Would you trust a local dealer to help you put

I actually would trust a couple of local dealers that I'm familiar with. I do agree with Elizabeth about strangers, though. My local dealers are not strangers to me and I already know them to be "good". I would have no qualms sending someone to one of those. The owners are there every day and are likely to be on the sales floor helping customers and I think they care about their satisfaction. The hard part is figuring out which dealers are good ones. The best looking store near me is very impressive but is not the best-the best ones are either a bit shabby, small, or filled with cigar smoke but they can put together a great system and they have some of my money.

What else could you do if you were too tired of the equipment-go-round to shop for your own system but you needed a new one? I suppose you could ask your friends for advice but I doubt they'd be any less biased than a dealer, and I'm pretty sure they'd have less overall experience than a dealer like Burt. Even if you got great advice from a buddy you'd still probably have to traipse all over to buy the recommended components, pay freight, wait, risk freight damage, and set it up yourself. A couple visits to a "good" dealer that you like and are comfortable with might be a nice experience, avoid all the hassles I mentioned, and you might even get it delivered and set up. If I'm ever too tired or lazy to shop for my own system (not ever likely), this sounds like a great option.