I'm in NJ.
The folks at Audio Connection in Verona, NJ, specifically the owner, John Rutan have always been pleasant and accomodating. John, like anyone, does have his opinions and preferences in audio, but provides excellent customer service, and has that excitement about audio, where he wants to show you gear. That attitude is a great one to have, and makes you feel that the dealer has the same interest as you do...in addition to 'making the sale'. Because of this attitude towards equipment and music, I've been turned onto interesting products, and a lot of music I would have never been exposed to otherwise.
Audio Nexus in Summit NJ is alright as well. I believe its two people primarily running the show. The owner is extremely opinionated, and the second person is very friendly, but I've had good experiences here and excellent conversations. These guys provided some of my first exposures to great sound with some BAT, CJ, and Vandersteen gear. The fact that they were willing to take someone who at the time was about to spend too much money at 6th Ave Electronics, and show them something in my price range, as well as letting me hear how absolutely good things could sound well out of my price range was one of the factors that turned me to the darkside of high end audio, and the continual want to have things better...because I knew what they could sound like. That exposure makes the customer happy, helps the sales person and the 'repeat customer' situation, and drains the customer's wallet for year's to come. And strangely, everyone ends up happy.
I have only been into CSA Audio in Montclair, NJ once while I was in town for another appointment. I got the impression that they would definitely work with you if looking, but I have little experience here.
In NY, I actually found some of the friendliest people to be the people at Red Rose. Was in the area, had a system I had settled on, but had to stop in, and mentioned that at the time, I wasn't buying. They provided a demo, talked about their philosophy, we chatted about music, and I ended up walking out buying a number of CDs.
There are a handful of dealers in NJ that I will not walk into any longer that I will not mention names unless brought up -- horrible attitudes, horrible customer service, and surprised they are in business as I watched them treat other customers in the same manner. I believe they are only surviving off of local custom installs for home theatre, and only because they are the only game in town, or the general area.
I have family in Evanston, IL, and am envious of people that live in this town, outside of having a University, it being a great town, and absolutely beautiful? Why? A random stroll down the street brought me to multiple music shops, and at least 2-3 audio stores in the same town. I can't recall the names, so someone in the Chicago area could probably comment, but each were very friendly. One I believe is closing up shop (or already has), had Avantgarde and either Art Audio or Audiopax gear, and I walked in mentioning that I was from NJ and not buying, and they were happy to give me a tour and talk audio. One of the other shops was much smaller, carried less expensive gear, and had a decent amount of used gear. I ended up bringing my father in, who ended up doing business with them when he saw what was possible on a smaller budget, and that he was receiving excellent customer service from a sales/questioning perspective, as well as assistance with servicing old gear.
Even from a browsing and conversational experience, both stores provided me with an experience where if I was buying a product not available locally, that I would make it a point to do business with them at a distance because of the service provided while I was just visiting.
