What to look for in an home auditions

[@bacbladerunner]

"I think I just rambled on, and am not sure I said much of anything at all, but there ya are... that's Paul for ya." Hilarious. Your ramblings help more than most people do in a day. And you seem seem like a nice guy.

[@mikeeaglesham]

As a dealer, its taking the rough with the smooth. Years back I ran a high-end outlet called Highland Analogue. I once drove a pair of Ray Lumley Monoblock power amplifiers 80 miles to a customer, after setting them up he didn't like them. Next day I sold a pair of Acoustat speakers after a short demo. What I enjoyed was meeting like minded people, it made it all worthwhile. You had to be good at weight lifting though 😄

[@DrNoahBoddy004]

PMC transmission-line bookshelves. Excellent bass response!🌹

[@cubeaceuk9034]

This one resonates with me. Even worse I've bought speakers that didn't work for me and sold them cheaper to friends who then had better success with them in their homes. Good on you.

[@soulshinobi]

I appreciate hearing the perspective of both sides

[@Specialist1Aim]

I always think you have the best presentation in your videos and the workspace also

[@stimpy1226]

Really… You must not be watching too many KZbin video audio channels

[@Specialist1Aim]

@@stimpy1226 I don't know how to interpret the information you've said

[@volpedo2000]

I suggest something similar to a dealer here in the UK. Why not do rentals? You pay a monthly fee you pay a deposit and try speakers for a few weeks or months.

[@Kadomount]

I'd take that even further, how about rent to own?

[@1jhnpennington]

Which dealer is this? I would definitely be interested.

[@Antibackgroundnoise]

Out of the two nationwide audio stores here in the UK, both Richard Sounds and Audio T offer home auditions. It's quite understandable that a 5-10% charge may occur? Especially if one doesn't end up buying anything. However, the fact there's over 50 to 60 stores between them. The idea is the phone around, and find who's got what on display! Not only is there no extra charge, but one is likely to receive a discount, too. Best of both worlds. Besides, one don't have to wait for them to get broken in 🥳

[@volpedo2000]

@@Kadomount Yes, like a car lease.

[@nirodha35]

In the past I paid a small amount to audition at home. No obligation to buy, everybody happy

[@kevinl6231]

My dealer brought over a 100lb McIntosh MC462 - no obligation. I have bought lots of gear from them though. If you have a relationship with the dealer it is possible to have stuff brought over to live with for a while.

[@beauport]

And that is a very workable and good solution. The issue comes though, similar to a young person without established credit, they can't get credit as they don't have any. If a person is new to the HIFi dealer the relationship does not yet exist. No easy answer I'm afraid.

[@benwu7980]

Getting to a point where have that sort of relationship with a dealer isn't cheap.

[@benwu7980]

Really tough question. I was lucky that the high end place here when first got into audiophile, had a listening room that closely matched my own. Since then there's a couple of new other places that have up to 3 rooms of varying sizes. Things can still sound different when actually get them home, for all types of other reasons. All your points regarding the dealer side and customer side are spot on It's the No Returns policy that would make me run away from a dealer. Mine have had a 14 day 'no quibble' returns policy for more than 30 years. Obviously some basic caveats like undamaged, in original box, etc. Someone could gripe that the delivery costs are not refunded, but that'd be unfair to expect.

[@dannymcneal]

Here’s an idea: If it is a local purchase for non-refundable/returnable speakers, perhaps offer the customer an in-home set-up assistance plan-for a fee, of course. And I’m just making up these numbers as an example: At time of purchase, such a plan can be included for, say, $100. If, however, the customer purchases the speakers without said assistance plan, takes them home and cannot set them up to his/her satisfaction, same plan is now $150. The audio pro has, say, 1 hour to complete the job, which may include recommendations to improve the room acoustics to achieve optimal sound AND/OR recommendation for a trade-in for higher-quality/priced speakers. (Perhaps the customer had purchased speakers that were not appropriate for that room.) Yes, the dealer gets the speakers back (as long as there’s no damage), but sells the more expensive speakers in the process-speakers cannot be returned for cheaper speakers. I’m not in retail, so there might be something I’m missing. Thoughts?

[@stephens2r338]

The manufacturer or importer used to give the dealers an introductory low price on their first purchase of an item so that they can use them for demonstration or loans.

[@onnonugteren2935]

The hardest 'thing' of this business. For sure. I, in the end, started somewhere, with fairly high 'high end' second hand speakers and followed advice and interpret them by intuition about what suits these best. And than did research fot about three years again. And did fairly well. But because I had and have lots of experience and technical knowledge also of marketing. This is not easy and even I do hesitate about my speakers in the end. But that's normal knowing that speakers do influence the sound most of all 'ingredients'. A simple answer isn't there. Greetings from the Netherlands. 🙂

[@wfranklin990]

The other issue dealers have to deal with in this day and age is the "tire kickers" who take up the dealer time and experience, only to make their purchase "cheaper" online. You can't blame the dealers for being gun-shy.

[@benwu7980]

Yeah, and it's something I've done before for music equipment, though did not take any of their time. I am okay with maybe a 10% 'local tax', but when was last adding studio kit, the majority of the purchases were closer to 35% more expensive in that shop than online. Those were things like synths and drum machines, if I was shopping there for a guitar, I would buy it there.

[@TheDanEdwards]

​@@benwu7980 " I am okay with maybe a 10% 'local tax', "

[@carminedesanto6746]

GM☕️🍩 “Trial in home “….is a thing ..for a very specific clientele…but it’s very important to be able to try in gear in your space and your sources to see if it works for you.

[@stimpy1226]

This person posed the question that has no easy answer.

[@stevenholquin2127]

Here We Are Yet Again With ASMR Paul As He Unsuspectingly Lulls Us To Sleep 💤

[@jamesschneider3828]

Then go out to the fridge and get a beer. 🍺🍻

[@musicman8270]

The best thing to do is find a brand you like and stick with it. You might miss out on a potential brand you like better but you have a lot less hassel to deal with

[@nirodha35]

A library of speakers is unrealistic for most dealers.

[@Evil_Peter]

All dealers have demos in the store and many allow you to borrow those to try at home if they don't want you to buy and try so they risk getting a new pair turned into a used one.

[@glenncurry3041]

I came up with the idea of AAAS. Being in the IT industry I watched all segments go from selling hardware and software to own, to "X As A Service". XAAS e.g. you don't buy a copy of adobe and permanently install it to run it. Only buying updates when needed. You log into their cloud and run it "As A Service". Software As A Service, SAAS. Hardware manufacturers were jumping on that train. "HAAS "Hardware As A Service". You pay $X a month per user and they provide what ever the needed hardware is to use without outright ownership. There are CAAS, Cars As A Service where you do not own a car but one is available to you when you need one. Not even a lease, just usage as needed. So AAAS, Audio As A Service. Where the user pays $X a month and hardware in that dollar range is provided. And models within that monthly dollar amount can be rotated as available to the pool. Who cares if it is brand new if you don't own it, just using it? Extra charges naturally for ware and tear beyond normal.

[@finscreenname]

I have a set of Infinity RSa's that had to be a dealer set. Serial numbers are way off, grills made of different materials, even bit different in color from one another. I redid them a few years back so now the match even though the numbers are way off still.

[@edmondj03]

Paul MacGovan should be next president of USA

[@J990-w9q]

How about manufacturers building demo models with a more resilient and/or cheaper finish and perhaps driver guards/covers fit-for-purpose for in-home reasonably-priced rentals?

[@gtric1466]

That was exactly what i was thinking.

[@stimpy1226]

An excellent dealer will work with you when you’re spending this kind of money disgusting with you everything about your room dimensions and possible room acoustics and guide you accordingly. I’ve worked with several of them. It’s much harder to return speakers than it is to return an amplifier or other components. The speakers can be damaged much more easily once they leave the store.

[@jefferybruchal2076]

I purchased a very good pair of speakers for over $13,000. The speakers are 96db efficient and high impedance. My system is VTL MB125 mono block amps, a PrimaLuna Dialogue premium preamp, and VPI Prime Scout turntable. The speakers sounded terrific in the showroom, but have very little bass and light midrange at home. Very disappointed and now I have to try and spend thousands more to try to obtain the sound I heard in the showroom. Extremely disappointed and could have been avoided with a try at home before purchasing program.

[@jwelinder]

Ask the dealer if you can't take your speakers to him instead and try your speakers in his room and compare them there.

[@bendermi]

I've been watching a review of some headphones, Sony WH CH720. The reviewer said they had to be burnt in , for how long and loud should they play , to be burnt in ?

[@julianklietz6558]

"Burning in" new headphones doesn't change the sound of them nearly at all. It's fair to say that if you don't like them before burning them in you're not gonna like them after, and viceversa.

[@bendermi]

@julianklietz6558 It should improve the midrange significantly . I've just been watching it , and it has to play for 40 hours . Now I just have to wait for how loud it has to get the best result .

[@spandel100]

Headphones,although you wont realise this till too late,will damage your hearing.Playing some models at very low volume using a proper "warm"headphone amp will mitigate some of this but who does this?I speak from experience(45 years of audio).You have been warned...take it or leave it.

[@bendermi]

@@spandel100 An headphone amp for a Sony WH CH 720 N , you for sure know what you’re on about…

[@ImHavingaCoronary]

10x5x15 foot room? is that 10 feet high, 5 feet wide, and 15 feet long? or is it 15 feet high?

[@paulredding5347]

I wondered the same thing.

[@sidesup8286]

The 15 feet is the "heigth"; which isn't a word.

[@toddt5562]

Must be metric... Meters 😂

[@Ed.T-p1b]

It's due to that those at the dealer are still new, not in run-in burnt-in condition.

[@Evil_Peter]

That's not an automatic truth since some speakers at a dealer can be playing all day, which is more use than speakers tend to get at a home. Some dealers also purposefully break in their demo speakers. It can be something to ask about as a customer. There are many possible factors as to why he wouldn't like a pair of speakers at a dealer though. I'd say the break-in issue risk is bigger when you buy and try at home, since you'll of course get a brand new pair if you buy them.

[@boyblue3624]

Dealers that you purchase from will let you do home auditions. It's pretty difficult to lend to everyone that's just curious.

[@jeremysmith3556]

Lawnguyland!

[@MUSIC3001-j1t]

Hi

[@Fedgery007]

If you don’t make potential customers have skin in the game, they will put you out of business. If you want to “try out” speakers, you should be charged a fee and if you end up buying them, then you get that money back.