Is this rude?

That last one from Eddaytona was a real doozy. Maybe he should quote some other passages from the Talmud pertaining to what is considered to be acceptable treatment of Goyim. That would be a lot more enlightening for most of the readers here.

Stop wasting your time and just buy a pair of Dynaudio 3.0.

Someone gave me good advice a long time ago "everything in moderation". Most of this thread leans toward being up front with your dealer. I agree. Let him know you are serious about buying speakers at your pricepoint and listen to him. Don't have him uncrate a sealed pair unless they were destined to be demos anyway. Don't have him go through a big production to haul them from room to room,etc. but educate your ears with what he already has set up and ask him when would be a convenient time he might have the ones you're interested in set up... Be patient, respectful, and appreciative and you'll find a lot better odds of good things coming your way. Personally, I feel anyone who milks a dealer's time for anything more than just letting you enjoy his sweet spot during some off peak time, is being audacious. By the way, buying a little something (a CD, vibrapods, or whatever) is a good idea too. P.S. I bet you'd really like the Silverline Sonatinas.Good luck and happy listening.

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.

Vinylphile, I don't like your comment. It's insensitive and inappropriate. Eddaytona's comment on the other hand is responsive to Omains thread.

Audiogon and the audio internet sites more generally, have made retailing in High End audio more competitive and difficult. I agree with many of the posts here that intentially wasting a dealer's time is inconsiderate and I would not encourage that sort of behavior. That said, dealers are not oblivious to the fact that people come in to audition equipmenet with the intention of buying elswhere, used or over the internet. The internet has made this an increasing risk. Dealers might address this risk by, for example, charging patrons a minimal refundable "set up/listening fee" as a disinsentive to freeloaders. My guess is that most dealers would rather take their chances than potentially alienate good customers.

So Omains, my longwinded answer is follow your feelings - treat others the way you expect to be treated.