Any good headphone stores in Toronto? (1 Viewer)

[Ned]

I'm looking for some stores in Toronto that carry Sennheiser, Grado, Koss, Sony, etc and they have all the models available to listen to.

I believe BayBloor Radio has some but that's about the most expensive store in this area and they probably don't have much selection.

 

[Nick_Shah]

The last time I was in Bay Bloor Radio I noticed that they have quite a large selection of headphones. I believe they carry most of the brands you mentioned.

Kromer Radio may be another option, as well as Brack, American Sound of Canada, etc.

Bay Bloor isn't the worst on prices, depending on the salesperson you speak to. Drop me a line if you'd like, and I'll forward the name of a salesperson I was speaking to a couple of weeks ago. I didn't buy anything at the time, but his preliminary (read: before negotiating) quote was fairly competitive. However, I was looking at a full 5.1 purchase, so the margin of pricing may be greater there.

Here's another idea, how about checking the 'authorized dealer' sections of the manufacturers you mentioned. It may be a bit more work, but you'd be able to narrow down the stores in the area.

-Nick

 

[AaronMg]

Yeah,

Bay bloor audio is the only store I could find in the GTA that actually has grado (not order them). They also carry most of the other brands. I bought a pair of sr125's there. Very knowledgable staff!

 

[GabrielC]

Yup, Bay-Bloor has a rackful of headphones for you to demo. That's where I first heard the Sennheiser 600s, niiiice A bunch of Grados are there too. Anyways, it's an option I suppose, but a relatively expensive option seeing as how they're pretty much full price.

 

[Arthur Legardo]

Don't bother going to Kromer Radio, they only have Sennheiser (as if that were a bad thing) and only a few of them at that. I agree with the Bay Bloor Radio suggestion, they have Grado, Sennheiser, AKG, Sony and Denon for audition.

Please let me know what you find because I am in the market for a good pair of headphones.

 

[Ned]

Should be going there tomorrow or thursday. One benefit of auditioning headphones is that if a salesman comes by you can just point at the headphones in a "what? sorry, can't hear ya" motion.

 

[Nick_Shah]

One benefit of auditioning headphones is that if a salesman comes by you can just point at the headphones in a "what? sorry, can't hear ya" motion.

Priceless!
Do let me know if you need the name of a 'normal' salesman at Bay Bloor. Like I mentioned, I haven't purchased anything from him, but he seems like a good guy, and he despises Bose speakers as much as the average member of HTF.
-Nick

 

[Ned]

I was at Baybloor yesterday and spent about 2 hours listening. The salesman, "ken", said the prices were pretty much firm as posted. "We would lower the posted price if we could". Sounds like bs and he said replacement earpads for the Grado were $20
Does anyone know other stores in Toronto that carry Grado headphones? I don't see any benefit in buying from BayBloor and although they had lots of models out for testing (most stores have little or none), the setup was rather poor and they didn't even have a stool or chair to relax in while testing. The resistance to haggling even on $430! headphones was a bit irritating, and I decided to hold off on the purchase.

 

[Mike Ware]

Don't know what part of the city you live in , Ned, but Lipton's in Newmarket seems to have a good selection of hi-end stuff. I've walked by there headphone section a dozen times but I could not tell you what brands they carry. Just thought i'd give you another option. Have fun!

 

[David Chisholm]

I would recommend going to Audio One at steels & jane st.

They carry Sennheiser and Grado. I was only looking at

Grado myself and they let me try about 6 different models

from SR-60 up to RS-1. I ended up buying SR-225 and I was

given 15% off MRSP with out asking.

I found the sales people to be low pressure and like to

talk hometheater. I was left alone for 45 mins with 6

headphones and my own cd's untill I decided.

Dave.

 

[Ned]

David-

That's odd. I spent hours there when listening to various speakers but never noticed they had headphones at all. I must admit thought that I pretty much blocked them from my mind until now. "Why would I want headphones?" Having now heard very good ones like the Grado RS-2's and Sennheiser HD600, I now know what all the fuss is about. Thanks for mentioning that they carry them.