What happened to all the highend stereo shops


What happened to high end stereo shops I mean real high-end stereo shops. I am 78, my father bought me my first stereo when I was 12, I have been hooked ever since. I remember the days when you can go to a nice audio store and not just audition what they had in the store but if you saw a couple of tuners, preamps or some cables that you liked, you could give them a blank check and take the equipment home to audition on your system. Bring one or both back Pay for what you want to keep or get your check back. I don’t understand how someone can buy an expensive piece of audio equipment and not audition it in their system first. Many places today, you buy it and your stuck with it. OH yes you can sell it on Audiogon or eBay. Reviewers are nice and give good reviews but the problem I have is the equipment they are auditioning  is on their system in their treated music room which is going to be different than what you have. 
 

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128x128thefile

@ghasley So you are denouncing God ? A simple yes are no will suffice...

Regardless of the answer it shouldn't matter in an audio forum of all places. Plus, who are you to even ask? The Internet is vast and I'm completely lost as to why you chose this forum to save a bunch of old men and women from themselves. You have 11 posts, all of which have been about religion - I simply can't imagine 999 more posts revolving around your "truth" regardless of whether we agree or disagree with you.    

There is nothing wrong with religion or the people that believe it, but that is not what this site is for so please keep it to yourself.

@crlambert 

No. But the answer is none of your self-righteous business.  I have assisted with numerous efforts over the decades, helping where and when I am able in relief efforts of varying magnitude for varying causes. The only time I question whether there is a higher being is when I witness the unnecessary mass suffering of others....oh, I also question it as well when rednecks attempt to claim the moral high ground. Now, go pound sand.

other thing i would add here, is that i really try hard not to take the bait of posters who have just joined, give no info of themselves in their profile, and seem to post and post all of a sudden on one topic only, just to get a rise out of the long time readers and users here -- responding just energizes the troll, giving them what they want, which is just to jerk chains

exception perhaps being when i smell an outright shill, or someone trying to dishonestly influence people’s hifi purchases, i do feel the need to call that out