Leeps said:
I've had great unhurried demos before at my local Richer Sounds, but booked in advance. They even hooked up speakers I'd purchased at another shop to demo their amp and CD player. They got me a coffee and left me to it. I could have been there for hours and they wouldn't have minded.
all pretty standard nowadays - most store will let you bring in your own equipment, which is always the best thing to do if you have older, discontinued equipment.
They're a very busy store indeed with a very wide product range so (in general, no comment about Simon's experience) I think it's not really fair to turn up unannounced on a Saturday and expect undivided attention and a full AV receiver demo.
Pre-booking demos makes sure everything is set up ready to go (including alternatives) beforehand.
The detail of the set-up on an AVR can influence the sound and overall impression much more than a straight 2-channel system, so can be tricky to ask for a demo on a specific AVR, particularly if they don't have that model already set-up.
Again, a pre-booked demo would mean you can listen to any AVR a store has on demo. At least that way you can decide if it is the right product for you/your speakers/your room. Using a different amplifier (especially a better one) will make the speakers sound much better than they actually will when purchased. Plus, only having a two channel demo isn't going to tell what the speakers will be like for movies.
Opposite my local Richers is a more specialist hifi store. Both stores are helpful and accommodating but Richers has significantly more punters walking through the door.
RS sell more budget equipment than many specialist stores, so will have more people going through their doors.