How many dealers are in "your "City ?

All Cities - Amazon, Crutchfield, J&R, Music Direct, and all the manufactor's sites. The brick and mortar places only add salesmen that act like French Waiters.

We used to have 3-4 high-end dealers. New we only have George Merrill’s Analog Emporium. Eggleston Speakers also made in town. I have a custom made pair of Rosa speakers.

I just bought a starter Thorens TT from George Merrill. Next year I hope to buy one of his high-end TT. He taught me a lot about setting up my system. I would have been lost without his help with the TT.

Bakersfield - Best Buy, White Vans that sell speakers in parking lots, Apple Store, Wal-Mart, Costco. Pop +330K.

In the Phoenix area if I eliminate Star Power and Magnolia (located in Best Buy) then the traditional store front audio shops would be AZ Hi Fi in central Phoenix, L&M Entertainment with a location in Tempe and north Scottsdale, Escoteric Audio in old town Scottsdale and Dedicated Audio in the Scottsdale Air Park (this is where I do business though most of there work is online they have a nice showroom by appointment and that is never a problem).

Long gone are Hi Fi Sales, Buzz Jensens Audio, Jerry's Audio, Showcase Entertainment, The Audio Nut, and Sounds Like Music each of who I had done business with over the years.

There are to many dealers in my area, San Francisco Bay Area that are definitely into the high end only not stereo.

My city, summit new jersey, population 20,000 has one hi end brick and mortar dealer which has been around for thirty years, but we are also so fortunate to have a B&O store front, which does very well. Seems a lot of people like the B&O store for their 'keep it simple, but expensive'. Many friends will not go to the brick and mortar store in town but travel ten miles to Westfield where the service is better.

San Francisco Bay Area-There are very few high-end dealers left that cater to audiophiles. There's Music Lover's, in Berkeley; Stereo Unlimited, in Walnut Creek; Audible Difference, in Palo Alto; a couple in San Francisco (city),
House of Music comes to mind. There are a few in the South Bay (San Jose), like The Analog Shop and Century Stereo. I
am sure that someone will add any that I left out. So, while it sounds like there are several around, there is a lot of driving in between. It's not like the old days when there was at least one in every city, sometimes more.

Maplegrove- Looks to me like you've got a pretty good range of product there.
I think it'd be pretty easy to find something among them that would make for a really good system. High-end audio shopping has been like this for a long time.In Detroit in the 80's there were only three or four audiophile retailers within a 20 mile radius from the first ring suburb where I grew up. BTW, I used to live in St.Paul and I really liked it and miss many things about living there. Alas, the 9 mos. of winter pushed me toward warmer climes.

Louisville, Ky. There is myself and a couple of video stores beside Best Buy etc. Another guy is suppose to be around but no one I know has seen him for a couple of years. Almost all the action is on Audiogon or even ebay. I don't sell new gear on there but do a lot of trading of gear for my own use. Retail is really dead here. I am not very active myself; could easily get back in but there is no demand. VPI has sent me one referral in 3 years and I never heard from them. Also gear is so high that inventory is almost prohibitive. I spend most of my time giving advice; some of which actually helps the recipient.