Nowhere to hear speakers and amps anymore!

Thanks. I guess they bought Magnolia Audio several years ago, but then I heard they dumbed/down the equipment to consumer stuff. Nice to hear of your experience. I’ll try it. 

Right. But geez, what a hassle! 

Thank you, @larsman!  I appreciate that. I was searching for such shops that carried Rotel Mitchi and Accuphase and while Music Lovers doesn’t carry those brands, they do have an excellent assortment of speakers (including many out of my price range!). Again, thanks for the suggestion. Now I just need to make a 100 mile round trip! 

Thank you, @ellajeanelle. I’ll go in to Best Buy! 

Thanks again, @simonmoon! You guys will have me driving everywhere this month! 

@bjesien Ive seen this also. In fact, some of the suggestions made above are home-based. 

@cundare2 It would appear the entire high end audio industry has a consumer problem; their consumers can rarely touch, feel and hear their products before purchase which wastes untold time, money and, carbon on the part of everyone. The industry is (to my way of thinking) limiting its market to (1) those who don't care how much they spend and buy equipment based on how much it costs and (2) those who buy on the web and are willing to play the return game. Yet the conundrum faced by brick & mortar stores is fully understandable. I get it. But there remains a need to hear the equipment before purchase. A participant in this discussion mentioned a fee a store was charging to come in and listen. While not ideal, I think this is fair. I'd pay $250 for a day of listening if the store had every product I wanted to listen to. And while the problem would remain for those not living in large metropolitan areas, one solution would be for the industry to establish an association that would open listening stores in major consumer hubs. The goal would be to showcase every high end product while simply breaking even on their cost through the imposition of an entrance fee. As mentioned, I'd pay a price to compare all the great equipment and I believe others would also. I'm sure everyone has an opinion on this idea (good, bad or ugly), so let's open the flood gates for discussion...

@yyzsantabarbara Some folks have provided me with the names of Bay Area stores and dealers. Some dealers work from their homes (unappealing) and a few actually have brick and mortar stores but have limited brands. I have a Best Buy down the street with a surprisingly large selection and decent listening rooms. They even have dedicated (but young) staff. Not quite the experience I was looking for. @transnova is indeed fortunate to have so many old school stores near him. But I live in Silicon Valley and you’d think that in the midst of all this technology and wealth one could find a decent, old school store!  In fact, the San Francisco Bay Area has 8 million people and you can count on one hand (less than one hand) the number of real audio stores that are not car stereo or home theater oriented. 

@Thomson723 I wish Century Stereo was still around - that was my go-to place. Closed now forever. 

I hear you, @ervikingo!  But I also understand we aren’t living in a 1970’s economy. The internet changed everything and provided endless means to find the best price, making those who stock product in a store look like they might have missed the train. But I’ll tell you that when you encounter someone who REALLY listens to what you need and finds the right solution for the right price, that’s a deal whether it’s done in person, internet or on a forum like this one. I had such experience with a dealer here (I’m not sure I can mention the name, but you can search the respondents to my original question to find him). He listened to what I was saying; had experience with my current amp and with others in its class and knew EXACLY what I needed. Then he cut me a great deal for a demo product with a handsome exchange. I’ve never met this fellow, but he owns a store in NJ and my hat is off to him for knowing his business, internet or not. 

@skinzy Thats for sure; disruption is long overdue in this space.