This is probably a naive question, but I'll ask it anyway: Why don't middle-sized manufacturers like Magnepan built 5 or so pairs of "demo-only speakers" that they will ship to potential customers to audition in their home for a fee? Here are some thoughts on how it might work...
--The fee is just enough to allow the manufacturer to break even on the cost of construction/shipping/logistics for the "lending program." They don't make money on the fee, to keep it as low as possible.
--Maybe the customer is allowed to keep the speakers for 1 week, and then the shipping/freight company picks them up from him and ships them to the next potential customer. In other words, the speakers never go back to the manufacturer unless they develop a problem. They simply circulate from potential customer to potential customer.
--After his 1 week in-home demo, if the customer wants to proceed, he then buys a new pair FROM HIS LOCAL DEALER, who provides him with all the subsequent support he needs. That way the dealer doesn't have to stock the speaker and the customer gets to hear it the way he wants, i.e. in his own home with his own equipment. Everybody's happy.
--Maybe the lending program is ONLY FOR SELECT MODELS, so that the local dealer isn't cut out of the picture too much. And maybe the lending program is coordinated through the dealer, so that the dealer can do a certain amount of "filtering" for the manufacturer, to weed out the crazies.
--The cost of the in-home demo may of course get expensive if the speakers are very large/heavy, due to freight costs. But the folks who can afford large/heavy/expensive speakers can probably also afford a more expensive demo, given that they may be about to spend more than $10K, $20K, $30K... And for smaller speakers, amps, preamps, etc., the cost of freight is much less burdensome.
--Since the lending program is through the manufacturer, it costs the local dealer exactly $0. That should diminish the implicit or explicit pressure dealers sometimes apply when they agree to an in-home demo of their store's stock.
I, for one, would be VERY tempted to participate in a lending program like this, and I suspect there are plenty of other audiophiles who would feel the same way.
Bryon
--The fee is just enough to allow the manufacturer to break even on the cost of construction/shipping/logistics for the "lending program." They don't make money on the fee, to keep it as low as possible.
--Maybe the customer is allowed to keep the speakers for 1 week, and then the shipping/freight company picks them up from him and ships them to the next potential customer. In other words, the speakers never go back to the manufacturer unless they develop a problem. They simply circulate from potential customer to potential customer.
--After his 1 week in-home demo, if the customer wants to proceed, he then buys a new pair FROM HIS LOCAL DEALER, who provides him with all the subsequent support he needs. That way the dealer doesn't have to stock the speaker and the customer gets to hear it the way he wants, i.e. in his own home with his own equipment. Everybody's happy.
--Maybe the lending program is ONLY FOR SELECT MODELS, so that the local dealer isn't cut out of the picture too much. And maybe the lending program is coordinated through the dealer, so that the dealer can do a certain amount of "filtering" for the manufacturer, to weed out the crazies.
--The cost of the in-home demo may of course get expensive if the speakers are very large/heavy, due to freight costs. But the folks who can afford large/heavy/expensive speakers can probably also afford a more expensive demo, given that they may be about to spend more than $10K, $20K, $30K... And for smaller speakers, amps, preamps, etc., the cost of freight is much less burdensome.
--Since the lending program is through the manufacturer, it costs the local dealer exactly $0. That should diminish the implicit or explicit pressure dealers sometimes apply when they agree to an in-home demo of their store's stock.
I, for one, would be VERY tempted to participate in a lending program like this, and I suspect there are plenty of other audiophiles who would feel the same way.
Bryon