Audition Experiences

Posted by: Dobbin on 20 December 2002

I'm interested in peoples experiences at their dealers with regard to auditioning equipment. Over the years I've had good and bad experiences. For example a dealer in Reading has an apalling listening room which made some very expensive kit unlistenable (and more than likely has meant that I don't go back there). A dealer in Guildford lately did a superb demo (probably the best I've experienced) of some Linn kit - unfortunately for them they aren't a Naim dealer and I couldn't do the old A/B demo I needed. My most recent purchase has been from Infidelity where the demo was OK (sorry Dominic) however they are excellent at allowing one to take stuff home and never exert the sort of pressure to buy that is the tendency some dealers.

So I'm interested to hear your experiences of good and bad dems. What makes a good dem good? What music do you use? (I like to avoid the so-called demo disks or the old chestnuts I've heard demo'd so many times before (Martin Stephenson and the bloody Daintees again?!!!)) How long is too long for a dem (30 mins for me), etc, etc.

Posted on: 20 December 2002 by Derek Wright

On my last major purchase - once I had decided that I was going to purchase the speakers after an initial one week borrow - I was able to keep the demo pair until my copies of the speakers arrived 3 or so weeks later.

Derek

Posted on: 20 December 2002 by Phil Barry

Good dems:

1) connect Hetbrook HB1s, then I listened. After much speaker changing, the salesman pointed out that I listened to the HB1s and asked questions about everything else. He suggested the HB1s were for me (despite they're being the cheapest I heard), even though other speakers he demmed might get better reviews. He was right.

2) dem a 92, attached a hicap, removed the hicap. Light dawned over Marblehead, has they say on Boston's North Shore.

Bad dems:

1) Bose at a hifi show in Washington, DC in the late '70s - Bose hyped the 901's bass response. They then proved very clearly that the 901s couldn't reproduce a 'cello in that room.

2) ARC and ProAc at a defunct high end store in Skokie, Il in the late '80s. Speakers connected out of phase (or the Response 3s are REALLY bad speakers). Salesman then went on to praise the system's imaging capabilities. But Bill Z. Johnson gave a talk that was very enlightening as part of the same dem.

Regards.

Phil