Free home trial service

AUDITION IN YOUR OWN SYSTEM: IT'S THE ONLY WAY

You know how it is with hi-fi dealers – the tricks to tempt you into spending more on something 'better' – those peer-pressure cues to nudge your opinion in the 'right' direction – all those unfamiliar ancillaries . . . .

Worse still is making a snap judgment in an entirely different acoustic with an entirely different power supply. Oftem, what you take away from a dealer audition is usually not what you went there for – literally and metaphorically. And at home, it sounds completely different.

Compounding all the above is the fact that equipment has often been pulled from the box without adequate run-in time. With speakers in particular, this renders auditioning pointless.

For those information-fatigued by the endless spirals of net babble about on-trend products (“DAC B is so much better than DAC A” – “No, wait, DAC C is better than DAC A” – “Hang on, DAC A kills DAC C”), the only solution is to hear the gear in your own room, with your own system, at your leisure.

We consider this so essential that we keep a stable of fully run-in products on hand to lend to prospective buyers, without charge: you only pay for shipping. Try before you buy, and you'll have all the opinion you need.

Do USB cables really make a difference? Borrow a few – find out for yourself. Can a computer really sound better than a high-end transport? Is the latest hot-ticket D-A converter really better than vinyl? Can inexpensive active speakers really replace and outperform conventional 'separates'? Will my system benefit from an impedance-matching Burson Buffer? You be the judge.

Here's how it works: we take a deposit for the value of the equipment on a credit or debit card via PayPal. You spend a week with the fully run-in equipment in your system and, in most cases, return it. If you like it, we send you a new one. If not, we refund your account in full, minus shipping.

In the UK, shipping varies in price from £7.50 to £15. Within the EU*, the price will range from £12 to £25. For non-EU customers, or those from geographicaly remote regions within Europe, the cost will be calculated individually. Normally, we will arrange for fully insured collection, but you're welcome to handle the return yourself. Sometimes, we will extend an option to purchase the demonstrator at a discounted rate.

* Shipping to the following countries is calculated at the standard EU rate: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

* Shipping to the following countries geographically within Europe is calculated at the Worldwide rate: Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Lichtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Romania, Serbia and Switzerland.

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