Good Audio Dealer in San Francisco

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!

No mention of Century Stereo. They used to be great back when their shop was in the ghetto. Now that they've opened their "state of the art" shop in Saratoga, it's not the greatest place to go. Plus their listening rooms are horrible. Nice home theather though....And I suppose therein lies the problem.

Oh...You also can't listen too loud 'cuz the folks from REI next door will come over and complain. Yep, they shoulda' stayed humble in the ghetto.

But, if you HAVE to listen to B&W and or Revel, you're still better off here than anywhere else that I know of.

Dan, you are right on the mark. When Century opened in El Paseo in Toga, I thougt, great, some high-end near my home. But, alas, another HT emporium. Guess I can't blame them if that's where the money sits. But you're also right, the rooms SUCK, the staff is about as knowledgeable as my dog, and they don't even try as hard as ole Arrow. :-)

There is another place just down the row called "Paradise". Much smaller, much more limited product line. Again, they focus on HT but the guys there do offer some help in two-channel, are freindly, but know little beyond their product line.