didn't you) and you open up that Industrial-Sized can of WhoopAss all over that person and any other employees that happen to be around. Believe you me, that store will be changing it's policies the very next day. But I sure as hell would never buy anything from them again. Go back to Costco - I think they have those Wilsons on special this month and you can listen to them there, if you can get them to shut off the 17 other pairs of speakers that are blaring around them.

Marco
cohnaudio
28 posts
 
I actually avoid all of the nonsense by simply lying to the dealer. I go in as well dressed as I can (sometimes I'll come from work in my suit) and tell him I'm looking for a [fill in component] in the $50,000 (or higher) price range. You must volunteer a few speakers in that range that you have listened to (do your homework and find the models of the components that compete with the model you want to demo). Also make up a system that is made up of very high priced components, including a component that competes with the demo (e.g., for the MAXX's, tell him you currently have the Kharma reference speakers and are looking to move to something more dynamic - or some garbage like that). If you do your research and can lie convincinlgly, the idiots will be falling all over themselves to let you demo. I once had a dealer stay 2 hours after closing allowing me to demo. It is rather sad that one has to go to such extremes, but as others have indicated, many dealers in this hobby have snobs who are trying to compensate for failings in other parts of their lives. Good luck
mhu
102 posts
 
That dealer sounds like an ass. I remember when I first got into this hobby, I went to a high-end shop in Boston to buy a $100.00 cable and was treated to a listening session of a $100,000.00+ system by the owner. I've been chasing after that sound and came close without having to spend anywhere near that. One recommendation, I've just came back from HE2004 in NY and in six hours, I've listened to 10+ great assembled systems. Attending these shows is a great way to listen to what's out there without having to deal with that non-sense, which you shouldn't have to put up with in the first place anyway.
baranyi's avatar
baranyi
719 posts
 
I had a former dealer tell me that the stupid audio game was to push the person away and insult their equipment. If the customer was a good little boy and bought the appropriate equipment, that they would let you into the audio club. He also called the most extravagant audio pieces male jewelry. If you think about the prestige games that are played in this field as well as many others in the carrage trades, they all point to one psychological component. This component is that you are only as good as your things. This game works amazingly well for those who esteem themselves primarily in this manner. I am not shaming in these remarks to those affficted, I consider myself recovering from this affliction myself. Bob
jon_p
46 posts
 
I have experienced this treatment many times...I'll go into a store ask a few questions & not get any real response from a salesman. Once I tell them some of the equipment that I have (Levinson 40, Levinson 436's, Revel Salons) the Red Carpet all of a sudden appears. It shouldn't be like this, especially when these dealers have become nothing more than glorified distrubution centers for Hi End audio. The saleman rarely even give you the right info. I learn more about Hi End audio from Audiogon from people who actually own the equip than from the dealers.

Jon
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