karlsushi
Established Member
I love this hobby. For me, the main hook has always been the anticipation and excitement of what the next hifi upgrade might bring to enhance my love of listening to music. In this regard, demo-ing new kit is one of the greatest joys in life (yes, I need to get out more!).
But I have a frustration regarding demo-ing hifi. It seems the choices are either listening to kit in a well set-out demo room in a hifi shop with other kit and room acoustics that have no relationship at all to your listening environment at home. Or, it means buying the kit first.
For me, an offer of purchasing the kit in full with a money back guarantee within 14 or 28 days 'if you're not happy' and 'you haven't put so much as a finger print on the chassis' not to be the same thing as a proper home demo.
I have found very few dealers (albeit there are a small handful) that offer a proper home demo service, with perhaps the only exception being dealers that you have bought kit off for years and have sufficiently demonstrated to them that you are likely to spend a small fortune out of the kit they've demo'd to you in your home.
This is not a criticism of hifi suppliers by any stretch. I have no doubt that the risks to a dealer of just handing out kit for people to try in their homes, with no guarantees of a sale or even the kit turning up again, are rarely worth investing heavily in.
Of course during lockdown, the issue of getting a home demo (or any demo for that matter) has become even greater, which is in stark contrast with my own situation during this time period, whereby I have become more obsessed in wanting to demo and purchase new kit than ever before (frankly, what else has there been to do!).
But how often do we here on avforums (and forums in general), do people respond to a question asking "what kit shall I buy?", with "don't rely on other's opinions, you need to go and listen for yourself"!!
In practice, this realistically involves demo-ing kit from more than just one shop. Possibly several.
Easier said than done.
I have previously (and still do to a degree) viewed the second-hand market as a great way to just buy and sell kit without losing too much dosh and avforums has certainly helped a lot there, but the risks seem to just be getting greater all the time, with chancers and tryers (ebay, I'm looking at you) picking out a tiny little mark here or a disagreeable description there, coupled with courier damage risks and then there's the scamming risks which were highlighted recently on this very forum. The second-hand market has subsequently become a bit of a minefield, both as a seller and a buyer.
The only other way to get to listen to loads of great kit is to become a reviewer. Who else doesn't seethe with envy every time they see one of @Ed Selley 's reviews on some exotic speakers or amps that you know you'll never get your hands-on. I do sometimes see manufacturers offer out loan units within certain forum communities in exchange for 'honest opinions', but that doesn't ever seem to happen here. And of course that doesn't necessarily involve equipment that you have your eye on for your next upgrade.
So what's the answer?
Well, it would be great if more dealers/manufacturers felt comfortable just loaning out demo kit on a proper home demo basis, but I understand why that isn't the case.
So, the best idea in my mind would be for someone to start up a Hifi Hire Service, whereby demo units could be shipped out for hire to try out in your system at home, obviously with an appropriate fee for doing so plus shipping costs. Personally, I would love to be able to borrow the latest and best kit to listen to at home to see if its worth investing in first and I imagine there are many more people besides me that would also be interested.
As you can probably appreciate, I'm not a businessman. But couldn't this work as a viable business?
And who here is going to take it on?
But I have a frustration regarding demo-ing hifi. It seems the choices are either listening to kit in a well set-out demo room in a hifi shop with other kit and room acoustics that have no relationship at all to your listening environment at home. Or, it means buying the kit first.
For me, an offer of purchasing the kit in full with a money back guarantee within 14 or 28 days 'if you're not happy' and 'you haven't put so much as a finger print on the chassis' not to be the same thing as a proper home demo.
I have found very few dealers (albeit there are a small handful) that offer a proper home demo service, with perhaps the only exception being dealers that you have bought kit off for years and have sufficiently demonstrated to them that you are likely to spend a small fortune out of the kit they've demo'd to you in your home.
This is not a criticism of hifi suppliers by any stretch. I have no doubt that the risks to a dealer of just handing out kit for people to try in their homes, with no guarantees of a sale or even the kit turning up again, are rarely worth investing heavily in.
Of course during lockdown, the issue of getting a home demo (or any demo for that matter) has become even greater, which is in stark contrast with my own situation during this time period, whereby I have become more obsessed in wanting to demo and purchase new kit than ever before (frankly, what else has there been to do!).
But how often do we here on avforums (and forums in general), do people respond to a question asking "what kit shall I buy?", with "don't rely on other's opinions, you need to go and listen for yourself"!!
In practice, this realistically involves demo-ing kit from more than just one shop. Possibly several.
Easier said than done.
I have previously (and still do to a degree) viewed the second-hand market as a great way to just buy and sell kit without losing too much dosh and avforums has certainly helped a lot there, but the risks seem to just be getting greater all the time, with chancers and tryers (ebay, I'm looking at you) picking out a tiny little mark here or a disagreeable description there, coupled with courier damage risks and then there's the scamming risks which were highlighted recently on this very forum. The second-hand market has subsequently become a bit of a minefield, both as a seller and a buyer.
The only other way to get to listen to loads of great kit is to become a reviewer. Who else doesn't seethe with envy every time they see one of @Ed Selley 's reviews on some exotic speakers or amps that you know you'll never get your hands-on. I do sometimes see manufacturers offer out loan units within certain forum communities in exchange for 'honest opinions', but that doesn't ever seem to happen here. And of course that doesn't necessarily involve equipment that you have your eye on for your next upgrade.
So what's the answer?
Well, it would be great if more dealers/manufacturers felt comfortable just loaning out demo kit on a proper home demo basis, but I understand why that isn't the case.
So, the best idea in my mind would be for someone to start up a Hifi Hire Service, whereby demo units could be shipped out for hire to try out in your system at home, obviously with an appropriate fee for doing so plus shipping costs. Personally, I would love to be able to borrow the latest and best kit to listen to at home to see if its worth investing in first and I imagine there are many more people besides me that would also be interested.
As you can probably appreciate, I'm not a businessman. But couldn't this work as a viable business?
And who here is going to take it on?