The closest cities to me are Indianapolis and Cincinnati. There is a great dealer in Indianapolis that I've purchased a couple of items from, but their "listening rooms" are all very cluttered with equipment. I hoped for a treated room that was set up specifically for listening, not storage of inventory. They are great people and they are very knowledgeable, I don't want to give the impression that they are hacks...far from it!
The hifi clubs interest me. Maybe I could hear systems in real world situations? I do want to hear systems that I couldn't possibly afford only to hear what I'm missing. I want to know what to listen for when I make a system tweak. Audiophiles use words to describe sound, but listening is the only way to apply attributes to those words.
Last year I auditioned a pair of B stock Forte IIIs. I drove 720 miles round trip to hear them. I had just purchased a pair of the new KLH Kendall towers and I wanted to compare them to the Forte IIIs. The room wasn't treated in any way, so I had to keep that in mind since my room does have absorption and diffuser treatments. I left without them. I had cash in hand to buy them, but I didn't think they sounded as good as the Kendalls. It wasn't a wasted trip, the person auditioning them for me did turn me on to a great demonstration song and I bought the CD as soon as I got home. Nils Lofgren, Keith Don't Go. The whole CD is awesome!
The hifi clubs interest me. Maybe I could hear systems in real world situations? I do want to hear systems that I couldn't possibly afford only to hear what I'm missing. I want to know what to listen for when I make a system tweak. Audiophiles use words to describe sound, but listening is the only way to apply attributes to those words.
Last year I auditioned a pair of B stock Forte IIIs. I drove 720 miles round trip to hear them. I had just purchased a pair of the new KLH Kendall towers and I wanted to compare them to the Forte IIIs. The room wasn't treated in any way, so I had to keep that in mind since my room does have absorption and diffuser treatments. I left without them. I had cash in hand to buy them, but I didn't think they sounded as good as the Kendalls. It wasn't a wasted trip, the person auditioning them for me did turn me on to a great demonstration song and I bought the CD as soon as I got home. Nils Lofgren, Keith Don't Go. The whole CD is awesome!