Would you pay to listen?

I agree with you wolf garcia, about retailers being more inventive in looking for custom and I think some are. I went to a small 4 room show run by a local retailer recently and it was great. Frequent cycling of kit and music meant I spent 5 hours there happily. There was also a local vinyl shop there with lots of used vinyl.

I think some retailers are trying but they are caught between a rock and the proverbial. High margins mean few sales which means higher margins and fewer sales. I would love to know how many sales of kit, not accessories, your average retailer in a moderate sized city makes. I suspect it is very few and they have fixed costs, rent, salaries, utilities to cover. If any would be retailer produced an honest business plan about starting a HiFi shop, he would be laughed out of the door by his banker.

The internet, sites like Audiogon and the shrinking interest on 2 channel high end music reproduction, means that the retail industry is sadly, dying on it's feet. It is sad for all of us, even if we do'nt tend to use them. Fewer stores mean fewer new entrants to our interest/obsession. I suspect most of us started out with an interest in music and wandering into a helpful hiFi store, on an impulse. Then we followed a similar path of obsession, guilt, ruinous expense, relationship breakdown, drugs and penury.

hi phd:

you are accurate in your asssessment.

however i would not pay to hear inanimate objects rather ai would pay to hear humans use them to create sound.

th human factor is lost when listening to a stereo system.

the only human involved is the listener.

i think it's a value judgment that determines where one wants to spend one's money.

hi phd:

you are accurate in your asssessment.

however i would not pay to hear inanimate objects rather ai would pay to hear humans use them to create sound.

th human factor is lost when listening to a stereo system.

the only human involved is the listener.

i think it's a value judgment that determines where one wants to spend one's money.

There are a LOT of humans involved in my stereo...the people who designed the components and sold them (inspired me to buy their stuff) to me are represented well...they aren't in the room with me, but I've been playing for people in clubs, at concerts, and on recordings for over 40 years and trust me...a lot of those actual live people aren't there even when they're there. So there. My stereo is one of the most animate objects I have, it has soul and personality and turns electrons into art...and I'm speaking from a performing musician perspective, and as an obvious philosophical genius (obviously).
Regarding the audio retailers, as with most other semi-dead businesses, they seem to lack spark and creativity...If I put those lazy hours into any of my successful businesses (ar live performances) I would have lost a pile of money...you need to KICK ASS in the business world (and the music performance world) or you get what you deserve...failure.

In a heart beat ,in fact I've often entertained having such a place with several different systems up and down the cost scale.Such a pleasant fantasy at this time.