The speakers I bought after a dozen auditions of all sorts of speakers at local hifi shops in 2000 were good, but ultimately, not keepers. In 2009 I bought my current speakers without any auditions, based largely on a lengthy thread here on the 'gon. They sounded exactly the way the posts described, and were exactly what I wanted in a speaker, including the price point. 14+ years on, I haven't had a minute's regret. The speakers were direct from the manufacturer, and came with a 120 day return option. Ohm Walsh 2000s. It's a shame that Ohm seems to have gone dormant since founder John Strohbeen passed last October.
Do You Buy Speakers Without Hearing Them?
In the 'good old days' there were a lot of hifi stores around so there was plenty of opportunity to go in and listen to various brands and models of speakers. With the continuing disappearance of audio shops, I'm wondering if more people are making the leap to buy speakers they've never heard in person, or just limiting their purchase options to the brands they can hear locally? If you are buying a speaker that you haven't heard, how do you get comfortable with that? Magazine reviews? YouTube demos?
I've mostly heard any speaker I ended up buying, but in two cases I bought speakers that weren't available in my area. I made my decision based on reviews. In one case the speaker was really nice, but in the second case, the speaker was well-reviewed but ended up being disappointing.
Appreciate your thoughts.