[warpdrive]

PhotoByMark wrote:

Yep, In home trials would be the best. But the logistics of that scares me. I live way out in the boonies and to "Buy" some speakers, bring them home, try them, take them back to town and repeat the process etc? That is why I really was leaning towards going with Axiom or other places that I could try at home and ship back if I do not like. Truth be told though, in all probability if I get something to the house, the odds are very high that I would just end up with those speakers. I am pretty easy to please for starters and I think I would like them and well, I think I would just be too lazy to pack them back up and send them back. LOL.

Critics of the Internet Direct model say that it's precisely the fact that most people, once they get speakers home, will find them ok enough that they don't send them back. Most people lack a proper reference to really gauge a speaker. For instance, I was all set to buy an Axiom speaker but when I A/B'ed it against another brand, I preferred the other brand by a long shot.

I don't think it's that bad to audition at a dealer even though you are hearing the dealer's room acoustics. If the same speaker sounds really bad once you get it home, that should send the message that you need to fix your room acoustics as much as possible. You should never buy a speaker that has flaws to compensate for your room acoustics, you should buy a speaker that sounds good in a acoustically correct environment. Often many things can be done to improve the sound.