The average buyer buys by reputation and brand recognition...which is why I suspect that BOSE does so well (I can't think of any other reason). I guess some buyers buy because of the salesman's recommendation which is scary at Magnolia. The other factor (remember that in TV's a buyer will always buy the brightest one!!!!) is the speaker that's loudest with the boomiest bass will always win in a listening comparison. Most buyers would never buy a fully equalized system in a reasonable audio room because it would sound "dull" to them. I once did a quick calibration on a 52" TV and then listened to folks compare it to the one's around it....dull, lifeless, awful. Hey...that's the buyer today.
But dealing with reality, most buyers don't really know what good audio sounds like...they have never experienced it. The favorite is the boomy sub...folks love em...and they know they have a good system because they've used monster cables to hook everything up. Sorry, but that's the real world, the real market, the real buyers.
If you read real reviews about a speaker and they are positive, don't even bother to listen to them at a store like BB/Fry's....just buy them, try them in your home and then return them if they aren't good. Generally, a good speaker will sound much better in your home than in any store and certainly better than any big box store.
