Today's New York Times

I remember what got me interested in hifi back in the early seventies, (visiting stores like Music Craft in Chicago) was being able to spend countless hours in them listening and talking to salesman that had opinions and knowledge to share about audio products. For me it became an activity something I actually did at least once a week. They all wanted me to buy something but they also allowed the freedom to move around, sit and listen, ask questions repeatedly never making me feel as though I wasn't worthy of their time. At my current 59 years of age it is awesome to me that I still have this huge desire to participate in this hobby and I am certain that having those hobby sessions in those stores were probably the most influential part of this. If I had the financial capability I think I would open a place where this would replicate what these stores in the 70's gave me even though I think it would take some patience and time to be successful.

I'm glad that my thread has initiated some really good discussion.
Erniek ..... your experiences (and age) mimic my beginnings in our hobby exactly. I spent countless hours "just hanging out" in local hi-fi shops listening to music and picking the brains of the shops' owners and sales staff. I was always welcomed with open arms and found that the folks who worked in the shops were eager to teach me and allow me to spend as much time as I wanted simply listening to music with a big fat grin on my face. After four or five years of "I'm just looking and listening," I finally bought my first "high end" system ..... Mission 717 speakers with a B&O Beogram 3404 table and a Yamaha receiver. Boy oh boy, that was a great system, and although I've been through a lot of gear over the years and am now very happy with what I have, there was something very special about my first kit. And I owe it all to all the great hi-fi shop folks who allowed me into their shops knowing I wasn't ready to buy anything and even encouraged me to just hang out and listen.

$500 dollar cables have helped me retain my hair. Not sure how, but hey.

A rig does NOT have to be expensive to make music, it merely has to be demonstrated to the "great unwashed" that great sounding music is available to everybody who might care even a little, and my gripe about "audio salon" culture is that it ignores this in large part by not trying much to engage people not already signed on to this stuff.

A parallel:

During my (mis)guided youth, there was no place in the world that I rather be than a nudie bar. Eventually, if a guy puts in enough time into these places, he gets a pretty good feel for the business. I came to to understand what appeared to be two different business models at work. In one model, a girl works the room, making the rounds endlessly, asking every customer for a drink or a dance. The fives and tens pile up and she makes a living. In the other model, a girl hates working the room and is only there to meet Daddy Warbucks. She will make the rounds with just enough enthusiasm to keep the management happy, but the last thing she wants is to be occupied with a small timer when someone she thinks she could cultivate into a cash cow walks in.

I think a similar dynamic takes place in high end audio, where a salesmen might be reluctant to be tied down to a guy who walked in with a cool grand burning a hole in his pocket and consequently miss the opportunity to sell a big baller.