This is something I’ve noticed lately. A lot of hifi shops and hifi manufacturers have helpful staff, but just as many are extremely rude and arrogant.
I’ve had people speak condescendingly about my amp when I’m demoing speakers. Same thing for my speakers. I’ve even had someone, and I kid you not, tell me my streamer has shit sound quality.
It seems like hifi shops are either extremely helpful or just downright awful. The same with manufacturers, they either recognise that there exists alternatives or everything sucks ass compared to their product.
A great shop in NL I can recommend is Multifoon hifi https://multifoon.nl in Rotterdam. They carry the highest end stuff (Wilson) but also deal in second hand equipment for the lower budgets so it’s not a problem if you are not rich. Also I got all the time in the world to demo all combinations with my speakers.