Would you pay to audition speakers

In my opinion that is a deal breaker; I would even think of calling the speaker manufacturer and dropping a dime on the dealer; I don't see how a manufacturer would support this sales approach;just my opinion though.

Please let us know the name of the dealer so I can be sure not to waste MY time visiting him. If I wanted to pay to audition speakers I would try several I.D. brands... after all aren't you "paying" to audition them by returning them at your expense ?

Take the $500 and invest it in a trip to Denver this fall for the RMAF. There you can audition as many speakers as you like, talk to the designers and leave feeling like you got your money's worth.

What happens if you don't like any of the speakers in the dealer's arsenal? You just handed over $500 and leave a fool.

Some good points are brought up on Mt10425's post. Dealers are representing the manufacturer's line and i assume it is at their discretion to demo stock for out of towners who are upfront and honest with their intentions. I have found several dealers in other cities who are "team players" so to speak and look at the larger picture of promoting the line and sacrificing a little of their time,providing they have it,to introduce someone to a new product.
Getting to the real point -Find out which speaker lines are being carried by this dealer -contact those companies and detail this policy to them. I bet the next time you go in there will be no "kill fee" for auditions and hopefully a better attitude- this is the kind of stuff that drives these manufacturers nuts and drives customers away from snotty dealers like this. Take the time and contact these people. You will be doing everybody down the line a favor. The consumer still has the last word!