Good question. Most of the items that I have been upgrading to have come direct from the manufacturer (custom shelves, speaker cable, IC's and PC's). These items are not carried by the local retailers and they are what I wanted. Speakers were purchased new (local dealer), but the source items (digital) and the main tube amp were purchased used from private parties (it's hard to pass up 40% to 60% off retial on hardly used items) and my local dealers did not have any trade ins on these models (otherwise I may have purchased from them and paid a bit more). The problem that I have (in the LA area) is that many of the products that interest me are not carried by the local shops who now carry a higher percentage of HT gear (which is what they sell the most of). I have nothing against HT gear, other than rarely watching televsion/movies myself and it therefore does not interest me. There is a local shop (they are down to one location now) with a great owner and staff which only has enough space to carry what they sell in quantity. They have tried packing some of the slower lines into their listening rooms and it just wasn't their style. I agree as I cannot tell hide nor hair in a listening room that has 20 pairs of speakers in it (all sucking up the sound of the pair that I am trying to audition). There are also a couple of local high end dealers, close by, who previously had store fronts and who now operate out of their homes (to reduce overhead expenses I would guess). I assume that this is the impact that you speak of. One of these dealers is Elliot at Acoustic Image (in Studio City) who if you are in the area and looking for high end, but value orientated gear (IMO) is a good place to start, he has an incredible listening room as well. There are at least two other dealers in the outlying areas that do this as well. I have even tried to think of things that I need, to purchase from my favorite local dealer (we go back 25+ years), but they just don't have the "right stuff" for me anymore.
Will Internet Distroy High End ?
The internet has been a godsend to those who wish to trade used equipment. It has also been ok for those dealers who care to do internet business. In the long run however, I don't envy local high end dealers. As more people jump on the used equipment bandwagon it may have a serious detrimental effect on new equipment sales. That in turn may distroy or shrink the cottage industry we call "High End Audio." We would then be left with all the mass merchandisers who want to reduce us all to mid-fi garbage. What do you think ?