High-End HT Stores in the DC or Phila. Area (1 Viewer)

[Scott-C]

A friend and I are going to take a road trip to a major metro area within a few hours' drive of Baltimore to look at HT equipment (front projectors, amps, processors, etc.) and in preparation for it, I would like to know the best places to go in either the Philadelphia or Washington, DC area. Unfortunately, there isn't much in Baltimore so the road trip is necessary. We want to go somewhere where we can hit a couple of really good B&M's in one day.

What are the best places to go in these two areas or in other areas of similar proximity (i.e. East Coast within a few hours of Balt.)? I'm looking to review things like Sharp and Seleco DLP front projectors, Lexicon/Classe/Bryston/Integra Research processors, Monitor Audio/B&W/Vandersteen speakers, Cinepro/Bryston/ amps, etc.

Thanks!

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

There's Overture in Delaware.
Neil

 

[Arthur S]

Soundex in Willow Grove has a good bit of high end gear, e.g. Wilson speakers, Krell, Integra. They also have about 20 separate rooms.

David Mann has Bryston, Runco, B&W.

Hi Fi House, Broomall, has Meridian, B&W.

David Lewis Hi End only.

World Wide Stereo says Vidikron, Faroudja, Rega, Conrad Johnson.

You should probably call first to make sure they have the brands and specific pieces you are interested in.

Artie

 

[Michael R Price]

I live in the NW suburbs of DC. The only real A/V dealer here is Soundworks on Connecticut Av in Kensington. They've got an extreme array of high-end equipment and a bunch of low-to-midrange stuff for the rest of us. The salesmen were pretty nice and showed us their $40k reference system to get us interested (when we were only looking and not going to buy anything)... though they would not let us listen to a certain speaker without paying for it first, because it was still in the box. Nevertheless, $550 is pretty expensive for a 30-minute audition, so we left.

 

[KeithH]

A few dealers to try:
Overture in Wilmington, DE: I have bought from them a few times. Their sales people are very helpful, and they have nice gear. See www.overtureaudio.com for contact info.
World Wide Stereo in Montgomeryville, PA (suburb of Philly): I've bought from them too. Their sales people are good as well. See www.wwstereo.com for more info.
Soundex in Willow Grove, PA (suburb of Philly): I've only been there once and have never bought anything. I found their salespeople to be O.K., but not very helpful. As someone else mentioned here, the store is huge. They have 23 soundrooms.
Audiolab in the Philly area: I have never been there, but they have a good reputation. See www.audiolab.com for more.

 

[JoshS]

Scott,

I have been at both Soundex and Audiolab about 2 weeks ago. They are both great shops. Soundex is absolutly huge, 22 listening rooms with tons of equiptment. Audiolab is smaller but also carries great equiptment.

I recently purchaced a Classe cap151 integrated amp and a pair of Vandersteen 1c loudspeakers from Audiolab and they were very friendly and helpful, ie.. no pressure. I highly recommend them.

Good luck,

Josh

 

[Marc S Kessler]

Don't forget that if you find a suitable place in Deleware you don't have to pay sales tax.

 

[KeithH]

Marc said:

Don't forget that if you find a suitable place in Deleware you don't have to pay sales tax.

Absolutely! This is why Christiana Mall is an absolute madhouse at Christmas. You walk through the parking lot and you see PA, NJ, and MD license plates all over the place.
Scott,
If you do check out Overture in Wilmington, DE, it's worth noting that Hi-Fi House is about a mile from there. Hi-Fi House isn't as high-end as Overture, but Hi-Fi House does sell Bryston, McIntosh, Adcom, Marantz, Pioneer Elite, Sony ES, B&W, and Paradigm, among others.

 

[Bill Lucas]

JS Audio in Bethesda, MD. Definitely a step up from Soundjerks...er...Soundworks. Mark Levinson, Revel, Meridian, Bryston, Dynaudio, Thiel, Sonus Faber, REL, Jeff Rowland, Pioneer Elite video, Classe, Musical Fidelity. Very good stuff.

 

[KeithH]

Bill, good suggestion in JS Audio. I've never been to their store, but I ordered a Pioneer Elite PD-65 CD player from them by mail in November 2000. The salesman I dealt with there was classy and very helpful. By November 2000, the PD-65 had been discontinued and I was trying desparately to find a brand new one somewhere. Every Pioneer Elite dealer I called in New Jersey and Philly simply told me it was discontinued and that was it. The salesman at JS Audio said that it was discontinued, but he said he could probably still get one from Pioneer. He put me on hold for a couple minutes to call Pioneer and see if they still had the PD-65 in inventory. Sure enough, they did, so I had the salesman get one for me. He told me at the end of that phone call that I should get the player within a week, but when he found out a few days later that it was delayed because Pioneer was slow to process the order, he let me know by e-mail. Then, a week after the player arrived, I got a thank-you letter in the mail. Outstanding service.

 

[Doug_B]

Had good experiences with one of the HiFi Houses in PA, the one in Jenkintown (a few miles South of the aforementioned Soundex on the same road). They also carry Anthem, and they have the Sharp DLP on display - very nice indeed.
Link Removed
Doug

 

[Dzung Pham]

Scott, I'm pretty sure that Soundscape in Baltimore deal in Vandersteen, unless they dropped them recently. Otherwise, Soundworks does have them (I agree, some of the guys there are jerks but some are okay). JS Audio does has Thiel and Bryston so you probably will want to check them out. Audio Video Solutions in Laurel is a bit more middle-end but they might have some stuff you might want to listen to (and it's along the way). In No. Virigiia, there's Audio Buys and for tube equipment, you have to check out DejaVu Audio. They are also a Cinepro dealer and have some more esoteric speaker brands like Solioquy and Avantgarde.

 

[Scott-C]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, guys. Now comes the tough part - figuring out which area to concentrate to get the most our of the time invested! Maybe we'll make it a 4-day road trip and canvas the Eastern Seaboard (in my dreams).

I've been to Soundscape in Baltimore, and though it's a really small store they carry some nice stuff. I bought some of my current setup there, including DefTech speakers, Yamaha integrated amp, and a Yamaha Tuner. I'm not actually sure if they still carry Vandersteen but it may be worth a phone call to find out. The only other "nicer" B&M in the Baltimore area that I'm aware of is Gramophone, and I've had it with being treated like a 3rd-class citizen in there. Very condescending staff that almost gets offended when you ask them questions or for assistance!

Thanks again and let me know if there are other stores not previously mentioned.

 

[TheLongshot]

Hmm... I didn't have a problem with SoundWorks when I bought my Vandys from them. The salesmen that I worked with seemed to be patient with me and let me try out a few different configurations. Course, I wasn't looking at their high end stuff, but I was quite satisfied witht their service.

Jason

 

[Bill Lucas]

Jason,

I'm glad you had a good experience at Soundworks. From what I've seen and heard you are in the minority. Regards.

 

[Michael R Price]

No wonder, I guess Soundworks doesn't like people coming in to look around and learn stuff (only if you're really going to pay their extreme price for something). But their reference system was really really cool

 

[Edward M]

Shop in Delaware (no tax), check out HiFi House on Rt 202. They sell paradigm, def tech and alot of other popular brands. The only person worth talking to in my personal opinion is Gene...he's the owner. Absolutely great guy! If you visit Gene tell him Ed sent you and ask for his best pricing. Trust me.

 

[Philip Hamm]

There's a really nice hifi store in my neightborhood of Centreville, VA (30 miles W of DC) called "The Gifted Listner". (they have a web site but I don't know it).

In Ardmore, PA, my old neighborhood West of PA on 15 (the main line), there's a great shop called "Danby Radio". Highly recommended.

Ardmore

Danby Radio

58 Greenfield Ave

(610) 649-7002

(610) 649-6736

 

[KeithH]

Ed, I live in Delaware and may very well take your advice regarding Hi-Fi House at some point. I've been there a couple times and have come away less than impressed with their regular salesman. There is a bit of a "used car salesman" mentality there. The guys at Overture are more professional, and Overture just comes off as a classier store. Still, Hi-Fi House carries some good brands that Overture doesn't (and vice versa).

 

[Edward M]

I had the exact same experience at HiFi House. Then I stumbled on the owner (Gene) and never had any regrets. The others are just obnoxious.

Overture is pretty cool... after all I am demoing a REL Storm III sub as I write this which I got as a demo from them today.

Ed