It's unlikely that you ever will hear an in-store demo that's completely "fair" and this isn't necessarily due to either incompetence or unscrupulous behavior on the dealer's part.
Frequently, confirmation bias sets in, and the dealer doesn't pay as much attention to a setup he doesn't prefer.
Dialing in something like azimuth (on arms capable of it) can't be done by the "numbers" - even if you use the Feickert software, so there's a bit of subjectivity in this area as well.
If you're looking at an arm or a cartridge (not a complete setup), it gets trickier still, as the turntable's attributes can influence the results. The best example I can point to is when I was developing the new Galibier drive system.
During the early prototyping stages, I plugged in a Kuzma 4Point and Dynavector xV1S and the sound was overly aggressive. The Kuzma was new to me at the time, so I didn't have a good handle on its attributes. By the time the drive system was production-ready the Kuzma's attributes began to show and what was previously aggressive, was now a sweet, extended treble.
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design
Frequently, confirmation bias sets in, and the dealer doesn't pay as much attention to a setup he doesn't prefer.
Dialing in something like azimuth (on arms capable of it) can't be done by the "numbers" - even if you use the Feickert software, so there's a bit of subjectivity in this area as well.
If you're looking at an arm or a cartridge (not a complete setup), it gets trickier still, as the turntable's attributes can influence the results. The best example I can point to is when I was developing the new Galibier drive system.
During the early prototyping stages, I plugged in a Kuzma 4Point and Dynavector xV1S and the sound was overly aggressive. The Kuzma was new to me at the time, so I didn't have a good handle on its attributes. By the time the drive system was production-ready the Kuzma's attributes began to show and what was previously aggressive, was now a sweet, extended treble.
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design