Is this rude?

Thanks for the candid responses, everyone. It's nice to hear the opinions of those who are far more experienced than I.

Try this,lay all your cards on the table and in the end retail joint "may" cut a deal that's a tempting 1/2 step towards you.If they do quote a discount to rescue the sale,you can weight the better route ,keeping in mind all the pitfalls of doing business via mail. Shipping damage, shady sellers,miscommunication,misrepresented or abused items. Add up all the charges ,pay-pal,shipping,handling ect.
I have done it both ways and much prefer to see, touch and hear my potential new gear.Imagine the anxiety during the period of time between transaction to confirmation. You will experience if you go mailorder. Along with the extra uncertainy if deal goes south. Rude or not is beside the point really that's your call and cross to bear in the end.
Just think it through carefully because as the purchase price goes higher so does your personal investment,which is not all money but time as well.Time is most valuable.
Personally I enjoy the shopping ,looking,hearing the sales-persons input,and knowing I have the power to say lets do this deal and seeing the process of said sale go down.It's like a dance,a sales "Tango" if you will and can be much more fulfilling then the:is it going to get here in one piece,is it like they said,is it a cinderblock in a box?

It seems like people are more wary than I thought about buying off audiogon. I've had my problems with eBay, but I thought Audiogon was generally a different story. Was I wrong?

Omains, your original question was very well addressed above. Per your last question, my experience with buying through Audiogon is quite good. Bear in mind that buying direct is increasingly difficult as the components increase in complexity and size, regardless of the quality of those who are selling the components. Speakers are difficult to unpack, hook up, sell, pack and ship. Lot's can happen with each step and not all of it is good. There is value to simply using a local dealer and it is worth some extra money -- how much depends on you and your needs and wants. When I lived in Boston, my dealer delivered the speakers and set them up in my home. That avoids any finger pointing about damage that might have occurred en route. My current speakers were purchased directly and the uncrating and setup was a pain in the rear end -- but I couldn't get those speakers locally. So, don't worry too much about Audiogon (with all the caveats about checking selling history, insurance, etc that have been in many threads). Do consider the convenience of a local dealer as being worth something -- especially if something goes wrong.

I'd give some sort of compensation to the dealer (a 6 pack of good beer or something like that) for allowing me to demo speakers I know I won't be buying from them. That way, everybody wins.