It’s telling that you were satisfied with your system, and he made the suggestion of an audition, not you. My dealer would never charge a fee for me to hear a component that he is trying to sell. Even if you can get by that, you are still not going to know after the audition because it’s not the same component. You might get some approximation of the pass house sound but the component you’re going to audition will likely sound very different in your system than what he is actually trying to sell you. At a minimum, I would insist that you audition the particular component that is under consideration.
Quandary
I’m really happy with my system. However when a technician, who is also a salesman, came to my house for a stereo repair he complimented my set but said it would sound a lot better if I switched out my Benchmark AHB2 amp (which I think is great) for a Pass 30 wpc class AB amp. He offered to let me hear that amp in my system so that I could decide for myself (at a fee of $300.) The only problem is he doesn’t have the 30 watt amp in stock but would have to demo the Pass sound with 60 watt monoblocks. He assured me that with my very efficient GoldenEar Triton 1 speakers the 30 watt amp will almost have the the same quality.
Do you think I can honestly judge how the smaller amp will actually sound? Or should I cancel the demonstration (and save$300?)