Favourite / most impressive audio store

hi-fi station 2001 near paris.i think this is unique place where you can listen the wilson wamm7 and all goldmund line.

Its sometimes hard to separate the quality of a store from the sales staff you interact with, but I find very often that the treatment I receive from some dealers very much depends on the person I speak with. It's easy to point out quality individuals, but much harder to identify quality dealers. One often discovers the difference when problems arise and you need to deal with someone other than "your" salesman. Generally, when attitude and service vary across the staff, my comfort level with the store drops and I tend to base my dealings with them more on their written policies than with our relationship or attention by any individual. Consistency, fairness and personal service are necessary elements in my definition of a "quality" dealer.

That said, I want to mention a couple of stores that I feel fall into the category of high quality dealers. One of these is Bay Area Audio in San Jose, where across the board my dealings with their entire staff over the past couple of years has been excellent. The salesfolks are very knowledgeable, and I've never been treated with anything but the utmost respect on each and every visit. Sadly, their lines don't align well with my tastes, and I haven't bought as much from them as I (or they) would have liked. However, given this reality, and the fact that I'm still treated extremely well by them, I have to include them in that very narrow category of high quality dealers.

Another dealer that has been outstanding is The Analog Room, also in San Jose. As their name implies, analog is their game and based on my visits there, high end audio as a hobby seems to be every bit as important as it is a business. The atmosphere is very relaxed, the lines they carry are top notch, and the (tiny) staff is knowledgable and very helpful. Another quality dealer in my book.

Cheers,
Ken

Two of my favorites in the Mid-west are Accent Sound in Overland Park Ks (speak to Herb)and Holm audio in Woodbridge , IL (Albert). Both stores offer knowledgable advise and the ability to fully audition equipment in ever range. Holm has some really esoteric analog equipment. It is anways a pleasure to visit both.

Hi Fi sound in Minneapolis Minnesota is by far my favorite place to shop. The owner, Scott is a pleasure to deal with and his reccomendations have really helped me get the most out of my system.
I think what makes a good shop is the people who work there. I have tried the other Hi End shops here in the metro area and at each one I had a terrible time getting even an acknowledgment while walking into their store. I remember standing in a store that shall remain nameless and waiting 35 minutes for even one salesperson to say hello. The retail actvity consisted of 2 salesman trying to sell a guy with a $340 receiver $185 Kimber interconnects. Another salesmen was attempting to sell a Mark Levinson system (85K) to a couple who had come in for a Sony Mini system. Meanwhile, I wandered around with 3K in my pocket ready to purchase a CDP that day. Finally, a salesmen came over and said he would be over in a minute. I asked him to audition the EMC 1. He told me the player was OK and was in reality a very SLOW player. He was a complete jack ass know it all. So on top of waiting 35-40 minutes to get even a hello they didn't have the player in the store and I had a pompous jack ass telling me what I was hearing. Another salesmen on the way out told me he would like to take my name and number and give me a call when it came back in for an audition. Needless to say they never called.
Scott at Hi Fi sound called about 2 weeks latter and asked me how my system was going. Told him about my experience and he hooked me up with an Arcam FMJ23. Upgraded me to the EMC1 as soon as it came in and needless to say I have never purchased anything locally from another dealer. It is nice to find a dealer who respects the people he does business with. Unfortunatley that is a rarity in the Audio business. StereoLand is also a good place to shop. Ron is an outstanding guy as well. Other than that, most of the other dealers around here are junk.

HATS OFF to HI FI SOUND MPLS!

PROGRESSIVE AUDIO Columbus Ohio
Like Slowhand, I live 2 hours away, but it's worth the drive - I don't know what could get me to buy anywhere else. The store has great listening rooms, they have great gear at all price points, give you all the time in the world to listen, and the staff and the owner are great people. I stop in to say hi whenever I'm in columbus, and once or twice a year I walk out with something.