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How do you audition speakers at a store?

I would love to know how you all audition speakers in a store. 

Here's my context, which may help explain my question. While I'm not as experienced, knowledgable, or wealthy (!) as many of you, I'm not new to this game, and for the last 35+ years I've made all my serious purchases through one store that I trusted (Take 5, in New Haven). I knew the rooms/acoustics in the store, I knew the owner, and I felt comfortable spending hours there listening to music, often just trying things out. I once spent six hours in one day comparing Maggies, which I ended up buying, with other speakers. I'm sure this sounds familiar to you all. Alas, the owner recently sold the store, it moved location, and, as I live 5-6 hours away now, I'm not inclined to try learn a new environment and a new staff. (I do wish them good luck, though!)

So I find myself without a safe harbor. There are at least four different speakers that I want to hear, in at least three different dealer locations. It's a big purchase for me, in the $4,000-$7,000 range. I feel like a rookie! I'll bring some of my own music and q-tip my ears in the morning, but:

What tricks do you have for leveling the playing field, moving past the psychoacoustic "tricks" that dealers might have to promote one speaker over another or simply the difficulty of mentally trying to hear a speaker as it's going to sound in your own house? I was reading in another recent thread that "Many speakers are voiced to impress during a quick audition, often with a "smiley" EQ." (The poster candidly admitted that he loved them in the store but after a few hours at home they were too bright.) Especially if I can't compare speakers side by side--that is, if I'm going to different locations--what recommendations do you have for minimizing the initial WOW that can happen (because a dealer is a good salesman, because the speakers play "big," because the oriental rug in the room is sooo beautiful, because the room acoustics in one store are better than another, because the amp/components/cables are WAY better than anything I'll ever own, etc)? I also have read that we may be initially drawn to certain acoustic qualities that can shine at first listen but may grate or disappoint later. 

In short, what are your methods for listening "past" a store's environment and the excitement of listening to a new sound ... and hear the real speaker as it will sound in your own space ... for years to come?

I don't know that it matters but I'm going to start my search looking at Kef (Ref1), Harbeth (C7ES-3, 30.1), and Spendour. If I can find a Joseph Audio dealer, I'd love to hear the Pulsars.

Finally: thank you to this community for accepting and welcoming newbies to this culture!
northman

Showing 6 responses by northman

northman OP
236 posts
 
These are wonderful responses, and although there's no silver bullet there are some great suggestions that I hadn't thought about. Of course it could indeed be the "second most important relationship in my life"! Luckily, my most important relationship is pretty easy going about all this; my wife doesn't care much about music and is understanding as long as I don't scare the horses, as the saying goes.

I hadn't expected to feel so unmoored by the retirement of "my stereo guy" and the relocation of his store. I'll just have to whack up the ginger, as Bertie Wooster might put it, and lean forward into a new store, hoping they are accommodating. It's going to take a few trips and a few stores; it's not in me to show up at a new place with a CDR, some of my own equipment/cables, and a picnic lunch. 

I also appreciated the suggestion above to "dress accordingly"! I feel like I'm going on a first date!
northman OP
236 posts
 
You are all VERY kind! 

jbhiller and hilde45: I appreciate your empathy! 

hilde45 and bhakti-rider: that is simply awesome that you bring your own speakers. One of the NH stores that I'll visit (Spendor, KEF, Klipsch, etc) carries my current speakers so that should give me some sense. I'm glad you mentioned this idea. 

gadios: thank you for such a thoughtful response. I didn't mean to suggest that I'm going to do this immediately; I think I'm just excited to start the journey. In fact, I won't be doing anything until after going to the Montreal audio show in March. And I didn't mean to suggest that I was limiting myself to those four speaker companies, nor that I'm determined to buy new. In fact, I've been thinking about starting a thread about buying used speakers, the plusses and minuses. And I'm daily watching a pair of used Pulsars in Ohio and a pair near Toronto; hell, I've already google-mapped the route to both sellers and tried to understand the vagaries of buying something in Canada and bringing it back across the border. But ... I figure that I should at least hear the speakers before I plunk down $4k. Joseph Audio was at the Montreal show last year and I hope they'll be back this year. [Does anyone know a dealer in the Northeast??] And I'm very open to other companies; I'm basing my early preferences on reviews and comments for the kind of sound I want, mostly out here--and a little bit on aesthetics. 

kacomess: Great suggestion about "Sound of Silence." What is up with Nashua? They're loaded with promising spots. As for Take 5, at least it wasn't a sad demise; the owner, Ralph Cortigiano, retired after 42 years. I had a nice visit with him just before they closed, and he was in great form. It's still strange for me to think that when I was a teenager/young adult in New Haven, in the 70s and 80s, there were multiple stereo stores, all of course now gone. Sic transit gloria mundi. 

northman OP
236 posts
 
Thank you, Bob. Even though I kept relying on Take5, I moved to Vermont twenty some years ago. I've only heard great things about Audioconnection, and maybe I should make the trip. Google tells me it's a 6 hour drive so I will at least see what I can find a bit closer. I hear good things about the two places in Nashua, NH. I know Natural Sound outside of Boston pretty well, too. 
northman OP
236 posts
 
gadios, since you asked about my asking, I'm going to ask back about used speakers. Apologies if this all sounds ask backwards.

I've bought used tube amps, ss amps/preamps, digital streamers, etc. I've tended to stay away from mechanical things like transports, although I bought a used Nakamichi take deck back in the day (which turned out almost certainly to have been stolen). I have bought used/demo speakers in the past but only through a dealer, and never at this price range.

So putting aside the obvious stuff like the seller's online history, and putting aside the desirability of hearing them first (often not possible with an online purchase), what general advice would you have about used speakers? Assuming that the seller assures that they're in excellent condition and provides pictures, what would you be wary of?  Is there a general number of years at which speakers start to show their age? Or is it more about the way they've been used (hours/day, house parties, etc), which of course is hard to determine. I hope I'm asking this right: obviously I'd message with any potential seller, prefer an original owner and even a warranty, prefer a little old lady who only listened (Brahms, Haydn) on church Sundays. But as a general principle, what are the issues with used speakers? How old is too old? Or is that the wrong question? 
northman OP
236 posts
 
Once again, thank you all.

ieales: "the onion in a Gibson"--that made me laugh! I know more or less exactly what I want and what my current speakers aren't doing for me, but that feels like a different thread to me. In fact, I'm not looking for speaker recommendations here, just trying to think about the process of auditioning multiple speakers in multiple stores. 

steve59: thank you. The closest store is about three hours away, and I want to hear at least a few different makes before committing. I don't mean to make this search a holy-grail search, but in the past I had one store that I trusted and worked with what they had (which was very good). But since I'm starting anew and traveling anyway, I'm going to take the opposite approach: try a few different places to try a few different speakers. 

Again, many thanks! I will take this up over the next couple months and see where I land. It'll be fun (I hope)...
northman OP
236 posts
 
I was wondering about streamers. I thought I might bring a flash drive with some music files along with a cd or two. I've been obsessing over Beethoven's cello sonatas lately, which is a good example of what I want a speaker to do well. 

I'm glad to hear about Fidelis; they're on my list of places. I lived outside Boston for a decade and am still there frequently. I'm not sure why I never made it Goodwin's. They carry DeVore, which I'm now keen to hear. Of course both places carry many fine speakers. AVTherapy is nearby (KEF, Klipsch, Spendor, etc)

I see multiple road trips in my future!
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