Good Audio Dealer in San Francisco

Bay Area Audio has some of the finest gear in the bay area - Thiel, Sonus Faber, Aerial, Krell, Audio Research, Martin Logan.

They are extremely helpful and allow you to listen for as long as you wish. I've been to all of the other places listed above, with the exception of St. Cecilia (I need to check them out. Sounds like a great place.) While they all offer some nice gear as well, I just wouldn't waste my time. There's nothing more frustrating than stepping foot in a high-end salon only to be met with rude sales people and no opportunity to audition...or just a very brief and poorly setup audition. I had this experience at The Audible Difference in Palo Alto. They carry some of the biggest names in audio - Wilson, Eggleston, Thiel, Revel, Vandersteen, BAT, ARC, Linn - but every time I've gone there I was brushed off and not given an opportunity to listen to anything. One time I asked if I could audition the Thiel CS-6s and they connected them to a 30wpc tube amp. They didn't have time to move things around and set them up properly. I listened to two tracks and bailed.

I agree with the positive opinions regarding Bay Area Audio. They have the best low-pressure listening experience I can remember in the Bay Area. They're knowledgable, friendly and go out of their way to help you learn. If there are not a mass of other people there, they're happy to let you listen all morning. Call ahead and they'll setup just about anything for you.

I also agree with the very negative opinions on The Audible Difference. I used to live in Palo Alto, less than a mile from them. More than once they left me with the impression that I just couldn't spend enough to make it worth their while to spend time with me. I was only spending ~$15K at the time, which in Silicon Valley during the boom years was apparently not that much. But that's their loss, because I still buy from The Analog Room and Bay Area Audio even though I live 2400 miles away. I didn't even go looking or those two places until AD proved that they didn't want my business. You might say that the "Difference" in their attitude was very "Audible" to me. Oh, and I've dropped another $40K or so since they pissed me off. These days that probably *does* amount to a real sale, even to Audible Difference.

And while I'm grousing, stay away from Magnolia Hi-Fi, also in Palo Alto. (Also about a mile from my house--what am I, a bozo attractor???) They have totally uninformed sales droids. When I'm spending this kind of money, I expect the sales staff to know more about your product than I do. One of their bozos insisted that a Krell KAV-300 was a "pre-amp" even after I pointed out that it was directly connected to the speakers and *had* to have an amplifier stage. I went there one other time and spoke with a different bozo, although he was somewhat less misinformed than the first one.

There are few things worse than a well informed Bozo, right Blw? ;-)

Add another positive vote for Bay Area Audio and a negative one for The Audible Difference. BAA was responsible for a fair portion of my early education in audio (Audiogon gets the blame for most of the rest...). The staff at BAA has *always* gone out of its way to be helpful. Even better, they even let customers just wander around and look. Very relaxed, comfortable environment. This is a shop I *want* to buy from.

The Audible Difference is, IMO, the other end of the spectrum. Like Blw, after numerous auditions (there and elsewhere) I had $15K in equipment picked out, but it wasn't worth their time to close the deal. To be fair, the last salesman that waited on me busted his butt waiting on people while his "peers" hid out in the backroom. My hope is he eventually found a position where his work ethic was better appreciated and more profitable, too.

There *are* a number of good shops here, but these two stand out.

In my best George Bush (the elder)/Dana Carvey voice:

Bay Area Aduio - good!
Magnolia - bad!
Musiclovers - good!
Audible Difference - bad!
San Francisco Stereo - kinda like Saddam!
Analog Room - kinda good! (and they DO carry Sonus Faber)

well said 4yanx!