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How to listen to the good stuff?

How is one able to hear some of the 100's of great systems described in review after review?

There's been six or seven high-end dealers in the local area and I've been to a few out of state, and among all the auditions I've listened to at these places with all sorts of different speakers and electronics, from systems costing hundreds of dollars to systems costing many tens of thousands of dollars, only one system ever sounded 'great', and only one or two I would consider barely 'good'. The vast majority have sounded quite poor to awful.

The funny thing is, even with the awful sounding systems, the dealers will gush about how great it sounds, how it sounds so live, and use all the usual audiophile superlatives and descriptions to describe what I'm supposed to be hearing. Yet it sounds nothing like that to me at all -- poor sound, little emotional connection with the music, no PRAT, nothing like live music, and almost always boring. It doesn't come anything close to what I hear at home, or anything like the descriptions in so many reviews. Yeah, I know it's their job to talk about everything in glowing terms, but that is the point I'm trying to make. If all of this stuff sounds like crap at the dealers, how do I find speakers I might like better than the ones I have? How do I hear a great SET amp or an exotic horn system?

I want to hear some more of these setups that are described as being able to image a full size orchestra right in your living room and you can pick out each individual player, etc., etc.

The descriptions I've read of all the different audio shows over the years make it sound even worse than auditioning at a dealer. Crowded rooms with little chance to sit in the sweet spot. Systems setup the day before in a crappy hotel room. Poor selection of music. etc. And I don't know anybody with a high-end system, let alone the high-high-end stuff, and the audio 'club' (society?) is pretty much dead.

Do you guys think most of the dealer setups you've heard sound good? How do you guys listen to some of the more exotic stuff? Pretty much going to shows, or do you live in L.A. or N.Y.?

(Some of the speakers heard at dealers: Magnapan 1.7, Sonus Faber, various B&Ws, Wilson X-1 and Sasha ?, Joseph Audio Pearl, Linn, Vienna Acoustics, Totem, various Martin Logans, Thiel, ...)
bdhgon

Showing 3 responses by bdhgon

bdhgon OP
10 posts
 
Maybe I did not word this correctly. I have two incredible systems in my home right now. Much better than anything I've ever heard at a dealer. But reading all these reviews of so much different equipment makes me want to see if there are better speakers, amps, sources, etc. that I would like even better. While I can afford what I have, it's not practical for me to buy and sell $5,000-$20,000 (and above) speakers every six months, just so that I can try different ones out. (Let alone the wife-acceptance-factor with doing that.)

The one system that did sound great was 16 years ago at a dealer and was a B&W 801 Series 3. Which I bought a year later and paired a Conrad Johnson Premier 11 amp, Melos pre-amp, Marantz CD player, and a Rega 3 turntable. I eventually sold it all, but it was great while I had it and is still pretty good compared to what I have now.

However nothing else at that dealer has sounded good then or since. I think I just got lucky then.

Why do dealers setups sound so awful to me?
bdhgon OP
10 posts
 
The problem with making audio contacts is the WAF -- "Hey honey, there's a guy I just met on the internet that wants to come hear my $20,000 stereo system. I have no idea who he is, but that's okay, right?"

It seems like the bigger issue is the question about why dealers demos usually don't sound very good. If my livelyhood depended on impressing people enough to spend that much on a speaker system, I'd make sure it sounded absolutely increadible. I'd never buy something that sounded lifeless and boring.
bdhgon OP
10 posts
 
Finsup wrote: "I get the sense from reading your posts that you probably have your systems dialed in but just want to be sure"
This is exactly the heart of my question. What if there are speakers or other componants out there I would like far more than what I currently have? How do I find them?

While of course I agree that listening to a piece of equipment in your own home and with the rest of your system is best, it's not exactly practical repeatedly buying, selling, crating and shipping $15,000, 300 lb speakers for a lot of people, me included.

From the responses so far, it sounds like the best thing to do is try and go to a show.

As far as doing in-home demo's of expensive speakers, what's the usual policy for something like scratching the speakers while setting them up or boxing them back up?
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