Are you having problems with Upscale Audio?

".I just wish Kevin was a little younger as I’m hoping he will be around if I ever get the money to bring my system to that elusive next level."

Ha! First off, thank you for all the kind words. At 68, I can look back on 50 years of selling hi-fi, including more than 30 years at Upscale Audio, and remember countless great experiences—and some completely ridiculous ones—with our customers.

I remember one Christmas Eve when a customer who spoke only Chinese and a few words of English received his Cary Audio/AES Sixpacs. He turned the bias screws, blew the fuses, and called us for help. I didn’t know which direction he had turned the pots, so out of desperation I called Cary Audio. My good friend Dennis Had, the owner, actually answered on Christmas Eve, and between the two of us, we somehow got the customer up and running. By the end of the call, we were laughing our asses off.

Our customers really are the best people, and we have had a lot of fun together.

One of the hardest parts of our business is selling tubes. Customers naturally want us to tell them whether a particular tube will make their system sound better, but that is impossible to predict. We may not know their amplifier, speakers, room, associated equipment, or personal taste. Even I can’t always tell someone exactly how a tube will sound in a system I have never heard.

That can frustrate people, but I would rather be honest than invent an answer just to make a sale. We test tubes more thoroughly than almost anyone, but testing can tell us whether a tube is quiet, stable, properly matched, and performing correctly. It cannot tell us exactly how that tube will sound in every system.

I once showed the owner of another good-sized audio store how we listen to every tube in circuit, how all tubes are somewhat microphonic, how we judge what is acceptable, and how a single KT150 can take 11 minutes to test because it has to settle down. He looked at me and said, “You are a glutton for punishment.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

As for whether I’ll be around when you are ready for that next upgrade, I want you to know how fortunate I am to have the team we have today. Some are digital freaks, some are analog fanatics, and none of them are paid a commission to sell you anything. If the person you speak with isn’t the right expert for your question, he’ll bring in someone who is. No egos.

We often gather in my office and work through a system together, because there is no such thing as “the best” anything. There is only what is best for you, your system, your room, and your budget.

There’s no doubt I’ll eventually get eaten by a mountain lion or hit by a truck, and I have worked hard to make sure Upscale Audio will live on without me. Some of our employees have been here for nearly 30 years. Laura and I think of them as family— and we have a responsibility to them.  

So don’t worry. When you are ready to take your system to that elusive next level, somebody here will be ready to help you.

I've been very happy dealing with Upscale Audio. I've bought tubes, Turntable, cables, Phono Stage and two cartridges from them. I would like faster delivery, but hey I'm on the east coast...

I had to return a cartridge because my knuckle decided to destroy the cantilever, they gave me a huge discount when I returned the core. Made my shame feel a little less expensive. 

I feel it's like on all of us to create the experience. The customer is not always right, and should treat the sales people with a bit of respect and courtesy. If you come on strong and as a know it all, not giving them any chance to even try and make the experience positive, then you reap what you sow.

or we can have AI take over sales, they don't get moody, but might just yes you to death. Is that what you're looking for in a resource?

I was the guy in college in the mid 80’s who went to Federated and spent way more than I should at the time on a Yamaha receiver, Tape Deck, CD player and Cerwin-Vega speakers that I used for 25+ years until they were taken from my house in a burglary. I replaced them with similar quality components in the early 2000’s and lived with those until early 2025 when I decided to get new gear, so I am relatively new to the higher quality HiFi world and the team at Upscale have been really great to me.  I started with buying what I then thought would my forever amp and cd player from Crutchfield.  I was relying on Bluetooth/spotify and and frankly did not even know about higher quality streamers and services like Tidal.  The internet algorithms noted that I was buying from Crutchfield and magically, ad’s for Upscale Audio started popping up on my computer.  Turns out that their store in La Verne is 10 minutes from my house.  I had probably driven on their cross street hundreds of times over the years. Not knowing much about them, I stopped by on a Friday after noon to ask about upgrading my amp to a more powerful option.  The two younger guys that I first talked with, Jordon & Dylan were super nice and asked me about my gear and what I was trying to achieve.  They also introduced me to Joel and together they suggested that I keep my amp and introduce a entry level bluenote streamer to my setup.  Think about that - I went in mentally prepared to purchase a new amp and I knew that they don’t sell budget equipment - instead they steered me to a $300 solution. In my book that represents concern for a customer and relationship building.  

Over the past 18 months, I have happily gone way down the audio rabbit hole. I have bought, sold, traded new and used gear such that I have assembled 6-7 systems.  90% of the new gear purchases have been from Upscale. All three of my adult kids now have pretty damn decent systems and my wife and I have primary and secondary systems in both our our houses. 

Some of the commenters have noted that Upscale sales people seem rushed at times.  I can attest that they are busy, particularity on Mondays and Saturdays.  I have been in the store, sometimes without an appointment, and seen them juggling phone calls, emails, chats and walk in customers.  Joel is the primary guy I work with and he will be very honest and tell me if he has time to chat, or not.  If he does have time, he is very good about allowing me to sit in a listening room and demo what they have set up for 45+ minutes. 

This is more long winded than I intended but the idea that I want to stress is that I have found Upscale’s customer service to be fantastic and a throw back to the day when retailers took the time to learn about the customer’s needs and they take pleasure in guiding the customer along their audio journey.  

My most recent visit to Upscale was just last Friday. I traded emails with Joel in the morning asking about how to improve my system with introduction of a tube pre or power amp.  I stopped by the store late that afternoon without an appointment. Daelan, Joel and Keven all took time to listen to me and in the end I am purchasing an open box Prima Luna EVO 300 to replace my SS amp.  Kevin is taking my SS amp in as trade (even though I did not buy it from Upscale) and is giving me a VERY fair trade in allowance.  This, my friends, is what I consider great customer service.  While some may have a few perceived negative experiences, I would suggest that we are all human, sometimes small mistakes or miscommunications happen - but I find Upcale Audio to be a national treasure in a world of mostly impersonal retail experiences today. 

I have purchased from UA 3 times and have had zero issues.  Even had some questions about a product that was completely and quickly addressed.  Just one data point but they seem fine to me.

Based on a number of responses here, it's hard to please everyone in any retail/service business. All my purchases/dealings with Upscale has been fantastic. The staff at Upscale say they are here to build relationships, and I do believe they do a decent job at it. Here's an example-

Purchased a Pro-Ject cd box rs2 t, based on numerous glowing reviews, here on A'gon. The sound quality was everything everyone said. Unfortunately, the fit/finish was terrible. Upscale went above and beyond trying to help me repair the unit. Finally, they offered to take back the transport in trade for a DENON DCD-A110 SACD CD Player 110th Anniversary. I jumped on it and four years later am still enjoying it.

David