James, unfortunately the lack of the quantity of quality dealers hurts manufacturers and consumers more than it hurts those dealers. As long as they have a following for what they are selling and making money with less competition from local stores the dealers are good to go. If you're not one of the manufacturers that the dealer prefers you may be out of luck in that market as is the consumer who will look to the internet and consider used. At one point the dealer I noted, who would not get a 14BSST on the floor (when the list was something like $6k) had an amp from his favorite company sitting unhooked up on a coffee table in one of his sound rooms. The particular brand he favors builds speakers that permit going active and adding additional amps. I've tried to talk to him from time to time. I am a customer, not a guinea pig (and I was that way many moons ago and got the shorter end of things that were not cheap). So I don't frequent the place as much. If there is something he carries that I want, I don't mind buying it. He is good in other ways. He is closed Sundays and Mondays and if I want to try something he would have no problem regardless of how expensive it is letting me take it home at closing on Saturday and bringing it back at lunch time on Tuesday.
I'm sure I'll buy some stuff from him. I'm not ready for a BDP-1 at this point. I have the Squeezebox Touch and early next year will be a PC more optimized to storing digital music files. When I'm ready to consider an upgrade, I hope he carries one (but he sells a music server/DAC from his favorite brand that costs more).
I can tell you a quick story. Years back I had a couple of friends who worked there part time. I did set-ups installs over many years and then we would go out for a couple of beers and come back to the store where I had access to things and started making my own cables with expensive stuff to compare it to on my terms. He is a Marantz dealer but would not carry the 8260 CD/SACD unit as he was afraid at $1k it would take away sales from his favorite brand's $1.8k and $3.6k CD only players. I met another friend who lives close by doing his set-up and he came into the store asking about SACD and went home with the $3.6k player. I was considering the 8260 but it had no level controls for the center and surrounds and my SP1.7 does not either. I downloaded the manual and gave it to both my friends who worked at the store. They both bought it at their sales person rate. When the owner was not their one Saturday one of my friends who worked brought his personal unit in and sold three of them. The dealer then carried. The friend I met who bought the $3.6k player only a month before was really furious as they danced around the issue and he would have considered the $1k 8260 (not to mention he owned probably 30-40 CDs when he bought the unit).
To make it worse, he borrowed the 8260 at closing that Saturday and came home and wanted to try multi-channel but forgot to borrow cables. He called me since I lived a half mlle away. He asked for 3 identical pairs of cables. I told him all I had was my home made cables. I brought them over (took them off one of my players) and left them with him. He had bought really expensive cables that were another favorite of the dealer. I think the single ended cables from his CD player to his preamp were $650 list and the balanced cables from the preamp left and right out to the amp were $1,095 list and they gave him 10% off. His $3.6k CD player had 2 identical RCA sets out. Unknown to me, he did A/B comparisons (which I had done many times in the store after closing) and there was a night and day difference and he called me the next night to hear expecting me to be surprised. I ended up making cables for him at cost. He did learn that the dealer doesn't look at for his wallet or his preferences but instead just is looking to sell.
We all have different tastes and with limited things to audition at a local dealer customers are left to buy used or go to the internet. I hope he carries a BDP-1 when I'm ready. At one point probably 5 years back, he told me DACs are passe - a thing of the 80s (I tried not to laugh). He now has a couple including the BDA-1 and his favorite brand no longer makes a stand alone CD player. I have 3 systems and I tend to rotate from the main system to the secondary bedroom or basement systems when I upgrade. At this point I am leaning towards a preamp with HT bypass and a processor I can rotate to the basement system when it becomes somewhat outdated in 5 years. He does carry brands that have preamps with this feature and the preamps are not cheap, but they are not on his floor (I asked my friend who used to work there not that long ago after he helped out on a day when the owner was away). So as a customer, I am left to do some research (reviews, forums) and probably get something lightly used. That's just the way it is. If he doesn't end up carrying a BDP-1 when I'm ready to consider one, my best bet is probably the used market. If it doesn't work out for me for whatever reason, I can sell it and not be burned that badly. I bought my 6BSST and 14BSST amps 7+ years back lightly used for the same reasons. I can probably sell them today (after prices increases and US dollar declines) for not terribly different than what I paid. I don't mind paying someone a fair price for the convenience of auditioning it or trying it in my system. That is only fair. If I am to be a guinea pig, it will be on terms that are more favorable to me such as the used market.
