Convincing your local dealer to let you try speakers at home

@lalitk Sure, see you at Axpona! (Actually, I've never been to an audio show. The RMAF was cancelled just as I was getting into the hobby seriously.)

Seems that no one has been refused before. I've had at least two dealers in town say "We don't do that." 

It's easy to ask and I'm not shy. Maybe this was a silly thread since the answer is so obvious.

Good comments. I like these dealers a lot, so this is really not about them. We have not even discussed this topic. I think they're fantastic guys and so this post is really about the general practices around borrowing speakers.

It says something about the industry and margins involved that this is so difficult. I mean, people take $60k cars for test drives all the time, buy enormous televisions and return them, etc. etc. FFS, you give them your credit card, they take a few pictures, you establish an understanding about damage, etc. and off you go. 

The notion that you can get speakers shipped to you via Upscale or TMR or Music Direct or Audio Advice and return them means that the dealer who is completely unwilling to allow try-to-buy is still on a different path. I'm not saying that doesn't have it's own logic to it -- after all, if you're selling an in-demand product, then you don't need to please the guy who needs to try. For *that* sale. But as many here have said, there's more at stake when there is a potential to build a relationship. One pair of speakers leads to another, leads to preamps and cables and more. 

@decooney  "Buy" with a discussion around Return Policy may be a more acceptable approach.
That's a good thing to keep in mind. Thanks.

@knighttodd 
I've bought and returned to TMR before. That's a good way to go if the other routes don't pan out.

@bipod72 
I've done the Crutchfield thing. I tried Martin Logan's for a month (they allowed up to 2 months) and when I shipped them back the shipping charge was $10 per speaker. Yes, you read that right. Pretty amazing. But they're not carrying what I'm interested in, now.

@duckworp 
An audition fee is an interesting idea. You have had great luck with your dealers -- the brands you have auditioned at home are among those which other posters here have ruled out as possible. You're bending the curve, buddy!

@wolf_garcia  

I'll never buy speakers again without a serious audition as I've had to return a pair of ZUs, sell a pair of Sonists and a pair of Heresy IVs...you think I'd learn.

Haha! I hear you! Exactly where I'm at.

    
@ozzy62 

If the dealer was able to get them to sound even mildly mediocre in that setting, they should be absolutely out of this world in your room.

I'm not as comfortable as you are extrapolating regarding how things will sound with my gear in my room. Especially for $13k speakers.   

I appreciate all the advice. I'm pretty clear about what I personally could do.

That said, keep YOUR stories about your experiences coming. Because there may be solutions out there or stories out there that might be useful to me or someone else.

@kevn Thank you for taking the time to write out your approach. In your paragraph, about paying to audition equipment, you write,

The thought of ‘spending’ such money unnecessarily has never occurred to me, since the knowledge and learning I would be receiving from the audition would be so well worth the cost, if I didn’t proceed with the purchase.

May I ask, in earnest, if you take this approach when trying out cars you might purchase? If not, what's the difference between test drives and auditions? Do you offer to pay for other product testing? Golf clubs, bicycles, etc.? I'm curious what might make the difference for you between an audio dealer an audio dealer and others selling goods which might cost a lot but really require a "fit" between purchaser and item to purchase.

As a former dealer I regret ever letting an individual take speakers home. They just bring the back to the store and say they didn’t sound very good at home.

They probably put them flat against a wall, or something equally as bad.

Did they ignore your instructions about set up? How frustrating if that’s what happened! Other people here have testified again and again as to how they (as customers) bought gear they took home. Wonder why that never happened for you.

If your experience was rule rather than exception, I'd expect that not only smaller dealers but outfits like TMR, Crutchfield, Music Direct, Upscale, and Audio Advisor would not let people try out speakers.

@kevn thanks for explaining your position; it's very thoughtful and I need to reflect a bit on it. My first thought, which I'll offer tentatively, is that it makes sense insofar as the fine car is already put together, where an audio system is not -- you're right about that! At the same time, the elements of what make the car a good one would require learning and there would need to be learning, too, to know how that car fits my terrain, my driving style and expectations, my expectations of driving experience. Same with golf clubs, though there the parallel with audio is an easier fit insofar as the set of clubs need to be put together -- for my body, skill level, etc.

So, I guess, on first pass, the circumstances between audio and those other product purchases (need to make an educated and "right fit" decision) seem similar enough to argue that if one pays a fee for audio, one should pay a fee for the others. In my own view, no fee should be paid because it's just part of the sales job and whatever the costs are can be amortized into the purchase price.

Take care, and thanks for your nice reply.

@grislybutter You guys are being awfully mean to me, but let me be the first to admit I probably deserve it. ;-) 

@wolf_garcia That is another solution. Clearly, the possibilities are endless.

@jerryg123 Sure does help. Thank you!

@grislybutter No worries -- we're good. I'm in a light hearted holiday mood and that's how I'm taking these comments! Peace and good humor to all of us! This is fun!

@jerryg123 There's a local guy in Denver who invited me to hear his Devores in a 12x15 room (with tube amps) so that will be a much better auditioning environment.

@barts You make a good point.

Seen from a bit of a distance, it's a weird issue. TMR, Crutchfield, Audio Advisor, Upscale, and many others allow between 14 to 60 days to audition speakers. They all have the same problems a local dealer would -- concerns about damage, etc. They all can get a guarantee in writing with a credit card. And they do give a fair amount of time to audition. But you're right -- borrowing a speaker for 3 days? Hard to know how helpful that is. And these are $13k speakers. They really deserve a proper trial. 

Just to be clear -- I know what my options are. Talk to them. Ask them. Express my commitment to buying from them. Etc. It's the nature of these threads to solve the OP's problem over and over again. That's why I asked for people's stories about their own trials.  I do appreciate all the advice, that said.

@sounds_real_audio 

Your comment reminds me of Truman Capote's comment about the work of Jack Kerouac: “That's not writing, that's typing.”

Home demos are such a conundrum.

Not for many companies. I guess the issue is that some audio companies are so small or cautious that they can’t take the risk. But The Music Room, Audio Advisor, Crutchfield. Fritz speakers, Salk Speakers, Ohm speakers, Joseph Audio, Magneplanar, Upscale Audio, and many others do it. In some cases, you pay the shipping fee if you return them. All require an outright purchase up front; that protect the seller.

@ghdprentice 

sounding better than anything I have heard before… to my ear.

May I ask why you appended "to my ear" as a qualifier to your last remark? I ask this out of respect for your experience in the hobby. It would seem that adding that qualifier is done to prevent the interpretation that you are asserting your gear sounds better objectively. But since the only way to judge it would be with your own ears, it seems odd to add that remark. Is there another reason? Do others you play your system for not hear the improvements you hear? Is there something idiosyncratic about how you hear your system as compared to how others hear it?

I'm interested in why there is seems to be a reflex defensiveness in this hobby about how things sound. But you might have been saying something else.

@ghdprentice Thank you for elaborating. It does seem, from your second paragraph, that what you hear as good is also enjoyed by those who hear your system. You have taste, and others can appreciate your version of taste. Be well.