This is a story I've told just about all of my audiophile friends over the years:
It was a beautiful sunny spring or summer afternoon in the late 70s or early 80s, as I recall. I was in a small city, had a day off and wandered into the highest high-end shop in the city just to look around. I had no intention of buying anything. I just wanted to see what this shop offered. It was a weekday, around lunch time, and I was the only person in the shop, other than the owner.
After a few minutes of nosing around, the owner approached and asked if there was anything he could help me with. I immediately and politely said "no", explained that I was just looking around to see what was on hand and wasn't in the market for anything at the time. He responded with a congenial smile and said: "Ok. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." as he walked away and left me to my own musings.
After about 20 minutes or so of checking out the merchandise, I headed for the door. At that point, he intercepted me and we engaged in a brief but very enjoyable conversation about stereo toys, as audiophiles are prone to do. Since it was such a slow day for him, he asked if I might be interested in listening to the best sound he had in the shop. So, we sat and listened to a pair of electrostatic speakers that were at least 6" tall (can't recall the name), a beautiful B & O linear tracking TT, an amplification system I can't recall the name of and some wonderful LP recordings. The cost of this entire system was well over my annual salary, at the time.
After about10 minutes or so, I thanked him for his hospitality and explained that I should be on my way. He asked what I thought of the system we'd just heard. I said it was very nice and was content to leave it at that. However, he insisted upon detail, an honest critique. So, I told him I thought the TT was very nice, loved the amplification and recordings but was somewhat underwhelmed by the speakers. He pointed out how much they cost, said they were the best in the shop and asked if I'd heard anything better in that price range. So, I mentioned 2 or 3 alternatives that appealed more to me. At that point, he became visibly miffed, even upset, and, basically, tried to convince me my ears didn't really know what they liked. I was more than a little surprised by this reaction and politely explained how some folks, no doubt, would probably like those speakers but I was not a fan. Surprisingly, this only served to irritate him further. So, I just smiled, thanked him again for his hospitality, made my way to the door and never went back to that shop again.
@oddiofyl those are great shops, with great people! I've frequented all 3 of them. If you don't mind a little more travelling, I can strongly recommend Safe & Sound in Chicopee, MA, as well. Q Audio in Cambridge, MA is also great shop!