Consumer electronics shopping in canada? (1 Viewer)

[BrendanW]

Hi, I just moved to montreal from california. I have noticed a serious lack of electronic stores here. The ones I do see, have terrible selection and even worse pricing. Can anybody reccomend where to shop for hardware in Canada, specifically (montreal would be nice....toronto is good to since i visit there occasionally)? Are there any good online retailers in canada?

PS: Apologies if I posted this in the wrong forum, I am new to this board.

 

[PatrickM]

Welcome to our world!
Its not great up here for electronic retailers if your thinking big box retailers. There are quite a few good specialized retailers in each area.
If your looking for big box there's futureshop which also has an online presence at Link Removed . Another place online is Link Removed I've purchased a DVD player from them.
Sorry I can't help you with local retailers in Montreal.
Patrick

 

[BrendanW]

I am new at the home theater stuff, and want to start building one on my limited budget (i am a student. Futureshop sucks as far as pricing, and selection goes. At least from what I have seen. I will check out the other website you just suggested. THank you.

 

[Richard Travale]

Hey Guys, welcome to Canada. I think that you guys may be suffering from Canuck Sticker Shock. You have to remember that our dollar is worth about 50 cents US(roughly) and that reflects in our pricing. So, a receiver that you could have bought in California for $500 is going to cost at least $750 here. Sorry

 

[BrendanW]

Yeah, i have been looking at the prices After conversion and After your insanse taxes. I shudder at 15.56% sales tax....ouch.

 

[ChrisAG]

Uh, the dollar is bad, but not that bad. About US 62 cents.

Kromer Radio and Bay Bloor Radio are probably the two most well-known stores in the Toronto area. They have a wide selection of brands and quality.

There are numerous higher-end stores also, such as Brack Electronics, Kennedy Hi-Fi, American Sound of Canada (strange name, go figure), among others.

 

[Sebastien David]

Welcome to Montréal!

Some stores to look at: Futureshop, if they have what you need and it's on sale and you don't need technical advice, Dumoulin, which offers pretty good service with relatively knowledgeable salespeople; they are dealable, but they cannot always match the prices from the big guns like Futureshop. In the higher end, there is Filion Électronique, a very nice store, but you are going to pay a premium for their good service and high-class shopping atmosphere. Radio St-Hubert would prbably be one of my favorites, they have a nice selections of brands that seem to be quite popular on this board, i.e. Paradigm, Klipsch, etc. but they don't carry Denon, which is a shame. Their sales staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. I like the way they include the taxes in their prices, but I don't know how flexible they are on the prices. Getting back to the mainstream, Stereo Plus has very good prices if you're willing to bargain just a bit, they might even give you discounts before you say a word, it happened to me! They carry Paradigm, but they don't really do the higher end, and don't expect first-class knowledgeable service. Avoid the snobby Sony Stores, their prices are inflated and they basically carry only Sony.

There are a couple other specialized stores, but I obviously can't list them all here. Besides, I'd need to know exactly what kind of a budget you have, and where you are in Montreal, as well as any brand preferences you may have, and that's without getting into your listening habits and room size! Tell us more, I'll try to give you some other ideas on where to shop. Hope it helps.

-Seb

 

[Richard_Wg]

Sebastien brought up some good names in montreal. However I would avoid Dumoulin (and their sister store 'Audiotronic') as their sales tatics are quite questionable.

A place I would add to your list is Codell Audio. They carry Paradigms and Onkyo (including Integra) in addition to other high-end brands.

 

[Jagan Seshadri]

Try audio centre. I am familiar with the Ottawa store, but the Montreal store is bigger, and from the pictures on their website, I believe them.
Check it out
-JNS

 

[Andrew Pratt]

There's www.audioshop.on.ca in Ottawa that seems to always get glowing reviews for customer service (talk to Marc)
As far as future shop goes they will deal on the sticker price if you talk to the right person. I've bough a couple of things from them at a decent percentage off sticker price...and always check out the clearence racks etc I've got some amazing deals from that table (again negotiate a better price the sticker esp if its missing a remote or cable etc)
On a side note also remember that while our hardware prices might be higher then south of the boarder our software prices tend to be much cheaper. I'm not sure how much you intend to spend on hardware but if you have even a small DVD collection the savings on software will easily make up for the more expensive hardware.

 

[DavidY]

US is generally better for HT components (except for Canadian made speakers)

On the other hand, Canadian online/B&M dealers have generally better prices on DVDs IMO. However, you kinda have to hunt for the good deals. A few exceptions are: Criterions and anime.

For example, the Atlantis: The Lost Empire CE is priced CDN$30.88 (~US$19-$20) at Zellers. The best price from DVD Price Search was around US$24.

Dave

 

[Sebastien David]

Richard, I would like to know what exactly you find questionable about Dumoulin sales tactics...
Send me an email if you don't want to discuss it in public.
[email protected]

 

[Myles]

I have had very good luck with:
Link Removed (just email them for current pricing).
also try:
www.londondrugs.ca
Link Removed
Link Removed
http://www.peakaudio.ns.ca/
Link Removed
http://www.targethifi.com/
http://www.audioshop.on.ca/
http://www.audiocentre.com/
http://www.virtualhelpelectronics.com/

 

[BrendanW]

Thanks so much for the info guys. I have a lot to check out. Montreal is very new to me, so I am still learning my way around. Luckily my fiancee is a native, so she can help.

 

[Sebastien David]

forgot to mention Dumoulin's website, where they have an almost complete lineup of the products they carry ALONG WITH THE STICKER PRICES. needless to say, do NOT pay those prices, unless you have money to throw away. bargain is the name of the game.

 

[Richard Favreau]

Welcome to Montreal Brendan,
You could also check out "La boutique electronique" on the west island, as well as Kebecson (I believe they are in the Berri / Papineau area). Both have some variety and demo rooms.
You should also check out "Chez Paree" when you need a break from the HT thing. Took a couple of Philly boys there last night. They are still smiling this morning.
Just don't think all our winters are like this one.
Rick Favreau

 

[BrendanW]

I have heard of chez paree, but I have yet to go there.

I love this city, I grew up on the beaches in Los angeles. And these two places are some of the best I have seen in the world.

It looks like there are a lot of stores for me to check out. It will be even easier when my Camaro SS arrives this spring (didn't want any salt getting on it, so I delayed it's transfer from california)

 

[BrendanW]

just to add onto this thread....can somebody suggest a place to get a good price on DVDs??? they seem far less common an item here than in california where you would be hard pressed to find VHS tapes now.

 

[Sebastien David]

Future Shop, WalMart, Future Shop online...

Looks like WalMart has a price advantage, but you'll have much more selection online with Future Shop.

 

[Bruce Abar]

You can try a&b sound. A&B carries the higher end stuff that futureshop does not. You can also email me and I will put you in contact with a sales person who can ship anything to you. They have Maranzt, Denon, Sim, Energy, PSB, Kenwood, just to name a few, you want high end, thats where to go.