As hi-fi and audio visual retailers we are always delighted to share our knowledge and to engage with customers’ questions on a variety of topics. The most common questions tend to centre on how one brand or product compares to another.

We can certainly talk about product specifications and give our unbiased personal views based on our own listening experiences. But beyond this things get more complicated…

A typical, and entirely reasonable, customer question might be something like: “How do these speakers compare to those ones?” Most customers are not asking about differences in driver or cabinet construction. They want to know how they sound compared to each other.

Or, to take another question we often hear: “What sounds better, a good CD player or a similarly priced streamer?” Entirely reasonable questions. The trouble is that there are often no objective answers to how things sound.

THE Naim 300 Series in the AUDIO T BRIGHTON Listening room

What sounds great to one person might sound too bright/too bassy/too relaxed and so on to another. And what sounds fantastic paired with one system may sound less good in another.

In short, sound (what we actually hear) is very often highly subjective being dependent on a huge number of factors right down to the way our brains are wired.

Audio T Oxford Showing off their new audio note system

Sure, most hi-fi enthusiasts can tell decent sound reproduction from that served up by poor equipment. But the only way to find a sound that really suits you is to listen to the equipment yourself.

And that is where Audio T’s bespoke demo rooms come into their own. It is part of the service that distinguishes Audio T as an independent hi-fi retailer.

Not only do our demonstration rooms allow customers to road test equipment and make comparisons but a demo also helps build relationships during which customers feel comfortable talking about their hi-fi and music. It’s an interactive process.

Often matching and mixing components in the demo room ends up in happy coincidences when, for example, you are demoing a record deck for a customer who turns out to be just as impressed with the sound of the speakers and/or the amp you paired it with.

Of course, our listening spaces may differ sonically from customers’ home listening rooms and our pairing equipment may differ from their own systems. That’s why we also offer home loans.

Music is one of life’s great pleasures. We put great amount of time and effort into finding music we enjoy and then listening to that music.

Why would we then risk playing that music on equipment bought on spec, or solely on the strength of a shopfloor sales pitch or magazine review, when we don’t know how it sounds?

There are surely few things more disappointing for a hi-fi enthusiast than eagerly plugging in a new component at home only to be seriously underwhelmed.

Our main demonstration room at Audio T Portsmouth

So, if you’re considering some new hi-fi in 2024 or just want some advice on your system, then drop in for a chat at the Portsmouth store. Or, if you prefer, you can call us on 0239 266 3604 or drop us a line at portsmouth@audio-t.co.uk

Thanks for reading.

Alan, Luke and Stephen - Audio T Portsmouth

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