Hi Fi Demos

[MeanandGreen]

I’ve never experienced a good one.

Many years ago I used to audition speakers before buying them by booking a demo, I was always left grossly underwhelmed and if anything just more confused as to weather or not I was going to get the upgrade I was looking for. Always finding kit sounds much better at home even when my kit at home was technically inferior.

The last two pairs of speakers I bought I didn’t even bother with an audition I took a gamble. Last time this was with 50% off on my current Tannoy Reveloution XT-6F about 3 years ago and luckily it paid off and they work well within my living room and were a significant step up from what I had previously.

The last demo I was at was at Linn a couple of years ago. It was a factory tour of their facilities which ended in their demo room which housed an £80k Linn Klimax system. This demo was actually awful to the point of being funny considering how much the kit costs, it was a shambles and certainly not a high fidelity performance and I don’t think any of the others I was with on that factory tour left there wishing they had £80k to drop on that flagship system.

I watched a YouTube video recently where a guy was walking around a high end show somewhere in America and he was having a similar experience to what I’ve always had. Just a completely lacklustre demo experience regardless of equipment cost. It just makes me wonder why if I can get good sound at home (I’ve moved house multiple times) so not just comparing one room to everything else - but why every demo I’ve had has left me completely cold?

Incidentally I only tend to change speakers when I’ve moved house to suit the new living space sonically.

Has anyone else felt that demos are actually more of a hinderance than a help? Has anyone ever been seriously impressed by a demo and thought ‘this is what I want to hear at home’?

 

[MrReaper182]

I always demo new gear and it's always helped me choose the best hi-fi for my money. I always go into a demo knowing that what I am listening to might sound slightly different than it would in my apartment's living room but you have to do that as you can not expect the hi-fi your demoing to sound like it does in the demo room as your own listening space for obvious reasons.

 

[MeanandGreen]

I always demo new gear and it's always helped me choose the best hi-fi for my money. I always go into a demo knowing that what I am listening to might sound slightly different than it would in my apartment's living room but you have to do that as you can not expect the hi-fi your demoing to sound like it does in the demo room as your own listening space for obvious reasons.

Fully appreciate that, but what I’m saying is I’ve never heard anything sound good in any demo.

 

[Al ears]

Fully appreciate that, but what I’m saying is I’ve never heard anything sound good in any demo.

So you've bought everything on spec or someone else's review?

 

[MeanandGreen]

So you've bought everything on spec??

Electronics yes.

Speakers and headphones a mix of spec and multiple subjective reviews and objective measurements.

 

[Gray]

Has anyone ever been seriously impressed by a demo?

Yes.
Positioned with an impractical amount of surrounding space and, crucially, with nothing physically between them - little Proac Tablette Reference 8 speakers.
Never before / since heard such good central imaging.
Sounded like the acoustic guitar was actually between the speakers.....but nothing like as good back home due to positioning compromises (ended up returning them and exchanging for front ported B&W CDM1-NT).

 

[MeanandGreen]

Yes.
Positioned with an impractical amount of surrounding space and, crucially, with nothing physically between them - little Proac Tablette Reference 8 speakers.
Never before / since heard such good central imaging.
Sounded like the acoustic guitar was actually between the speakers.....but nothing like as good back home due to positioning compromises (ended up returning them and exchanging for front ported B&W CDM1-NT).

Was it just the imaging that was impressive or were there other positive traits too? Because this is the problem with demos IMO, they might set the speakers up for good imaging in one instance, but then there is zero bass for example.

I‘ m yet to witness a demo where the full spectrum is balanced, it’s usually all top end and upper mids, or it’s the other way with over the top muddy thumping and not much else.

 

[plastic penguin]

I’ve never experienced a good one.

Many years ago I used to audition speakers before buying them by booking a demo, I was always left grossly underwhelmed and if anything just more confused as to weather or not I was going to get the upgrade I was looking for. Always finding kit sounds much better at home even when my kit at home was technically inferior.

The last two pairs of speakers I bought I didn’t even bother with an audition I took a gamble. Last time this was with 50% off on my current Tannoy Reveloution XT-6F about 3 years ago and luckily it paid off and they work well within my living room and were a significant step up from what I had previously.

The last demo I was at was at Linn a couple of years ago. It was a factory tour of their facilities which ended in their demo room which housed an £80k Linn Klimax system. This demo was actually awful to the point of being funny considering how much the kit costs, it was a shambles and certainly not a high fidelity performance and I don’t think any of the others I was with on that factory tour left there wishing they had £80k to drop on that flagship system.

I watched a YouTube video recently where a guy was walking around a high end show somewhere in America and he was having a similar experience to what I’ve always had. Just a completely lacklustre demo experience regardless of equipment cost. It just makes me wonder why if I can get good sound at home (I’ve moved house multiple times) so not just comparing one room to everything else - but why every demo I’ve had has left me completely cold?

Incidentally I only tend to change speakers when I’ve moved house to suit the new living space sonically.

Has anyone else felt that demos are actually more of a hinderance than a help? Has anyone ever been seriously impressed by a demo and thought ‘this is what I want to hear at home’?

Demo rooms are always going to be a compromise. Purely because you are trying to compare it to your own listening environment. The trick is to do more than one pair of speakers -- you discard the real plumb.

The best demo room I've heard was at Richer Sounds. It was the closest acoustically to my living room in terms of balance.

This is why it's best to take your amp as well....

 

[MeanandGreen]

Demo rooms are always going to be a compromise. Purely because you are trying to compare it to your own listening environment. The trick is to do more than one pair of speakers -- you discard the real plumb.

The best demo room I've heard was at Richer Sounds. It was the closest acoustically to my living room in terms of balance.

This is why it's best to take your amp as well....

You’ve reminded me of a time I took my own amplifier about 25 years ago to Richer Sounds to try a pair of Tannoys out. I was wanting to upgrade from a pair of harsh lightweight sounding Jamo speakers which I had at the time.

The demo left me completely cold as these 5 star super duper well balanced speakers sounded worse than my already harsh bass light cheapo Jamo speakers at home. I compared the Tannoy to some recommended by the salesman Mission speakers can’t remember the model now it was so long ago and again another sound completely devoid of any weight and body.

I couldn’t accurately judge the Tannoy vs Mission because to me all of the bottom end was completely missing. This was using my own amplifier, but IMO the dem room was way too large for the speakers on test.

I took the gamble anyway and went with the Tannoys as I had heavily researched them prior to this point. Once I got them home I heard the sound I was really expecting in the demonstration, so I wasn’t disappointed - but the audition before hand was a complete waste of time and didn’t help at all.

Similar experiences ring true with pretty much every demonstration I’ve witnessed. The worst example was Linn’s factory listening room.

 

[plastic penguin]

You’ve reminded me of a time I took my own amplifier about 25 years ago to Richer Sounds to try a pair of Tannoys out. I was wanting to upgrade from a pair of harsh lightweight sounding Jamo speakers which I had at the time.

The demo left me completely cold as these 5 star super duper well balanced speakers sounded worse than my already harsh bass light cheapo Jamo speakers at home. I compared the Tannoy to some recommended by the salesman Mission speakers can’t remember the model now it was so long ago and again another sound completely devoid of any weight and body.

I couldn’t accurately judge the Tannoy vs Mission because to me all of the bottom end was completely missing. This was using my own amplifier, but IMO the dem room was way too large for the speakers on test.

I took the gamble anyway and went with the Tannoys as I had heavily researched them prior to this point. Once I got them home I heard the sound I was really expecting in the demonstration, so I wasn’t disappointed - but the audition before hand was a complete waste of time and didn’t help at all.

Similar experiences ring true with pretty much every demonstration I’ve witnessed. The worst example was Linn’s factory listening room.

That's why it's important to build a good rapport with one or two dealers -- you can blag a home demo.

 

[Deleted member 201267]

I’ve never experienced a good one.

Many years ago I used to audition speakers before buying them by booking a demo, I was always left grossly underwhelmed and if anything just more confused as to weather or not I was going to get the upgrade I was looking for. Always finding kit sounds much better at home even when my kit at home was technically inferior.

The last two pairs of speakers I bought I didn’t even bother with an audition I took a gamble. Last time this was with 50% off on my current Tannoy Reveloution XT-6F about 3 years ago and luckily it paid off and they work well within my living room and were a significant step up from what I had previously.

The last demo I was at was at Linn a couple of years ago. It was a factory tour of their facilities which ended in their demo room which housed an £80k Linn Klimax system. This demo was actually awful to the point of being funny considering how much the kit costs, it was a shambles and certainly not a high fidelity performance and I don’t think any of the others I was with on that factory tour left there wishing they had £80k to drop on that flagship system.

I watched a YouTube video recently where a guy was walking around a high end show somewhere in America and he was having a similar experience to what I’ve always had. Just a completely lacklustre demo experience regardless of equipment cost. It just makes me wonder why if I can get good sound at home (I’ve moved house multiple times) so not just comparing one room to everything else - but why every demo I’ve had has left me completely cold?

Incidentally I only tend to change speakers when I’ve moved house to suit the new living space sonically.

Has anyone else felt that demos are actually more of a hinderance than a help? Has anyone ever been seriously impressed by a demo and thought ‘this is what I want to hear at home’?

I attended a demo that was most useful in that it helped me form the opinion that a high price is no guarantee of better performance.

After making a purchase i was given a demo of the Roksan Blak CD / AMP combination feeding a pair of Focal floor standing speakers.

Despite this system costing roughly 8 times that of the one i owned it produced a sound that was no better.

I left the shop not whishing i had 8k to spend on a system but, instead, made me appreciate the humble system i had back at home more.

 

[Gray]

Was it just the imaging that was impressive or were there other positive traits too?

No, the sound was very natural overall - I can't imagine too many homes doing such justice to the speakers.
(As mine certainly didn't).

 

[MeanandGreen]

I attended a demo that was most useful in that it helped me form the opinion that a high price is no guarantee of better performance.

After making a purchase i was given a demo of the Roksan Blak CD / AMP combination feeding a pair of Focal floor standing speakers.

Despite this system costing roughly 8 times that of the one i owned it produced a sound that was no better.

I left the shop not whishing i had 8k to spend on a system but, instead, made me appreciate the humble system i had back at home more.

Your experiences echo mine. I agree wholeheartedly that even significant jumps in price mean diddly squat.

 

[WayneKerr]

Can't comment as I've never demoed any of my kit, all bought completely blind, but sounds great to my ears in my lounge.

As for price, my initial jump from entry level to mid-range was totally underwhelming, from mid-range to signature level was a huge leap in performance but it came at a price which was hard to justify.