Is this rude?

slappy, too cool man.

to answer your question(rude) no is not rude at all, remember this,the reason your buying used is beacuse you need to stretch your $$$$$$ , its not like audio show rooms are chock full of customers lined up to hear the same gear you want to demo.

you dont need to give a dealer an explaination of why you want to demo the gear,even if you dont intend on doing business with them the demo gear is there for all to hear & im quite sure the manufacturers would agree.

good audio isnt just for the elite,even though alot of dealers say that the internet is killing their business if it werent for guys like us buying used gear they wouldnt sell so much new stuff.

do whats right for your systems needs & not what makes a salesman happy.

mike.

im gonna get killed for this but thats life,what & the hell are you guys talking about.

where on earth did anybody get the idea that an audio salesman needs to be treated any different than other salesman,PAY TO AUDITION, get a grip,i cant believe that some of you are calling an audition dishonest & even quoting scripture.

ive got a few simple questions, please explain the difference in the examples that follow & the audition process beacuse obviously im kinda slow here.

1 do you pay to test drive a new car?

2 does the car salesman ask you if you intend to buy from him before you test his product?

3 would you be offended if the car salesman even asked you such a question?

4 when you have a contractor give you an estimate for roofing, plumbing, painting,new furnace, siding, ect do you feel the need to pay them for the time it takes to write up such an estimate?

i can answer # 4, NO , you do not feel the need to pay you feel its a service that comes with the cost of doing business.

i dont get the whole idea of the starving audio salesman to begin with where everybody paints a picture of a struggling business that has to pinch every penny they get.

if anybody really thinks that the audio market as a whole is somehow being taken advantage of then they are in a bubble.

never before in hifi have sales been sooooo good & thats beacuse of the used gear market, remember that alot of people will only buy new gear after the old gear is sold.

the notion of being dishonest just beacuse you want to audition a product that the DEALERSHIP allready has is absurd to me.

omains,IMO here is the best advice that a person can give you,demo every speaker that is hooked up at every dealer you can find, dont ask them to hook up anything just listen to what is ALLREADY ON DISPLAY.

how much of a dealers time could you possibly waste if all they do is turn on a rig,insert a disc, press play,im getting exausted just thinking about all that work.

while im reading the responses from dealers who WASTE ALOT OF TIME WITH TIRE KICKERS it occured to me, audio is fun for us & work for them.

if anybody feels an explaination is in order the next time they go to see the dealer try this.

tell them that you are the guy who is gonna make it possible for them to land the next big WHALE beacuse your buying used gear at an honest price & that makes it possible for the real big spenders to buy.

then as you leave ask them for a show of grattitude beacuse without the used consumer their store shelves would be full of used gear like all dealers shelves were 20 yrs ago .

if dealers need to feel that a sale is behind every audition then i pity them, talk about PURE GREED.

only in hi end audio do the rules of being a consumer not apply, you have what i want to look at, lets try it out, its that simple.

dont get me wrong on this, im not knocking dealers as a whole, i visit 2 dealers on a regular basis & they are great but i do feel that alot of dealers have a condesinding attitude twords the used buyer & so do alot of people who buy new gear.

both new buyers & dealers need to remember that its places like audiogon & buyers like omains who fuel the industry from the sidelines.

mike.