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How do you get to listen to high end speakers?

Wierd question.

Since I was a little kid and my father bought his first "Hi Fi" rig, Ive been hooked on the stuff.

I am a fan of the hobby and my interests in it have flucuated throughout the years. Kind of bouncing between a mild involvement to nuerosis.

I am absolutley entranced by the workmanship, build quality and engineering of some of todays high end audio gear manufacturers.

So that brings me to my question.

How does a guy, that simply cannot afford the best the industry has to offer, get a chance to listen to some of it every now and then? If for no other reason than to hear what he might strive for in his own personal system.

For example, Wilson Audio. While Im not poor by any stretch, I also just cannot afford a pair of $125,000 X-2's, let alone the front end worthy of such a mighty speaker. Does that mean that I should forever be shut out of the kingdom of audio nirvana?

Dont get me wrong, Im not asking someone to let me take a pair home and audtion them. However, is it wrong to find a high end dealer that might have a pair on display as demos and ask to take a listen, at least for a song or two?

Im not asking for the keys to the kingdom, maybe just let a fan of the craft take a peek through the front doors now and again.

I live in South Florida and found a local high end dealer that had a set of MAXX's on demo. While in there to buy a $350 center channel speaker cable, I asked if I could take a listen. I was told no. That auditions were for potential buyers only. Meanwhile, two guys had just walked out of the room after having them cranked up.....employees, not customers.

Now dont get me wrong, I dont expect them to just let anyone and everyone in the world to come in and start jamming with their $175,000 rig. Im not just anyone. Im a customer that over the years has probably spent $3000-$4000 dollars in various stuff there. Cables, speaker stands and the like.

Am I on the market for a $40,000 set of speakers? Absolutley not.

Would I love to listen to them? Of course.

So has Hi Fi become the new class system. The realm of the rich and mighty where the "haves" dont even let the "have nots" take a peek into their realm?

If I was the owner of the business, I would love to let true fans of the hobby take a listen to perfection, even if I knew they could never afford the product. I would love to inspire people, to give them a glimpse of what is possible. To teach people to be excited about Hi Fi and music again and to give them a goal to work towards with their own personal systems.

Besides, a guy that knows that once a awhile he can listen to the newest and latest in esoteric gear, will frequent the store more. Knowing that, what Hi Fi junkie walks into audio nirvana without at least buying something?

Seems like a good way to get repeat customers.
nm512

Showing 2 responses by nm512

nm512 OP
8 posts
 
I would hate to start naming names and slandering someones business.

Maybe I just dealt with a poor salesman.

Some people seem to be on the right track though.

Its too easy to take my business elsewhere than to make a stink.
nm512 OP
8 posts
 
On the other side of the coin,

I called Straightwire this week because Im buying a new DLP front projector and I needed a long run of RGBHV cable for my new Dwin.

I spoke with Jerry from Straightwire and he quoted me a price on a 25 foot run of their better cables that while Im sure it was worth it, it was a little out of my range considering what I just spent on the projector.

He explained that he understood and said for me to think about it and give him a call back whenever I decided what I wanted to do.

The next day, he called me back.....I didnt have to call him. He told me that he really wanted to work with me and he understood what it was like to work on a budget. He said, "let me look through our B stock and see what I can come up with for you".

Ten minutes later he called me back and told me that he had a 32 foot run of some very nice cable that they had used for a trade show and that I could have it for $275.

Since Straightwire is local here in South Florida, I spun by there to pick it up that afternoon. Now, here I am, just got off work in shorts, a T-shirt and sneakers and Im here to buy a $275 cable. Jerry greets me up front and gives me the red carpet treatment. He brings me in the back and starts showing me all of their high dollar cables and explains the extrusion process on some of their more expensive stuff. He introduces me to the owner Steve and his father. He went out of his way to help me out on a cable that saved me a significant amount of money and still treated me like I was their most important customer.

I left there feeling like a million dollar customer. I was almost stunned by their sense of courtesy to their patrons.

That kind of service wins me over every time.

Straightwire has earned a customer for life. I will never buy another cable without first auditioning what they have to offer first.
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