Good stores in/near Toronto, ON (1 Viewer)

[JohnBrianW.]

Bay Bloor is a tad on the expensive side, but its a fun place to poke around. I just got back from there today from attending a workshop with Vince Bruzzese of Totem.
Some other places you might want to check out are in The SoundRoom Scarborough. Paul is an pationate albiet eclectic audiophile. If not his shop, he is worth a visit just to learn from.
A little HT upstart in Oakville called Altered Sound is just getting into HT. They specialize in car audio but are beginning to put together a nice little HT set up. They carry Sherwood Newcastle, HK, AAD and Jamo.
Replay Electronics in Etobicoke carry end of the line and current stuff. I've seen Alchemist, Onkyo, Axiom, Pi, Myriad there on a recent visit.
A custom Home theater business that I spoke to was very helpful as well was windyrock, the owners name is Chris and he was very helpful with advice about custom installation.
Caledon East Video carries Yamaha and Paradigm reference...good guys, not pushie at all.
As mentioned CanadianSound are worth a visit, sales people are very helpful and willing to deal. I delt with James and he's a good guy. They have a really nice hi end set up.
Those are a few alternative choices to the ones already mentioned.

 

[SteveDev]

Kennedy Hifi - Wow, such negativity towards Benny at Kennedy Hifi, I must chime in. I deal with Benny for all my Hifi needs and have never had a problreem with him. My brother first starting dealing with him some 10 years ago or so and purchased his HT from him. Recently he went back and upgraded certain components (went from a Yamaha to Denon 3802 receiver, upgraded his CC, upgraded his rears). I just started my own HT after I got married in May and bought almost everything from Benny as well and have developed a very good relationship with him. I bought the Mirage FRx 7s, rears, OMC3 center, and recently the OM-200 sub. I've also purchased a Denon 2802 off of him. So I'm definately not a person who spends huge amounts on HT but still got along great with Benny. Just recently I added a VHS player (heck, the wife needs something to watch the wedding video with!) and a Equipment rack from Benny.
I go there quite often, sometimes just to shoot the sh*t about HT. I've never felt that I was being rushed or they didn't have time.
I recommended KHF to my cousin. He bought the Denon 3802, Tosh 3750, and recently (today actually!) the Toshiba HDX TV (not sure if he got the 57 or 50) from Benny. The price on the TV was the best I've seen posted. The only reason he didn't buy his speakers there is b/c he was sold on getting Paradigm which KHF does not carry (he got them from Kromer downtown I believe).
Although I deal exclusively with Benny for pricing, I think you'll find all their staff are very knowledgable and friendly. Ed is great, Marcus seems very freindly and knowledgable as well although I think I've only spoken to him once.
One thing you'll find with Benny is that he's not going to bullsh*t you. He'll tell it like it is, which may not necesarily be what you want to hear. If he thinks you're wrong and he's in the mood, he'll tell you bluntly rather than sugar coating it. If you prefer sales men who will tell you what you want to hear regardless of whether it's wrong (or for that matter if they think it's wrong), then he may rub you the wrong way! I prefer brutal honesty myself!! Walk into most stores and you'll see what I mean. The salesman will try to ascertain if you're leaning towards any particular product and if he sees your more or less convinced it's the one for you, he'll say it is regardless of what he thinks.
Based on prices I've gotten quoted from other places and what I've seen posted in this and other forums that I frequent, I've never felt cheated. Actually, 99.9% of the time I've gotten much lower from KHF compared to what I see on the forums. I don't even bother shopping their prices around anymore (and I'm an accountant!). I would recommend anyone at KHF to friends and family in an instant and often do.
Sorry for the long post on KHF, unfortunately with the proliferation of the internet if a couple people have a bad experience at a store it gets posted everyone who reads it thinks that's the way it is all the time! Being in retail myself (although not HT - unfortunately!), it can get pretty upsetting! Most of the time it's just the saleman or the customer who was in a bad mood!
Other places I've been ....
Brack - on Yonge. Fantastic set up at this store. Good staff. Pricing was a bit higher than KHF. Didn't have a great experience at the store downtown though, but have only been there once.
Bay Bloor - relatively knowledgable staff, depending on who you talk to. Over priced though. Heck, they need to cover that rent somehow!! Don't have much selection for subs. I do believe they'll deal a bit though and they've been around forever.
Audio Excellence - if this is the one I'm thinking of at Bayview and 7, definately depends on the salesman. When looking for a sub someone referred me here and instead of getting the owner (who I was referred to talk to) I got some young guy who gave me the history of sound, the company, and JMLabs for 60 minutes and I ran out of time and didn't even get to audition the sub, which is all I wanted to do! He was also your typical sales man. Despite his talk of wanting to know the type of room, size, etc. before he could make a recommendation he took me to the sub he was going to try and sell me even before asking me any of this. It was hard not to laugh, even after I asked what other subs would suit he kept pushing this one (JMLabs Cobalt or Chorus, don't remember the name). Supposedly the owner is much better to deal with.
The one in Yorkville is decent (not affiliated anymore to the one above). There's a guy with grey hair there who's easy to talk to. But again, he'll tell it how he sees it (just ask him what he thinks of Denon vs. Pioneer Elite!). Didn't get into pricing though as they didn't carry anything I was interested in.
Kromer - On Steeles. Went there once, seemed decent. Good prices on Paradigms.
Regards,
Steve

 

[JohnBrianW.]

Intersting comment on the Audio Excellence in Yorkville. The gentlemen you spoke to I met with as well. I think he's the owner. Most of the stuff he carries is way out of my league but he was interesting to talk to....very knowledgeable and as you said doesn't BS. If he thinks equipment is crap..he tells you so! in no uncertain terms...I was chastised for mentioning wave8 mono blocs even though he sells ASL. If I had the cash..I'd go back again, even just to learn from him and to listen to his extensive cd selection.
Speaking of cd's check outSim Audio's reccomended cd's. Do you know of any other companies that do this?
I requested info from Cardas and they sent to me along with a broucher on cables a price list of cd's.

 

[SteveDev]

W.r.t. Audio Excellence, maybe I should have said "They didn't have anything I could afford" instead of anything I was interested in!

I believe their lowest end receiver's are the Elites.

 

[John Doran]

Audio Excellence (Yorkville) : i didn't find the guy that knowledgeable, although i did find him unbelievably opinionated. he certainly seems to be knowledgeable if he's talking about stuff you don't know about; but once you start asking specific questions about specific equipment he sells that you do know about, the illusion of his audio wisdom evaporates like the morning mist.
i went there as an HT neophyte, not knowing anything about anything, and he spent the whole time crapping all over my equipment for what seemed like really interesting and insightful reasons. afterward, i was galvanized into action and decided to do my own extensive reading and learning about the nitty-gritty of audio. when i went back and spoke to him much later (i'm sure he didn't recognize me), and had a conversation with him about different amplifiers and speakers, it became obvious that he really didn't know all that much.
Brack (Yonge) : i know the manager and one of the salesmen there, who defected from Bay-Bloor Radio (Paul and Wade). Both guys are good to deal with and are willing to negotiate pricing.
Canadian Sound : it depends on who you deal with here, as elsewhere; i was unfortunate enough to get a guy (Don?) who was utterly unwilling to negotiate pricing. my friend, on the other hand, deals with james, who is exactly the opposite, and my friend (and his friends) have managed to get fantastic deals.
Audio One : these guys are good. they're friendly and quite willing to spend time with you. i bought once from them and am considering buying more right now.
- jd

 

[GabrielC]

Mark: Unfortunately, it seems that way, from others I've talked to too. Fortunately Marcus is very easy to deal with, professional and very informative, isn't afraid to spend time helping you out.

SteveDev: I'm glad you've had a good experience with Benny, perhaps your history with him is a benefit, I've only dealt with him a couple of times. I believe he'll tell things like they are, but the way he was talking to us, he might as well have picked up a shovel to push us out of the place, with no other customers in the store at the time either. The highlight of my last trip was him jacking the price of an amp $200 even after he heard Marcus give me the lower price. Just to clarify, I am not the type of person to overexaggerate stories, and I believe what you say about the good/bad moods is true. I know I was in a good mood at the time up until the point I walked out the door...

 

[SteveDev]

GabrielC: Understood. I didn't mean to insinuate that you were overexaggerating by any means. All I wanted to say is that I know Benny treats me and the people I've referred to him very well and we have established a good relationship. Through this relationship he gives me some of the best deals I've seen that I don't think he gives to anyone who walks in off the street, but does for repeat customers whom he gets to know. I would hope that most salesmen do this.

The "jacking of the price" is something that does sound unusual though, especially if he did in fact hear Marcus state a price, unless he was just quoting that retail was $200 more. I can understand getting different prices from different individuals in the same place as this often happens when you deal with two people, especially at boutique stores (but will even happen with the Futureshops of the world). But obviously since I wasn't there when this happened I can't comment on it.

At the end of the day I just want to get the point accross that KHF is a great place with great prices that you can negotiate, and really good people working there, be it Benny, Marcus or Ed (or the other guy who's name I keep forgetting!). All three have different personalities and sales techniques.

I can tell you for Mirage, Denon, Toshiba, and Yamaha products KHF has very competitive prices if you negotiate right! I'm sure it's similar for all the products they carry (unfortunately the rest are way out of my price range so I wouldn't know what a good price for them would be, or should I say out of the price range the wife sets for me!!).

It's unfortunate that you and a few others have had a bad experience there.

Regards,

Steve

 

[GabrielC]

SteveDev: No offense taken, I knew you had no bad intentions, I would do the same if our roles were reversed.
Since we're in the receivers/amp forum, I might as well ask you, how do you like the 2802? and what does your cousin think of the 3802? Since they're starting to age a bit, I was thinking of picking one up hopefully a little cheaper, but I haven't gotten a chance to listen to them first hand for any length of time. Out of curiousity, which Yamaha did you have before the 2802, and how did it compare?

 

[SteveDev]

Actually it was my brother that had the Yamaha, not myself and it was not a digital receiver so there's no comparison to his newer 3802. Both my brother and his cousin love their 3802's, I believe my cousin was originally looking at an Elite but decided to go with the 3802 since he didn't feel there was justification in the price difference (don't tell the guy at Audio Excellence in Yorkville though!).
The 2802 suits my needs just fine. Is a 6.1 receiver (I believe it has a pre-out for 7.1 if you want to hook up an external). More than enough power for my room (13x17) and speakers. Benny actually suggested that the 1802 was more than enough for my needs but I don't know, for a couple hundred extra I decided to splurge on the 2802 for a few extra watts and 6.1.
I can think of only three relatively minor things I don't like about the receiver:
1. The remote is one of the worst I've seen, it looks like a 10 year old remote. Big, clunky, and not very user friendly. The 3802 remote is much better (as are the new remotes for the 1803 and I'd imagine 2802 when it comes out). Mind you, I'm looking at a new remote for my system so hopefully this will soon be a moot point.
2. I'm not fond of the Digital in's, only 1 coax vs. 3 optical which is a pain. I have to run my DVD player using optical since my STB only allows Coax. Not a big problem, I've heard that optical isn't as good as Digital, but for the life of me I can't tell any difference.
3. I find the display very small on the receiver. Can't read the sound level from 10 feet away.
Otherwise I think it's a great receiver. Seems all Denon receiver's above the 1602 have gotten fantastic reviews from HT sites (see www.ecoustics.com for a few reviews).
What have you seen these receivers going for now? I think the 3803 is just around the corner so I'd imagine the 3802 is going for close to cost?
Regards,
Steve

 

[Kevin. W]

I've had good experience with East Hamilton Radio in Hamilton Ontario. Just 30min outside T.O. I've bought everything I have from them, and always got a deal. Just bought a Panasonic 47" RPTV just 6days agao and got a free RP62 player with it. Not to mention they forwarded the date on the invoice for me so I ge the $240 in rebates for the TV and dvd player. Also I don't have to pay till Jan 2004.

Kevin

 

[GabrielC]

SteveDev:

Actually, I haven't taken a look around for the 3802 for some time. The last time I checked about half a year ago, it was $1600 from KHF. Now that you mention it though, the 3803 does look interesting. Quite a lot of features I've never had a chance to test out since my much older Pioneer D509. Is Dolby PLII really as nice as some people say it is for stereo source material?

Unfortunately the 3803 still looks like it only has 1 digital coax =(

Another question I have, does the 2802 or 3802 heat up much when put in relatively normal use?

 

[SteveDev]

I'm not a big fan of DPLII for stereo source material, I still prefer traditional 2 channel for stereo, although I'm warming to my sub, so maybe I'll say 2.1 only because I'm too lazy to change the settings on the receiver to turn the sub off.

I think a lot of receivers still only carry 1 digital coax unfortunately

I haven't had any problems with heat and my 2802, I'll run it for several hours straight on a Saturday at a pretty high level (need to hear it over the vacuum!) with no problems. But then my equipment rack (Solomon) has really good ventillation. I've read a few people complaining about the heat issue (see Denon forum at hometheaterspot.com) but the majority don't seem to have it. I think it was more of a problem with the '01's or people who keep them in units that do not allow for much ventillation.

Should definately be able to go lower on the 3802, especially now.

Steve

 

[ChrisAG]

I keep coming back to this thread because I'm interested in reading new replies about stores in Toronto. I wish there was a flag in the title that warns when things have gone completely off topic. :frowning:

 

[Graeme Shiomi]

Tabangi in Mississauga:
Interesting people, very much like a variety store that sells highish end gear. Very willing to haggle and deal, but if you don't know your stuff, you are screwed here. I picked up a Rotel RCD-971 that lists for $950 for $700 taxes in. I picked up a Monitor Audio ASW-210 that lists for 1500 for 1350 taxes in. But if I didn't know about the gear they sold...I was toast.
Trutone in Mississauga:
There is one main dude here who knows his stuff. He will lay you straight, making sure you don't do something stupid. But he is very blunt about it, so he can rub you the wrong way. He does try to get you to buy decent cables, but he thinks anything above the entry level "decent" cable (like Audioquest Copperhead) is pretty much a waste of time.
Audio Excellence Yorkville:
The guy you are talking about is probably Peter Z. He is an audiophile who likes to talk shop, but that has set opinions about things. Smooth talking guy, so watch out. But he does know a thing or two about what sounds good and what doesn't. One thing I like about the store is that they are willing to deal, have a good selection of listening rooms, and they WILL set it up for you if you call ahead (within reason). Twice I've asked to have a specific piece put into a certain room on certain speakers, and both times it's been done.
The other guy there is a taller guy with curly grey-black hair and a moustache. He's not nearly as useful, and is more just a guy who sells gear.
Audio One:
Pietro is a good guy there, but he listens to his music a little softly. He doesn't like to "turn it up". Otherwise, a good store, if a little biased towards Paradigm and Anthem. Points off because they sell BOSE...
Whitby Audio:
Biggest kudos because they'll give their price over the phone...mainly because Whitby ain't close. They sell a heck of a lot of brands.
Home of the Audiophile:
Up in Richmond Hill, two guys own the place. One guy is a very loud and boisterous talking business type guy. "This is a great deal! This sounds great for the money!". The other is a quiet, serious guy who likes music. If you walk into the store and he's there, he'll quietly ask if you want to listen to some music, and then he'll set it up for you.
Funny story, the loud guy was helping my friend out with some ASL tube gear, when he put some DiCapo 3A speakers on them (heavy load on 8W tube amps...). He was blabbing on about "hey, these amps are great no problems!!" when the left amp blew.
These are the guys I'm most familiar with. Although if you want to go further afield, Alternative Audio in Dundas is a really nice place. They have a website: www.alternativeaudio.com . The guy who owns the place is very friendly, and knows his stuff.
Graeme

 

[JohnBrianW.]

I'm really enjoying this thread. Another Ontario and internet based shop is Take Five Audio
Has anyone ever delt with east hamilton radio? I bought my totems from a place in hamilton called Allied TV and Sound. It was fun shopping there, the sound room is in a tingy but eclectic basement. They carry some high end stuff.
Another Hamilton place I discovered on the web isGlobe Audio Video, very limitted HT but some really high end gear.
I know I'm getting out of the city but those are a few places I discovered within driving distance.

 

[Rich H]

If you can get to Alternative Audio in Dundas, do it. They now sell some good AV gear, but their heritage is High End Audio. It is absolutely the best over-all high-end audio store I've been to (and I've been to every one within the Toronto area, as well as most in New York and L.A etc.).

The reason? Fantastic gear. Big place, with many different rooms. You get to see and hear crazy-assed high-end gear (like the Flag-Ship Dynaudio Evidence), as well as look af affordable stuff. Mike, the owner, is the best. You can listen to whatever you want (and believe me, I have)
and he will NEVER make you feel pressured to buy. He never pushes stuff. He's simply there to help you audition what you want, and he politely offers information on products WHEN YOU ASK FOR IT. So, basically, you are treated with respect and courtesy.

BTW, about the bigger Audio Excellence on Bayview. It's got great gear and worth a trip. However, the store is well known as a snob-shop. For instance, I walked in there with my brother-in-law, David, who was visiting from Japan. He's an audiophile, and we told the salesman David was interested in CD players and speakers.

We asked to listen to the Krell amp set-up with the Wilson Watts. The Salesman, who clearly didn't think we rated his time, and despite the fact there was NO OTHER CUSTOMERS in the store, made excuses for why we couldn't listen. "The CD player isn't hooked up," he said, without conviction.
"Uh, yes, so could you just re-connect the interconnects so we can hear it?" We asked.

"Sorry boys" he said. I said if we couldn't hear it there we'd have to go somewhere else. "I'm sure you'll find this gear somewhere else." Which was a lie, as they were the only dealers in Toronto for Krell/Wilson.

What he didn't realize is that David was a multi-millionare, and was willing to buy whatever impressed him at the store (he couldn't get some of that gear in Japan).
David and I left incredibly angry, and not long after that he bought a Krell amp, Meridian CD player, and Sonus Faber speakers.

I told this to a pal who writes for a Canadian audiophile magazine. He was so mad to hear it he wrote an article describing what happened (and how they missed a big sale), condemning the store. When I next phoned Audio Excellence and the manager recognized me, he did backflips to apologize, and I've had good service since

A cautionary tale for high-end dealers!

Rich H.

 

[Kevin. W]

Has anyone ever delt with east hamilton radio

Have dealt with them from my first jump into HT. Excellent price, excellent deals, excellent service. Just bought a Panny 47" from them last week. In there deal they were giving away a free RP62.

Kevin

 

[Alex Dydula]

http://www.audioshop.on.ca
Talk to Marc...its in Ottawa, no BS
Just great service!!
Alex