Visiting audio stores?


This is probably the last concern on many people's minds, so I'm raising this just in case anyone feels like relaying their experience.

I've become pretty cautious about where I go and why. So, for me, I'm not going to any audio stores to listen to gear, out of caution about the virus. I do feel concern for these stores and how it will impact them. Are folks going? Anyone running an audio store who wants to comment? How are you coping? Are you changing any policies or running any more sales online? Changes in trial periods to help more people try out gear remotely?

Again, this is a minor concern given the larger dimensions of this virus situation, but I thought I'd reach out with a question.
128x128hilde45
Some dealers are amazing people but a few are definitely bad apples.

My experiences detailed below:
1. I made it clear starting out I care only for 2 channel. Dealer insisted surround sound receiver in case in future I wanted to add surround. Come to find out this dealer despite selling high end gear knows less than I do now when revisiting him. This is a shop in NY.

2. I also find shops in Manhattan usually having a snobby vibe about them, only helping those with deep pockets and giving attitude while doing their filtering.

When I find good dealers, I keep loyal to them forever.




@hilde45

Here’s a link at six moons of a review of the MHDT Labs Orchid for you to check out.
My apologies as I misspoke about the MHDT Labs Orchid using a compliment of 6922’s tubes. It actually uses one 396A's or one of it’s many variants. It’s a great read too. I hope this helps.

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/mhdtlab/


@chrshanl37 I think I misinterpreted your remarks.  I think we're on the same page.
"...the mortality rate in the US is falling and is currently about 5 times less than Italy, which probably has the highest mortality rate, or maybe Iran. Spain is not far behind if I recall correctly."
U.S.A. came into this more prepared than other mentioned countries with more available resources for better outcome. How long will that hold remains to be seen.

chrshanl37
Your right big_greg it IS about the math which is why instituting a travel ban and then claiming “mission accomplished accomplished”

>>>>I was under the impression it was Biden who was the stutterer.
Your right big_greg it IS about the math which is why instituting a travel ban and then claiming “mission accomplished accomplished” was such a huge blunder. Instead we should have readying our medical infrastructure and testing on a mass scale to mitigate the spread. This administration was warned repeatedly that the country was not ready to handle a pandemic and that travel bans are not effective.  But as I said they are only worried about the optics....which aren’t too good I might add.

Oh well I’m at a 3500 acre hunting ranch with stockpiles of provisions to last more than a year. Hope the rest of you had the foresight to see this coming further than a month ago.
Hey mc, your math is all hosed up. Try to keep up with the discussion. For one thing the correct term is mortality rate, not fatality rate. The mortality rate for any country can be easily calculated on the fly, as I have done the past couple weeks, since the number of confirmed cases and deaths are kept up to date on the Johns Hopkins database. As I posted this morning the mortality rate in the US is falling and is currently about 5 times less than Italy, which probably has the highest mortality rate, or maybe Iran. Spain is not far behind if I recall correctly. 
If the spread of the disease isn't slowed down there will be more sick people than there are ventilators and providers.

This is baked in. Do the math.

Infections increase ten fold every 2 weeks. 1k becomes 100k in one month, 10M in two. Symptoms run about two weeks behind infections, intubation/death another two weeks behind that. The death count, in other words, lags infections by a month. A month in which infections increase by 100 times.

Let's say the case fatality rate is the low 1% that some claim. Its not but let's assume for the moment it is only 1%.

So what this means, by the time you get to 1k dead, it means you had 100k infected. Not now, but a month ago. In the month it took for the 1% to get sick and die the 100k infected grew to 10M.

Then in just two more weeks its 100M. Essentially everyone in the country susceptible to infection will have been infected. This is the nature of exponential growth.

Changing the numbers around, all it really does is shift the date we run out of hospitals and beds by a few days or weeks. It does not change the outcome. Nothing now can change the outcome.

The time for that was two full months ago. Back when I posted my PSA.

While travel bans may mitigate the situation temporarily they cannot stop the inevitable, their sole purpose is to improve the optics.
I've been trying to avoid this thread and any others that deal with the outbreak, and will probably regret stepping in, but...

The month old article you referenced might as well be 100 years old.  Things have been changing at a dizzying pace, and we still don't know what we don't know.

It's not an "optics" problem.  It's a math problem. 

If the spread of the disease isn't slowed down there will be more sick people than there are ventilators and providers.  Our healthcare system runs at close to capacity as it is.  The virus is going to spread until a vaccine is developed, but if it spreads slower, hopefully we won't be putting healthcare professionals in the position of having to make decisions about who gets treatment and who gets left to die in their home.
While travel bans may mitigate the situation temporarily they cannot stop the inevitable, their sole purpose is to improve the optics.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6546569/china-coronavirus-flights-canada/
My wife is the Chief Nursing Officer for a major hospital in a metropolitan area. She’s working her ass-off right now, while I stay home, play with the dogs and become a “full-time” audiophile. Works for me....
Not to be scary, but we are already becoming saturated here at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor - we will overwhelm ICU bed capacity by next week. My son has COVID-19 as do many of his colleagues in engineering. Please shelter at home.
@tyray I am also curious about MHDT. Some interesting posts on this thread with an OP I started: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/which-dac-makers-let-you-do-in-home-trial?

I am going to unfollow this thread because while I have many strong feelings and views about politics and this situation, I need something apolitical from Audiogon. My appreciation to those who weighed in on the question, and I'll now stop following this post.
Gpgr4blu-get your facts right. Trump halted travel to China months ago and the left crucified him. Then he stopped travel to Europe and got crucified from the left. A leftist like Biden or Bernie would have never stopped travel nor closed the borders like Italy didn’t do and we would have been 100 times worse.
Trump can only do so much, he can’t snap his fingers and have a vaccine nor can he provide 100,000’s of test kits. WHO and China have much to blame more so than Trump
I have not been a poster here long on gon but one of my favorite threads and not to long ago was the ’MHDT Orchid or Lampizator Amber 3?’ thread. Grannyring (Bill) was fortunate enough to set up a ’shoot out’ of the MHDT Orchid and the Lampizator Amber 3, with the added bonus to audition the Golden Atlantic TRP also, with Collin of Gestalt Audio.

No online internet bullying or snipping by middle aged men hiding behind a moniker on that thread.

Just plane ol down to earth and groovy sharing of ideas and experiences with like minded individuals regardless of your audiophile pedigree. That thread was chock full of positive posts.

And to think I did not stop by HiFi Buys and check out the new Vandersteens when they came in some months ago as I told them I would.

HiFi Buys in Buckhead, GA which is just outside Atlanta, GA - is open and seeing walk in customers - if anybody wants to know.

I also learned something from that thread too. What I learned is I prefered the MHDT Orchid because I liked the price point/performance ratio and I already have (2) NOS Platinum Grade Cryoed TELEFUNKEN E88CC / 6922’s that are an exact compliment needed for the MHDT Orchid.

If anybody from HiFi Buys or someone that has something positive to say about that store/shop or any other, please chime in.

"...most COVAD-19 deaths are related to pneumonia infections"
"Most" means "some are not". Not much you can do about it, but hearts seem to be affected quite a bit, too.
Far be it from me to defend the indefensible. Why would I? I wouldn’t. But moving right along....
assetmngrsc:

Yes, there are pneumonia vaccines, but they only protect one from Streptococcus pneumonia. And one specifically for H flu.  There are many types of pneumonia: bacterial, mycoplasma, fungal and other less common types. A short list of some bacterial: Streptococcal, staphylococcal, peptostreptococcal, Bacillus anthracis, Nocardia, Actinomyces, Neisseria meningitidis, Moraxella catarrhalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, Chlamydia pneumoniae....... And the list goes on. Then there are the different types of fungal or viral, etc. Treatment for these are not 100% in an otherwise healthy person. Take someone sick from COVID-19 with its pathology and add another infection (a pneumonia of another kind) and treatment is less effective. Vaccines and antibiotics help your body fight the infection. If your body is already weakened....

YES! Everyone under the age of 2 and over the age of 65 should be vaccinated, but is not a one and done thing.
Geoffkait:
There is actually a lot of information (called facts) out there that you might be interested in knowing. If you had the virus or lost someone to it, I bet you would not be so cavalier about the lies and incompetence that caused months of critical delays in testing that has been at least partly responsible for loss of life and the serious health issues that some with the virus have. Not to mention the economy.
Yes, there is no known cure right now, but if testing began months ago, we could have quarantined those who tested positive much earlier and instituted some of the present measures weeks ago. It would have flattened the curve of the spread in its infancy---the most critical time to do so. Plus, we would be closer to a cure than we are today. In fact, the old government infrastructure that existed to prevent or ameliorate the impacts of potential pandemics on U.S. citizens would have been "on this" and starting to develop measures and cures in December, 2019 instead of March 2020.
Perhaps you would give the President a rating of 10 out of 10 for his response to the crisis as he did.

I am "over it" as you call it-- because we can only look forward now. But I do know and will not forget how we got here.
Do vaccines against pneumonia protect you against the new coronavirus?

No. Vaccines against pneumonia, such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine, do not provide protection against the new coronavirus.

The virus is so new and different that it needs its own vaccine. Researchers are trying to develop a vaccine against 2019-nCoV, and WHO is supporting their efforts.

I don't blame the President for pushing successfully to eliminate a permanent epidemic monitoring and command group inside the White House National Security Council (NSC) and another in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—both of which followed the scientific and public health leads of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the diplomatic advice of the State Department.
I don't blame him for ordering the NSC's entire global health security unit shutdown.
As a result of this defunding: Dr. Luciana Borio, then the council's director of medical and biodefense preparedness, said in 2018: "The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern. Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is no.
 I don't blame him for saying just a few weeks ago that the virus was a hoax made up to take him down. I don't blame him for saying on:
January 22: He was not worried about a pandemic. "We have it totally under control. It's only 1 person coming in from China"
Feb 26: "Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people remains very low."
Feb 26:"We're going to be pretty soon at only 5 people. And we could be at just 1 or 2 people over the next short period of time." 
February 27 that the spread is not inevitable, that IF the disease spreads, he will put Pence in charge.
 Feb. 28: "I think it's really going well."
 Feb. 28: "It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear."
 Feb. 28: "This is their new hoax.

March 17-"I always felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.

Now we are caught flatfooted while S. Korea tests over 10,000 people a day. Well, we are only now trying to get up to speed and we must all pull together----but we should have had testing for months. In America, we are aloud to speak the truth and place blame where it belongs.
What I see amongst my neighbors is checking on each other and offering help.  Too bad our media and government don’t take the same approach of “how can we help and encourage” instead of “who is most to blame for this mess?!”    I haven’t seen anything before like what is occurring now in my 65 years of living.  I don’t blame anyone for being less than fully prepared for a one-in-a-lifetime-or-two event.  We cannot expect to have all of the supplies and medical equipment needed now, held in perpetual preparation for when this could happen.  I agree with those who say that short supplies should be conserved for those who most need them.  And I wish the 24 hour news cycles would do less blaming and catastrophizing and more helpful suggestions.  
I have read through this entire thread and can't bring myself to add to the arguments presented because no one seems to listen to anyone who has a different outlook that they already have anyway.  i will only add one piece of information; namely that most COVAD-19 deaths are related to  pneumonia infections, so I just got an pneumonia vaccine.  They are available.
In a pinch separate the two plies and voila! - you’ve got two rolls! Problem solved! 🤗
asvjerry and dseltz, thank you.  I was thinking of buying toilet paper stock.....when it touches bottom.  Oh, crap, all our toilet paper comes from China.
I sent a note to one of my local audio stores, telling them I was thinking of them and that I'd be in touch when it seemed safe, and they said that they were doing appointment only and that they're offering in-home loaners during this time.

So, this thread is not about cables? 
Heck no!

It's a fuse thread, can't you tell?
🤔🤔
Covid-19....sounds like a new Dac.
All we can do is follow the doctors orders and smile.
Really screwing up my work and I am a lucky one. How are the Hotel and Restaurant folks going to survive? 
Prepare for the worst,  expect the best.
 

Do you think that the set-up of U.S.A. may help a bit when compared to Italy, Spain, China, and the rest of the Europe for that matter?

Maybe life in cars and suburbs does have some advantages, after all.

According to my calculations....the US mortality rate is falling. It’s 1.78 this morning. It was almost 3.0 a week ago. In Spain it’s almost 4.0. In Italy almost 8.0. In U.K. it’s 3.6.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
dwmaggie - prayers with you.  Stage 1 laryngeal cancer highly survivable

asvjerry - don't forget Boeing.  Great deal :)

Stay safe, all
@dwmaggie....Good luck with the rad consult....positive 'tude beats the alternative, even if...;)

Noticed one of the pros' being interviewed on CNN wearing fabric gloves, which may help if you just Have to touch things.....and who doesn't....
I'm trying to get into the habit whenever I'm out 'n about, which is getting turned down to a minimum.
I'm 68 with a TAVR, taking blood thinners.  Thinking of getting a T-shirt with a bulls' eye on both F & R....or "Zombie In Training"...

May as well have a sense of humor about it all, it may make the whole situation a tad more tolerable...*shrug*

Anyway....invest in 'soap' stocks.....remember what happened to those who bought stocks in rolling paper makers....;)
(Send me 1% for that tip, please. *S*)

Good variable factors, y'all...
After looking at the airports, on the computer, yesterday and today......very dense crowd for that much time together.  And they are going back to all parts of the country for.... dispersal.  I'll refer you to the 'Infected Mushrooms' CD, the song 'U R so F***ed'.  Played it at a buddy's house, him and his wife loved the cd.  The cd stayed with them.  Most people are going to survive, we will all be touched by this virus.  I am not sure if my girlfriend and self will be so lucky.  At 70, life has been good to me.  Next week, I go to radiation consultation, then 6 weeks of voice box treatment for stage one cancer.  I remain optimistic, despite my pessimistic self.
its not a large group place you can keep your space from others and if you don't feel safe stay home wait until the air clears you will still be saving up the money and be able to go a step or two higher in the line you were saving for
dseltz,

Thanks for sharing. Interestingly, he does not mention heart symptoms at all.

From an Italian Doc: [exerpts]


Lessons Learned from the Front Line of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Northern Italy: An Emergency Physician’s Perspective:

Andrea Duca, MDEditorial Board, Emergency Medicine Practice Attending Emergency Physician, Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy
  • Prepare to initially receive patients with upper airway symptoms, followed in the next days by patients with persistent fever, and finally, patients with interstitial pneumonia. The proportion of patients needing admission increases day by day. As of March 10, 2020, up to 60%-70% of patients presenting to the ED with suspected COVID-19 infection needed to be admitted, primarily for hypoxia.
  • Be...
  • In the first days, the critically ill patients will be mostly older than 65 with comorbidities, followed by younger patients in the days/weeks after. Do not exhaust all of your resources with the first patients. Patients will need to stay in the ICU for weeks.
  • Patients come in waves, usually in late afternoon. For every 100 patients coming to the ED, expect to have 5 with severe ARDS, 10-20 with mild/moderate ARDS, and 40 patients needing oxygen to treat hypoxia.
  • Do...
  • Prepare in advance to have 10% of staff becoming ill. Personal protection is hard to maintain during long shifts in a busy ED, but it is feasible, and constant vigilance is mandatory.
  • Most...
  • In large health systems...
  • Lung ultrasound...
  • Tell all the...
  • Prepare psychological support for the staff early. You will need it.

Look at China.  Would never trade our society for theirs, but their ability to completely lock down a region (basically house arrest) with a population that follows the orders almost to a 'T' the social isolation has stopped COVID in it's tracks.  Only 1 new case today.  
Why does every coronavirus thread have to involve anger about politics. Varietas delectat, guys make it more interesting than politics.
"No matter how eloquent the answer, or how pointed the barb, it was like water on a duck."
I'd call that whole description of event not overly eloquent.
Schubert, go listen to some Bach! You have no idea what’s going on.
andrewkelly@geoffkait call your Friends in Europe and see how real it isn’t. Ask them about the hospital beds in the bunkers and in the hallways ask him about the people falling like dominoes. This is definitely serious. It’s that kind of cavalier attitude that ends up getting people sick. Just wait till the kids get home from spring break.....

>>>>Huh? Cavalier attitude? What are you talking about? I have been on the front line of reality. Cut me some slack, Jack!
In other words US medical system  is so "f....d up it can not do what South Korea medical system  can do !
I am an ED doc in a very large urban teaching hospital (Wash U/Barnes Jewish in St Louis)
This is a serious disease. Death rate (using worldwide data) is 10x that of the flu. So using numbers given by Mrmb, that is a half million deaths. But those are only deaths by COVID-19. The crunch comes when a small percentage of sick people need ICU care or Vents. If (really when) the current numbers of those infected get sick (the 10-20%) it will exhaust medical resources. The 68 yo with an MI, will NOT have the equipment needed to save his life because it is being used by a COVID-19 patient. We simply do not have enough ICU beds or vents in the entire nation to care for the large increase in medical resources. In any large city, there are already sometimes 8-12 hour waits for an open ICU bed. All the while the critically ill patient is in the ED using up the ED resources and preventing another sick person from getting care. And most small hospital ICUs are NOT prepared to care for the really sick ICU player. These places often transfer these patients to larger medical center, sometimes with 1-2 day waits. Social distancing is vital to keep the numbers NOT DOWN, but to delay , or increase time they present over. The number of critically ill patients will be the same through the COVID-19 season, we just need to have them present to the hospitals over months, not weeks. And as draconian as it seems, look at any city, and you will see too many people ignoring the recommendations which will spread the virus faster and overwhelm the system.