You could, but you'd be listening to your own speakers in someone else's space, so the sound wouldn't be the same. That kind of thing is okay for shortlisting, but ideally you want to hear how the gear sounds in your own space too.
All good specialist Hi-Fi dealers offer this as a service where practical. Obviously with some gear such as very large speakers or suspended chassis turntables there are some logistics issues to consider, but there's very little reason why these can't be overcome. That's part of what being a boutique retailer is all about. It's service both before and after the sale that justifies part of the margin they make on brands with a limited distribution pattern.I didn't realise stores let you take stuff home to try. Nightmare if you accidentally damage something getting it out of the box
I think where this level of customer support was never really part of the game plan is with the discount chains. RS can be awkward just about doing an in-store dem, so the idea of loaning gear out on a temporary Visa sale is anathema to the culture business, or certainly has been so in the past. They'd much rather stand you infront of a bank of different gear on a noisy shop floor and demo like that. Pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap.
It's worth remembering though that most Hi-Fi manufacturers offer a reduced cost price on gear that is to be used for display and demo purposes. The amounts vary across the brands, but the idea is that it offsets some of the loss of margin that would be incurred for selling something ex-demo. It also acts as incentive for the store to hold demo stock and accept that it might not be in pristine condition once it has done the rounds. Also I think you'd have to be incredibly unlucky or very clumsy to do any significant damage to a piece of Hi-Fi gear such as an amp or CD transport.
In the end buying Hi-Fi should be about the way it sounds. If a dealer isn't prepared to help you discover that then I'd ask the question whether they're the right people to buy from.
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