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Dealer demoing receivers?

2K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  cfraser 
#1 ·
What is the general consensus here about dealers demoing equipment? I have visited a few local dealers (not big box) and they claim its just not worth their time or effort to set up a receiver for demo purposes. The big stores like London Drugs/Future Shop/A&B Sound have most of the popular models set up and at least one of each brand. I would prefer to purchase from a smaller, local retailer but the reluctance to demo what could be a $1000 or $2000 dollar purchase kind of turns me off the idea. Any thoughts? Is this par for the course these days?
 
#3 ·
The big box retailers in my part of Toronto don't have any receivers set up for auditioning. The only ones "setup" are attached to televisions with HTIB type solutions.

The smaller high end stores often have one or two high end ones available but the surroundings make it difficult to do any real comparisons.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the replies. Is it the general belief then that most people go in and buy based on reviews and brand name rather than even getting to listen to the equipment? I wouldn't buy a car without a test drive.

eljay: The delears know I am serious and I have spent quite a bit of time dicussing options and such with them. They claim that would not even demo top line amps to regular customers (a claim which I find dubious). When I lived in the UK, all I had to do was call ahead a day or two and a demo would be arrange no problem but that was 5 or 6 years ago, I don't know if things have changed since then.
 
#5 ·
lgplasma said:
Thanks for the replies. Is it the general belief then that most people go in and buy based on reviews and brand name rather than even getting to listen to the equipment? I wouldn't buy a car without a test drive.
I can see test driving a car and even auditioning a pair of speakers, but I don't see the point of auditioning a receiver. If it's got the specs., the reviews and the reputation, it'll drive the speakers and make good sound. But, then, I'm no "audiophile" and, in my opinion, most buyers aren't, either. :)

The delears know I am serious and I have spent quite a bit of time dicussing options and such with them. They claim that would not even demo top line amps to regular customers (a claim which I find dubious).
It surprising and a shame that they're not willing to accomodate a serious buyer.
 
#6 ·
Demoing "stereo" equipment seems to me a much more commonly accepted practice, but not so much within the HT range of products and equipment. I suppose it's because properly setting up a HT for demoing purposes would take much more time and effort. You can't just disconnect a couple of speaker wires/interconnects, swap in another AVR, connecting everything back together and be done with it.

I'm sure there would be a handful of stores dedicated to serious HT enthusiasts that would do it, but otherwise, it makes much more sense to me to have the most popular products already setup on a semi-permanent basis.

Personally, I have certainly never auditioned HT equipment in the sense of walking into a store, choosing the exact combination of AVR, CD/DVD/BR player, speakers, sub, speaker wires, interconnects, etc... then having the sales person put it all together in the same way I have for pure 2-channel stereo equipment.
 
#7 ·
Agree with the other guys. It's almost impossible to demo an AVR that isn't already set up. And what would you be testing anyway? Probably mostly the speaker/room setup, which doesn't help you much. Generally, around here, AVRs are only set up in the smallest demo rooms with small speakers.

These days, a $1-2k AVR is still pretty much a big-box commodity.
 
#8 ·
I guess I am just used to trying things out before I buy. I can see the reasoning here, however. I would have liked to see the OSD for setup and test the ease of operation. I would have also liked to see Denon's Dynamic Volume in action before I purchase. Maybe if one of the local big box stores gets one set up soon after launch, I will get a chance to try a few things out. Here was me thinking $2K was a lot of money. ;)
 
#9 ·
The smaller speciality hifi retailers don't make much margin on mass market receivers, the real money that they make comes from custom installs (wiring, theatre builds, projectors, etc), high end separates (Krell, McIntosh, Classe, Anthem, etc), high end speaker sales (Sonus Faber, Martin Logan, etc), or full home theater systems (B&W 5.1 system with a Denon receiver, Blu-Ray player, and wiring for instance).

It's unfortunate, but many hifi stores are now closing as it is difficult for them to compete with the big box retailers. The market for high end systems is no where near as large as it was back in the 80's and 90's.

If all you are in the market for is a receiver, it will be difficult to get their time for a demo of this product, unless they already have a listening room set up with a variety of receivers and one or two sets of speakers. A consumer focusing on just one mass market product is very likely to price match, or take their business elsewhere, as opposed to someone building a full system or performing a custom install.
 
#10 ·
Well that's part of the issue I have with it. I am actually looking into getting a receiver AND a 5.1 speaker set up of roughly equivalent value. The problem is I am having a hard time even getting them to setup the front speakers for a quick listen. Maybe they are just too busy at the moment to really give a damn.

I am really rethinking whether or not I should support my local dealers or just place an order with BB/FS.
 
#11 ·
You may have a better experience over in Vancouver, there's a wide variety of hifi stores in the Lower Mainland:

- HiFi Centre on Seymour St
- A&B Sound on Seymour St
- Commercial Electronics on Burrard St
- Digital Smart Homes on Pacific St
- The Sound Room on Broadway
- Audio Video Unlimited in Coquitlam

.. just to name a few ;)
 
#12 ·
Re the Denon AVRs with Dynamic Volume: the GUI for models in the price range you mentioned look similar, so you don't need the exact model. The GUI is considered fantastic compared to others in AVRs, you'll have no problem using it. Learning to find stuff inside the GUI might take a while though, there sure are a LOT of options. The DV is new (I think) and those models probably aren't in the stores yet. It is really just like a dynamic loudness control as far as I can tell from reading, not a huge deal IMO, but I suppose could be useful in apartments etc. If you are meaning the dynamic EQ part of Audyssey, then good luck getting anybody to demo that! They'll probably make you pay for it first...not real cheap to add that feature. The prospective dealer may not even be a certified installer for it; you can find that out first on the Audyssey site.

Anyway, if you really can't get a demo, you can always ask a lot of questions here about the things you're concerned about. Somebody will know... If it's a Denon AVR in the $1-2k range, that sounds like the 3808...I have one of those and likely lots of others here too. Or maybe the 2808. Denon prices are supposedly going up July 1. Nobody has the new models with DV in that price range yet, coming out in the U.S. in July IIRC.
 
#13 ·
Thanks. Yeah I was looking at the xx09 series. I understand that the x89 is the same thing for FS/BB less the multizone remote. The price cap of $2K was actually with a speaker system but I was open to ideas. I was originally looking at the 2308 but when I realized that the 1909 was coming out at the end of summer with more HDMI ports (I need them) and less money, I was willing to wait. Both small and big retailers are playing coy regarding the new models, I guess they want to offload their current stock first. I was looking at pairing it with a set of Paradigms (maybe the Cinema 110s/ADPs) and would have appreciated being able to at least listen to them but the local dealer only has the high-ends set up. Maybe I just need to push them a little more.

Regarding DV, I was hoping to tame the rampant volume boosting on commercials as well as the annoying habit on some films to raise the music to near ear splitting levels but make the dialogue inaudible. Maybe just moving from my current TV speakers to a receiver w 5.1 setup will fix that.
 
#14 ·
I forgot that DV supposedly could do something with that loud music and low dialogue problem. That's one that bugs me a lot too, mostly I notice it with older movies. I adjust manually, but I'm pretty sure there is some kind of dynamic range limiting you can switch on to tame obnoxious commercials. Or maybe that was on my previous AVR, that had dialogue enhancement too.

You should be able to find some deals on the 08 series once the 09s are out. If you don't insist on DV. Probably in the next month. I can understand why smaller dealers won't put the AVRs out that BB/FS also sell, not much point. If people want those, they know where to go.
 
#15 ·
Looks like the current deal is $100 off ($850) the 2308. But with only 2 HDMI ports, I would rather wait for the 1909 and pay full retail ($700?), receive an extra HDMI port, still get HDMI upconversion and get DV thrown in. I'll probably spend the summer speaker shopping while a I wait for the new receivers to arrive. Thanks for the info and advice.
 
#16 ·
^ LOL, but I didn't give you any advice! Good luck anyway. At least you know it's just not YOU who's being refused the demos...

Suppose you wanted a Denon AVR above the 4308, or their separates: good luck even finding a dealer who stocks them, never mind demos them. These are $5.5-7.5k items, you have to buy them if you want to hear them. This is not at all unusual in Canada for just about any common brand. In the U.S. it's much easier to find dealers with stock. Here they only stock what they sell a lot of: I always say how do you expect to sell a bunch of something if you don't stock it?
 
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