Audio Stores in Bay Area

R_burke · « **Reply #20 on:** 9 Sep 2006, 08:53 pm »

Quote from: Bizarroterl on 8 Sep 2006, 11:17 pm

Quote from: R_burke on 7 Sep 2006, 05:55 pm
South Bay, but good knowledgeable people

http://www.theanalogroom.com/

Domain expired on 9/2. Link no longer works.

Not sure what happened with the web site, but they are still in business, I just called and spoke with them. Here is the address and phone number:

1416 Frutdale Ave
San Jose, CA 95128
408 971 6158

budbrew · « **Reply #21 on:** 10 Sep 2006, 07:43 pm »

Matt at Pitch Perfect Audio is a good guy. I bought a Leben amp from him and he allowed me to hang out for a while listening to the Shindo gear including the field coil speakers and the Garrard TT. His selection is not huge, but the gear is good and he's friendly and down to earth.

Jason Victor Serinus · « **Reply #22 on:** 10 Sep 2006, 11:29 pm »

Three more I found via a website. I know nothing about these:

Bay Area Audio
?1362 South De Anza Blvd.?
San Jose, CA 95129?
408.255.0735?
http://www.bayareaaudio.com

Magnolia Hi-Fi?110 Sunset Drive
?San Ramon, California 94583?
(925) 242-3600
http://www.magnoliahifi.com/

Triad Home Theater & Audio
?1320 South California Blvd.?
Walnut Creek, California 94596
? (925) 952-4581
http://www.triad-electric.com/
jason

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #23 on:** 11 Sep 2006, 04:28 am »

Magnolia Hi-Fi are stand alone locations. Magnolia Home Theatre are located within select (corporate parent) Best Buy stores.

As we want to make the the most comprehensive list available, I offer all the NorCal Magnolia Hi-Fi locations:

Colma
650.757.4300
1 Colma Blvd.
Colma, CA 94014

Emeryville
510.420.6100
5606 Bay Street
Emeryville, CA 94608

Palo Alto
650.838.2500
180 University Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94301

Roseville
916.782.9880
1164 Galleria Boulevard
Roseville, CA 95678

Sacramento (Arden Fair)
916.561.2740
1785 Arden Way
Sacramento, CA 95815

San Ramon
925.242.3600
110 Sunset Drive
San Ramon, CA 94583

Santa Clara
408.423.5100
52 North Winchester Boulevard
Santa Clara, CA 95050

Santa Rosa
707.566.2680
2080 Santa Rosa Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95407

AudioQuest, B&K, Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, Denon, Elan, Escient, Marantz, Matrix Audio, M&K Sound, MartinLogan, McIntosh, Mirage, Monitor Audio, Pioneer Elite, Primare, Pro-ject, REL, Sennheiser, Shure, Sonos, Sonus Faber, Sony ES, SpeakerCraft, Tivoli Audio, Vienna Acoustics

Mortsnets · « **Reply #24 on:** 12 Sep 2006, 10:37 pm »

for the vintage/used crowd:

The Sound Well (Berkeley)
repair, used, vintage
http://www.thesoundwell.com/
510-549-2126

Sertech Electronics (San Jose)
repair, used, vintage
http://www.sertechelectronics.com/
(408) 267-3288

The Audible Ear (Lafayette)
Is this shop still open?
Vintage gear, vintage speaker repair, vintage speaker drivers

Brad · « **Reply #25 on:** 12 Sep 2006, 11:20 pm »

Cut it out Mortsnet

You're going to have me moving or at least visiting NorCal to check out the vintage gear shops

Just don't tell me if there are any good vinyl shops too......

Rolloff · « **Reply #26 on:** 13 Sep 2006, 08:43 pm »

Harmony Audio Video
www.harmonyaudiovideo.com
333 W Portal Ave
San Francisco, CA 94127
(415) 661-2525

The've got B&W and Gallo speakers and a host of various other equipment. As usual these days, they're probably thriving on home instalations of multi this and that, but they still offer 2 channel for the enthusiast...

Grace · « **Reply #27 on:** 16 Oct 2006, 03:56 am »

Hello Craig,

Did you find what you are searching for? I'm sure all of them on the list are good. I've dealt with two of them so far...

Jeff at Audible and Troy at Specialty - Helpful before and after the sale... all the best to your search

contrarian · « **Reply #28 on:** 16 Oct 2006, 01:04 pm »

Just want to reiterate budbrew's comments, that Matt at Pitch Perfect Audio is a wonderful person to deal with. I just bought a Shindo amp from him and I’m very impressed with the gear and his friendly and knowledgeable demeanor.

For a fun and informative read, check out this 6moons Road Tour article:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/mlroadtour1/roadtour.html

Mortsnets · « **Reply #29 on:** 24 Oct 2006, 07:10 pm »

Grace,

Thanks for asking. I had to go to the top of the thread to remind myself of the original question.

No, I have not yet visited any shops that stock modern day LS3/5a equivalents. I got a good deal on a vintage KEF 103.2 speakers via Craigslist and am still in the honeymoon phase with them.

They sound good with both the inexpensive solid state and vintage tube (Scott 299) amplification (very flat impedance curves).

Still looking for a speaker that will make the Sonic Impact T-amp sound anywhere near as good as the rave reviews.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #30 on:** 25 Oct 2006, 02:51 am »

Mortsnets...the little T-amp is nice, better with either battery power or regulated AC power supply....but if you really like tubes, it'll probably fall short of ideal for you. It's a bit dry...can be helped by tube pre in front, but you're kinda' losing he cheap charm of it that way. At least, that's what I found (and I am a more recent tube convert).

I spoke to David Tonelli last week, the local expert tube amp guy in Oakland, and he was a splendid guy. Unfortunately he's also popular and backed up 2 weeks and won't be available until mid-November to fix new gear with a vacation coming up and a move to a new space.

Sitting here with two vintage sets of monoblocks that need some TLC, I didn't know where to turn. My listening room is also my office and with Winter coming up these guys make nice space heaters (I think they do a better job than any heater I've ever bought in this particular room - I'm serious)

It dawned on my very close to me is World of Sound.....a long time McIntosh dealer. So, I called, and indeed they have a repair facility that fixes anything - tube, SS, whatever (it's virtual audio museum in there when you look around). So, my Dukane monoblocks are awaiting TLC with Peter there now ...

Here's the address if you all need/want:

World of Sound (Service Department)
35 Reed Boulevard
(Behind Strawberry Shopping Center - right off Rt. 101 on the northbound side)
Mill Valley, CA 94941
tel. 415-383-4346
www.worldofsoundmarin.com
E-Mail: ps35reed@aol.com (Peter's email)

rhing · « **Reply #31 on:** 25 Oct 2006, 04:07 am »

For the Sonic Impact amp, you might want to check out Omega Loudspeakers. Witch Doctor Audio carries them. They are highly efficient speakers (93 dB +) and with good stands or mounting platforms they provide a nice low end.

For another Bay Area audio dealer, don't forget:

Taurus Audio
5680 Thornton Ave.
Newark, CA 94560

Owner: Louis Ma
Phone: 510-713-9893

JM FocalLab, Almarro, Melody Valve, modified Toshiba DVD players, NOS tubes, lots of esoteric Asian hifi magazines and disks

unita_logica · « **Reply #32 on:** 1 Nov 2006, 02:35 am »

Hi all, this is my first post on this wonderful forum. I am fairly new to the world of hi-fi audio but I am learning quite a few things from great web sites like TNT audio, 6moons, and this one of course.

To get back in topic:

Did anybody go to Leo's Pro Audio in Oakland? I believe they mainly sell musical instruments but I was wondering whether they have an audio room too...

http://www.leosaudio.com/

Mortsnets · « **Reply #33 on:** 1 Nov 2006, 03:50 pm »

Hi and Welcome,

I've been to Leo's and it targets pro audio/musicians. But there are some crossover products like the Benchmark Dac and some of the Behringer stuff. Good prices on harmonicas.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #34 on:** 6 Nov 2006, 11:20 am »

Another repair center - mostly for tube amp & pre-amp owners.

Tho well know for his Dynaco modifications, he also repairs, fully restores, and upgrades the products from the following select manufacturers:

* Audio Research
* Conrad Johnson
* Dynaco
* Fisher (classic)
* Harman-Kardon (tube)
* Luxman (tube)
* Marantz (tube)
* Paragon
* Quicksilver
* Sonic Frontiers
* Theta

Curcio Audio Engineering
1686 Hyacinth Lane
San Jose, CA 95124
Phone: 408-269-4273 (PST)
FAX: 603-584-6573
e-Mail: curcioj@earthlink.net
www.curcioaudio.com

Berndt · « **Reply #35 on:** 24 Jan 2007, 02:24 am »

Quote from: bob stern on 7 Sep 2006, 05:21 pm

I believe he used to be the repair tech for Audible Difference in Palo Alto.

He's in Campbell. His store is called True Sound. Tel. 408-370-7578
http://www.tsound.com

I am dealing with Nick Gowan at True Sound with a couple fix'em ups right now. He appears to have a long history in the bay area, and he likes working on my stuff!
He popped the platter off of my micro-seiki and said, "this looks nice".
He's got a megabuck hydraulic compensated transrotor spinning ambient music, so good means a different thing for him.
He suggested some tweaks for my pre amp and blah blah blah.
Uhmm, perhaps we include service/sales reviews in this thread?

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #36 on:** 24 Jan 2007, 03:02 am »

Sure, we should.

Curcio, just above post...is known for Dynaco mods and repairs to all kinds of equipment. I'm not even sure he sells anything new.

So, repair centers should be on this list for folks....the list is sprinkled with a few now.

slbenz · « **Reply #37 on:** 26 Jan 2007, 04:07 pm »

Another hi-end audio dealer in Fremont is ClearstreamsAV. The web site address is www.clearstreamsav.com. They carry Epos speakers, Bruce Moore, Music Hall, and a number of room treatment accessories you can listen to. Mark Eberhardt, the owner, is a very nice guy and provides great customer service.

Zepplock · « **Reply #38 on:** 8 Aug 2007, 01:37 am »

Does anyone know a store (preferably South Bay) who has Totems for audition?

Thank you.

bob stern · « **Reply #39 on:** 8 Aug 2007, 03:08 am »

I don't know any in the Peninsula, but here are 3 possibilities:

Silent Lucidity, 415-928-2990, San Francisco

Harmony Audio Video, 415-661-2525, San Francisco

Pro Home Systems, 510-653-4300, Oakland