Some of the biggest audio places carry..

Trcnetmsncom, if you want to waste money because you're an idiot, that is your business. To recommend, however, that others waste money, is irresponsible. There are plenty of products that deliver a more musical sound than Avalon for far less money. Being a musician doesn't guarantee that you hear well, nor does it guarantee that you can recognize value.

High end audio is no different than other high cost consumer products. While there may be synergy between manufacturer's products (Wilson & Krell, Magnepan & Audio Research, Avalon & Spectral, etc), marketing factors are also a major influence in what dealer carries what product lines. There are only a small number of high profile, high end manufacturers and within any given market, an even smaller number of high end dealers. If you're Krell, is it good business to sell from a dealer that also carries Spectral, Mark Levinson and Rowland? Why would Audio Research sell from a dealer who carries Conrad-Johnson? It would be great for the consumer to be able to go into one place and hear every major brand, but direct competition is not in the manufacturers', nor the dealers', best interest. BTW, this arrangement is not some diabolical conspiracy, it's simply good business practice.

Phill_06896 Tml2 Grow up!

Phill, If you read my message again you will see that I did not recommend that Tbone listen to me our you. What I said is that he should try to compare and listen for himself. I don't have a problem with us disagreeing on how any component sounds and I appreciate a constructive debate as it can be a learning process, but let's all be people first and drop the insults. None of us hear it the same and one has to decide for themselves on what components to spend their hard earned money on. Enjoy! Tom

Amen to the plea for rational debate without insults! As someone who grew pretty old before the Internet came along, I've often wondered, "What's happened to civility?" Is it supposed to be cool to be as insulting as you can manage to be? It's nice that many in this Audiogon forum think not.