I think all speakers should be sold direct. The retailers who sell them usually carry one or two low end speakers for a line and you can't demo them anyway. This is called imagine how they sound by looking at a picture.
Jim Salk with SALK audio told me he is unwilling to sacrifice his quality by manufacturing his speakers with low quality drivers in order to discount his pricing to retailers who end up making all of the money. How many times do we want to listen to listen to a moderately priced speaker line and have to settle to listen to their lower cost speakers. In my opinion retailers serve no function. It is similar to buying shoes. Would you buy a pair of $300 shoes without first trying them on? Then all we hear about is how poorly the audiophile industry is doing. Maybe they should consign their speakers with an agreement to bill retailers for the speakers they put on their floor if not sold withing 6 months. This would certainly motivate retailers to demo them and to get them sold don't you think? I still think if audio gear manufactures teamed up together to open high end stores and have manufactures share the cost of the overhead, manufactures would enjoy increased sales.
Jim Salk with SALK audio told me he is unwilling to sacrifice his quality by manufacturing his speakers with low quality drivers in order to discount his pricing to retailers who end up making all of the money. How many times do we want to listen to listen to a moderately priced speaker line and have to settle to listen to their lower cost speakers. In my opinion retailers serve no function. It is similar to buying shoes. Would you buy a pair of $300 shoes without first trying them on? Then all we hear about is how poorly the audiophile industry is doing. Maybe they should consign their speakers with an agreement to bill retailers for the speakers they put on their floor if not sold withing 6 months. This would certainly motivate retailers to demo them and to get them sold don't you think? I still think if audio gear manufactures teamed up together to open high end stores and have manufactures share the cost of the overhead, manufactures would enjoy increased sales.