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Ah, New Yorkers always think they're the center of the universe. Doesn't Chicago have enough dealers, both storefront and "in home," for just about any component to be seen and heard at just about any time? And what about the greater Los Angeles area? But does either of these locations allow a showplace for products sold exclusively online, let alone products not yet imported into the U.S.? (Answer: No). And do NYC retailers really carry every valid brand under the sun, or do New Yorkers simply think they're so important that they imagine they do? (Hey, I was born in Manhattan, and raised on Long Island, so I have a right to say this. As for the answer, I don't know. To speak of my own region, I do know, for example, that Pass Labs does not yet have a dealer in the Bay Area, despite being headquartered a number of hours to the North.)
Finally, hasn't JA already noted that there are only certain areas of geographic concentration in North America where he thinks shows can be successful, New York being one, and those areas for the most part have the greatest concentration of dealers?
Your argument, Stephen, also ignores several unique aspects of an audio show:
1. It is a place to hear brands in close proximity that are normally sequestered in separate retail locations, often at considerable distance to each other.
2. It is an opportunity, with the right targeted publicity, to bring far more new people and young people into the fold than can be accomplished by individual dealers who often discourage young people, women, and "sight seers" when they enter their stores.
3. It presents an opportunity to hold unique events, such as the NYAS's seminar with recording engineers or Montreal's "under $5000" and "manufacturer-free" headphone area, that cannot take place in any one audio store over a short span of time. Plus, if there are seminars demos, presenters have a choice of equipment that is not limited by the selection available in any one store.
4. I also want to add that while a major disadvantage of auditioning equipment at shows, besides the rudeness of a minority of visitors and manufacturers who wilfully forget that other people want to listen, is that equipment has been hastily set up in a hotel room, it's far too often the case that dealers hastily set up and move equipment about in rooms that have not been adequately treated for room nodes and other issues. Ironically, you can sometimes hear better sound at a show than you can at a dealership.
The anonymous albeit ubiquitous deckeda makes some powerful points about shows under my NYAS show story that I hope we Stereophile editors can all discuss over Thursday night dinner in Newport Beach, assuming we can all make it in time.
jason