Henryhk,
Home demo of speakers is not common anywhere (too easy for a customer to damage the finish). But, the good news for you is that you will be listening in the near field (close to the speaker) at home so you can audition in the near field at the dealership. This removes a lot of the room acoustics variables and gives you a good sense of what the speaker will sound like in your own room. A lot of speakers actually do not sound good in the near field because they are balanced to sound good at a distance (high frequencies drop off faster so a speaker balanced for the far field will sound bright up close; sound only integrates at a great distance for some speakers).
I listed a few speakers above, but I forgot to mention other possibilities. I heard the new Quad electrostatics and I think they are the best Quads ever (yes, better than the 57s). Although electrostatics nead to be away from the back wall, they do have big advantages in small rooms -- they sound very dynamic at lower volumes, and, because the opposite polarity soundwaves from dipoles cancel at the sides, they actually interact less with the sidewalls of the room.
I am quite familiar with all of the Sonus Faber models except the Elipsa and current Guarneri. I haven't heard those, but my guess is they are contenders for a small room.
Home demo of speakers is not common anywhere (too easy for a customer to damage the finish). But, the good news for you is that you will be listening in the near field (close to the speaker) at home so you can audition in the near field at the dealership. This removes a lot of the room acoustics variables and gives you a good sense of what the speaker will sound like in your own room. A lot of speakers actually do not sound good in the near field because they are balanced to sound good at a distance (high frequencies drop off faster so a speaker balanced for the far field will sound bright up close; sound only integrates at a great distance for some speakers).
I listed a few speakers above, but I forgot to mention other possibilities. I heard the new Quad electrostatics and I think they are the best Quads ever (yes, better than the 57s). Although electrostatics nead to be away from the back wall, they do have big advantages in small rooms -- they sound very dynamic at lower volumes, and, because the opposite polarity soundwaves from dipoles cancel at the sides, they actually interact less with the sidewalls of the room.
I am quite familiar with all of the Sonus Faber models except the Elipsa and current Guarneri. I haven't heard those, but my guess is they are contenders for a small room.