Have you ever wondered why speaker manufactures do not consign speakers to dealers?

There are only about three retailers in Colorado who have a significant amount of gear on their floor to listen to.  However, most of the retailers work out of their homes and are lucky to have two pairs from a speaker manufacturer to listen to.  The ones they have on their floor are the least expensive models.  What if you wanted to listen to a pair of Paradigm Prestige 85F and 95F speakers and they only had a pair of the 85F's to listen to?  You certainly aren't going to buy the 95F's without listening to them first are you?  Also, what if while you were at the Paradigm dealer you wanted to listen to the Paradigm Persona 5, 7 & 9 and they didn't have any Persona's to listen to?  Do you think you would buy any of the Persona models before you listened to them first?  So then, how is Paradigm ever going to sell their Persona line speakers unless they consign them to the retailer so they can be heard?  Here is a case where Paradigm is their own worst enemy.  You would think they would prefer to sell their higher end line over their lesser expensive models wouldn't you?  In this case, how does Paradigm ever sell a pair of their Persona's if they are not on a retailers floor to listen to.  A manufacturer could consign speakers to a retailer for 3 to 6 months and then charge the retailer after that consignment period to motivate them to sell them.

I think this is why Hi-Fi sales are so slow throughout the country and why this hobby has been stagnant for so many years.  The industry needs to change in order to attract more people into this hobby.  How many of the people you know have a pair of speakers set up in their living room or family room to listen to?  The Hi-Fi industry needs to learn how to market themselves and to educate the public so they can become aware of how nice it is to listen to music in their homes the way it deserves to be listened to.  This is an untapped industry and you can't just wait for business to walk through your door without doing something to motivate people to explore this incredible entertainment platform.

Larry do you read the reviews in Stereophile and The Absolute Sound and any others?

I think the answer would be for manufactures to set up a consignment store containing 10 speaker lines with low, middle and high end models so customers can listen to them.  Along with that, add electronic manufactures to show case their amplifiers and receivers.  Add also manufactures to showcase accessories such as speaker wire and inter connecting wire.  Each manufacture pays a percentage of the store's overhead.  I would make the store look really beautiful and located it near the Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado.  This is located in Douglas County which is 8th in the country for per capita income.

I am new to this hobby and I can see why it is in stall and decline mode.  When is the last time you have turned on the TV to watch a commercial selling 2 channel sound systems?

I look at home listings on the MLS and look at hundreds of homes that don't even have a pair of speaker in a room.  If this industry is to survive, manufactures need to educate the public to make them aware of another form of entertainment.  What about trying a direct mail or email campaign and researching a certain demographic more likely to be afford a nice system.  

I also like the idea of retailers setting up a really nice two channel system and home theater in a new home model home.  Then introduce the concept of developing a music room.  I think if home buyers were able to listen to a really nice 2 channel system, they just might want to create a listening space in their new home.

Thanks to all for this discussion.  

For the 'can another dealer pick up your line and take your customers? yes. I know my best local dealer in years past carried lines he dropped because a store like Best Buy started carrying the line (B&W) On the other hand he was able to pick up McIntosh because a very long time dealer who carried it in the metro area folded. The two current 'real' two channel audio stores in my area are very careful to not overlap lines they carry. And when there were more than four, they each were exclusive for most of the audiophile sort of product