Would you pay to listen?

There are a LOT of humans involved in my stereo...the people who designed the components and sold them (inspired me to buy their stuff) to me are represented well...they aren't in the room with me, but I've been playing for people in clubs, at concerts, and on recordings for over 40 years and trust me...a lot of those actual live people aren't there even when they're there. So there. My stereo is one of the most animate objects I have, it has soul and personality and turns electrons into art...and I'm speaking from a performing musician perspective, and as an obvious philosophical genius (obviously).
Regarding the audio retailers, as with most other semi-dead businesses, they seem to lack spark and creativity...If I put those lazy hours into any of my successful businesses (ar live performances) I would have lost a pile of money...you need to KICK ASS in the business world (and the music performance world) or you get what you deserve...failure.

In a heart beat ,in fact I've often entertained having such a place with several different systems up and down the cost scale.Such a pleasant fantasy at this time.

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Now that I think about it, guys pay good money to get on a plane, rent a hotel room and buy food to go to CES or RMAF and other shows to see and heard hi-end systems. So, they ARE paying. Even if they drive to the event, with the high cost of gas, they ARE paying. Audiophiles go to these events in large numbers...and there IS a cost involved to get there.
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If a dealership starts to charge potential customers to listen, I would think those customers would feel less guilty about listening to some gear and then buying used over the net. I think it would be a slippery slope for dealers to offer such a service.

CES and RMAF already diminish the need to audition at dealerships. The experience is certainly more pleasant at a local dealership with good service, but the shows offer a much broader array of products and with the exposure, buyers have a better idea of what components sound like before they buy them on Audiogon.

Paying to audition components in one's own system is another idea.