High-end gear, low-end hospitality. I should have read the 1-star reviews first. They describe a specific, repeatable pattern that I experienced firsthand. I came in to audition Devialet Phantoms, intending to support a local store rather than a big-box retailer. I was immediately told demos require an appointment and a $150 fee, credited toward a purchase within a month. That unexpected barrier set a cold, unwelcoming tone from the start. The experience deteriorated completely during a demo of YG speakers paired with Goldmund amplification. I offered a neutral listening impression: the soundstage was excellent, but the bass sounded strained to me across multiple tracks. Instead of treating this as a discussion point or setup variable, Randolph (who identified himself as an owner) became defensive, questioned my "reference," and implied I didn't know what I was hearing. As a former Goldmund owner, I tried to engage technically--asking whether power delivery or buffering might be a factor. He was dismissive and uninterested in dialogue. When I clarified that I was describing my subjective experience, not asking to be convinced, the interaction became argumentative until he eventually walked out of the room. That ended any intention I had of purchasing here. In hindsight, it's entirely possible the bass character I heard reflected the voicing of the YG Sonja 3.3 speakers combined with the unforgiving nature of the Goldmund Telos 800--not a flaw, just a presentation choice. High-end audio is a relationship business built on trust and collaborative listening. This shop operates on ego and gatekeeping. If you want to be told what to hear, you'll be fine. If you expect a professional, consultative environment that respects the listener's ear, look elsewhere. read more

Audio Vision - YG Acoustics demo room - Electronics Near Me - San Francisco, California

Audio Vision is an excellent resource for Hi Fi audio. These guys are great and will steer you towards the right components for your system- not necessarily the most expensive. I auditioned several floorstanding speakers with my existing amp. I ended up with an excellent set of speakers I wasn't initially looking at but worked perfectly with my system and were below budget. Win win. They have an excellent selection and are great at system matching/maximizing synergy. 5 stars. -PM read more

Truly passionate audiophiles. They really want to educate rather than sell. Super nice and knowledgeable staff. Highly recommend checking out. Incredible inventory. A dream come true to check this place out read more

Antonio and Randolph are the real deal. Even if you don't spend four- to five-digit numbers on audio equipment. Randolph helped me pick stands for two B&W speakers that I already owned, and even though they were from a different brand, they fit my speakers perfectly. When I noticed at home that the color didn't fly with me 100 percent, I called to check if they were available in a different one, which they were, and I could exchange them without any issues. When it was time to replace the cartridge on my Rega turntable, Antonio not only gave me good intel on available ones and the one he'd recommend for my purposes and turntable, he even installed and adjusted it free of charge. Never have I experienced any upselling here. Besides, if I'd want to spend, say, $500 on something and for $100 more there's a substantial upgrade to be had, I'd be thankful to know about it. Audio equipment lasts for a long time, so paying a bit more is a no-brainer in the long run. read more

The biggest advantage a brick/mortar shop has over internet retailers is its potential to offer friendly face-to-face customer service; in my experience, AudioVision SF (AVSF) does not take advantage of this. I walked in not long after they opened for the day--there might have been one customer present, and he appeared to be chatting with two of the shopkeepers. After being told "..you can come in, but what are you lookimg for?", I explained that I was looking to listen to headphones to replace what I had. The person then said that I could not listen to any of the headphones without an appointment, but I was more than welcome to look at them. His response to me after I told him that looking at the headphones would do me no good and it was frustrating to hear of their policy afterI had taken a long bus ride to visit them was to say that appointments were necessary because of the effort needed in putting together the amplifier and source to match up with the headphones. I explained to him that I had brought my own amp and DAC, along with a couple of my own headphones so I could compare, to which he responded: "all the more reason to have made an appointment ". AVSF's website says "Items marked (available to demo) are available in our store for audition. Please give us a call or email in advance for an appointment". What AVSF's website does not say is: "no audition sessions without an appointment " (or something to the same effect). One of the other persons in the store, who I'll assume was one of the shopkeepers then spoke up, saying "you're more than welcome to set up an appointment for later this afternoon. Go grab some lunch and come back, bud". After that comment I told the three of them to have a good day, then walked out the door. The attitude these two people projected to me was that I should feel privileged to, first of all, be able to walk into their store and second, to be able to purchase something from them. The fact that one of them would address a potential customer, that they do not know, as "bud" tells me the how much he did not respect me as a person, much less a customer. This establishment does not deserve my business and I don't advise anyone to give them patronage. If I could give zero or negative stars as a rating, I would. **Update** Two hours after my review above posted, AVSF Owner Antonio L. responded. I note in his response he did not address the fact that AVSF's website does not say "no auditions without an appointment ". Antonio L. also stated an appointment was necessary due to "...the time necessary to set up my gear...". Had he or anyone took the few extra seconds to ask about my gear, they would have found out that I had power supplies, interconnects, and a DAP; literally all the setup needed the time it took to plug the amp and DAC into two power outlets. Another point that Antonio L. did not address was a person addressing me as "bud". perhaps I am old-fashioned, but I don think that's a respectful way to address anyone--particularly when that person is a potential customer, and you are only just meeting them for the first time. I did not read Yelp AVSF reviews until after my visit to them (in fact I created my Yelp account just to write this review, so offended was I with the experience), but I notice the one- and two-star reviews have a common theme: the shopkeepers do not treat potential customers with respect. I note also that Antonio L.'s response to those negative reviews consistently avoid any attempt to extend an olive branch to the reviewer. The place seems to have been in business for a number of years, so perhaps their business model is working. I will not patronize them and I will discourage anyone from doing so as well. read more

Stay away from this store - if I could give them less than one star I would Called the shop told the sales guy if they would price match the same item price at a Southern California HiFi store Went back and came back and said no Told him well it's too bad - then he started to lecture me - what an idiot .... Just an idiot sales guy ... completely unnecessary ... just a god damn jerk Not only he lost the business he got me so pissed off that now I am writing this review Stay away from this store ! read more

Honest and knowledgeable. They have extensive knowledge with vintage stereo equipment (like my McIntosh MC2105) and of course the current stuffs. Highly recommend for a DEMO. It is so worth it. You have to listen to what you buy. You can also bring your own equipment for them to hook up so you can hear how it sounds with the your existing pieces paring with the new equipment. On top of that, their prices are comparable or better than the internet. I highly recommending buying local because you don't want your 100lb amp or your 120lb pair of speakers being thrown around by UPS or FedEx. read more

Amrit is really good to work with no pretense or audio snob attitude! He is very knowledgeable about audio equipment. I will be buying my next amplifier from him! read more

I was looking to upgrade my phono preamp and potentially going to a MC from MM. Over the course of a week I was in email communication with the guys at AVSF and they were great. They answered all my questions, gave some solid advice based on my setup and their experience, and didn't pressure me into any purchases or hard sales. They were inviting and friendly - I decided to swing by this afternoon and the experience was great. This isn't Guitar Center or Best Buy - so set your expectations accordingly. This store does lean towards the audiophile; HOWEVER, they DO have a section for entry to mid level systems and the prices were on point with what I would expect to see. I would even say they were priced competitively for what they were offering. They are very knowledgeable - I'm a Technics fan and the guy who helped was very knowledgeable and we shared what I have compared to what's out there now in the Technics suite and then all the crazy stuff! If you want to see high priced stuff they have that too...they can accommodate just about all budgets and levels it looks like. I purchased a Moon phono preamp and the price was competitive. The store is very nice, well organized and the staff is great. If you're an audiophile or just getting into the hobby, check this place out. read more

There are better options. You have to pay to experience the store basically. If you don't plan on buying anything, best to go somewhere else. I personally just want to come in and demo some headphones/speakers without the background pressure of buying anything or obligation to help the business out. Can't really enjoy music this way. They do have good selection so if you know what you want do so, value is 1/10. Just speaking from experience read more

For me, potentially the worst customer experience ever (and I've never taken the time to actually write a negative review about any business). Understanding current economic climate for small businesses in sf, I'm somewhat apprehensive about knocking this "business". However, For my 60th birthday, I was planning to purchase a top-rated, high-quality audio system for myself. That said, I don't feel I was deserving of the hostile and condescending tag team interrogation I was subjected to before being permitted to enter this shop (most likely by the owner and his lackey) . Regardless, I was not permitted to enter the shop without an explanation as to what specifically I was prepared to spend, and further, what specifically I wanted to purchase. For the record, I'm not an audiophile and honestly was looking forward to recommendations for a boss system (that was gonna buy for my 60th bday). That said, aside from the negative energy, I would not recommend parking/walking in that area (at any time of the day/night... read more

Great experience, first time! First, before I go on, I want to address the $250 fee for auditioning systems (which is applied toward your purchase), that a few reviewers seem to be barking about. This makes total sense. This isn't Best Buy, dude. These guys are professionals selling audiophile equipment and I can absolutely understand why they can't be wasting their time with looky loos. It's not a cash grab. It's a necessity for a small business in a big city with outrageous rents. Don't like it? There's a Guitar Center across the street. I'm sure the 18 year-old kid behind the counter who knows nothing about anything will be glad to let you demo all the $200 monitor speakers you want. And now to the review... As stated at the top, I had a great experience. So much so, that when I returned home I told my girlfriend it was like an "audio spa day". A couple other reviewers talk about "attitude". I encountered none. Hell, I felt absolutely pampered. When I arrived, I was greeted by Antonio (Zero attitude, very nice). He let me know that Randolph (Also zero attitude, also very nice) was putting the finishing touches on setting up my systems that I had requested. When Randolph came out, we had a conversation about my room, the kind of listening I do, and at what volumes I prefer to listen. We talked about each speaker pair I was auditioning and then Randolph handed me an iPad and left me to my listening. No upselling, no pressure. Just, "I'll be back in a few minutes to get your impressions." Perfect! I didn't care that much for the first pair, but the second was moving in the right direction. Armed with that info, Randolph had an idea and set up a another pair he thought I'd like (you're only supposed to be able to audition 3 systems, so this was above and beyond...and these were heavy towers! Thank you, Randolph!) This pair was very close to perfect and I could tell that he was honing in on the kind of sound I like. Well, the fourth pair was magic! Everything I had been chasing in terms of sound. Inside 90 minutes, Randolph had figured out something I had been trying to put into words for years and then made it manifest in front of me in speaker form. Life changing. After the audition, I came up front to settle up and asked some questions about cabling and interconnects that they like and ended up walking out with some great speaker and power cables on top of my speaker purchase. At no point did they try to upsell me on extras. I was always driving the conversation. Refreshing. After I settled up, Randolph loaded my car and I was on my way. When I got home, I set up my system and did some tweaking for a couple hours...and then it happened. I decided to play a cover of River by Joni Mitchell...and as Tracey Thorn made her way through her impassioned vocal performance, my new speakers came alive and involuntary tears came to my eyes. The sound I had been chasing for years was now in front of me. What an experience! And these babies aren't even broken in! Thank you Antonio and Randolph for taking the time to really understand your customer and for making my audio dreams come true. You guys are awesome. In conclusion, I want to add that I did not spend a lot of money (in audiophile terms). I mean, there are power cables that cost 10x what my whole system does. Nonetheless, I felt Like Randolph and Antonio treated my like I was buying the most expensive system in the store. A great experience from start to finish. In case it wasn't obvious, I highly recommend this business and will be shopping here again. read more

Terrible and unreliable, do not give them your money. I've never had a store owner be as rude to me in my life as this place after selling me broken equipment read more

I'm not a hifi nut, but am dipping my toe in. I was upgrading my turntable, and a friend suggested these guys. They were warm and friendly, and patient with my naivete. They gave me pointers without being condescending. I especially appreciated being pointed away from a shiny object to something that was less expensive but a better quality item. I've now spent a lovely afternoon listening to vinyl. Thank you!! read more

I agree with most the other comments in the 1-3 star range. My qualifications, I have a pair of Dynaudio Confidence 50 loud speakers, Lyngdoprph MP60 with a Hegel Amp. For my entertainment center. For my desktop I have a Chord Dave, Chord Ultima 3 Amp, Innuos Mk 3, Clear Audio Ovation Turntable with Audio Vector R 1 Speakers, Audeze LCD-4 headphones. I got all of this from Ember Audio in Winston Salem NC. A brick and mortar store with the most competent, pleasant owner employees I have ever met. I can't say enough good things about Ember Audio. If I were to say anything negative it is they have set the bar too high. As it relates to everything they do. They cater to everyone the customer saving to buy a $500.00 amp or a customer buying a $75,000.00 system. They are humble, they listen, they are knowledgable they are just awesome. Unfortunately,I stepped away from Ember Audio just this one time because Audio Vision had a bracket that I didn't want to pay the freight on from Quadspire. Waste of time and money should have just paid the freight. ( LOL ) The experience with Audio Vision was just a hassle all the way around. I was made to feel like they were doing me a favor by letting me shop at their store. I didn't spend a lot of money with them so it isn't a horrible taste in my mouth but certainly will never do business with them ever again and a bad enough taste that I am writing this review. My review is more for the newer audiophile. If you are new to hi fi steer clear of this group. They say they are hi fi but you will be paying way too much for ok equipment and you will get a pretentious attitude to boot. ( Just a sign they are insecure about what they know) Audio Vision, employees may sound intelligent but the language they really speak is get as much $$ out of you as they possible can and send you down the road. They are sales people not hifi people. Think Glorified Best Buy audio sales people. In a year or so when you have done some more research or looking to upgrade you will find out you were completely taken advantage of. I have been through this with a local "hifi" shop in Richmond Va. To the new comer Go somewhere that you are going to have a great experience all the way around. What really stinks is the greed of this place is going to hurt people and turn future audiophiles off from an exciting hobby. Happy listening. ( Hopefully at another audio shop) Give Chris at Ember Audio a call he is awesome, tell him Franklin sent you. read more

I had a really great experience with Randolph today who helped me choose pair of bookshelf speakers. He almost insisted I should come with my own amp and listen the speakers through it and boy I'm glad I did! He was asking questions and based of off my answers - suggesting next set of speakers till the point where I was confident I've found what I was looking for! They have plenty of options to chose from in stock so I've spent almost 3 hours and feel like could have spent 3 more easily. When I unpacked and installed speakers at home I was simply blown away by how good they sound. Even my spouse was impressed which is a really high mark! P.S. Honestly, I don't get all the b*tching in comments about their deposit agreement. When you get few hours of professional consultation - it's perfectly fine to pay for, right? Especially when it's included if you're a serious buyer and not just window shopper. If you don't need help or know exactly what you want - go buy online and don't waste everyone's time. read more

I hate to give any merchant a one-star review, but unfortunately, it's quite warranted here. I have been an audiophile for 40+ years and am no stranger to AVSF, having purchased, over the years, the then-flagship Benz-Micro cartridge, some high-quality cables, various accessories and probably some other things. So imagine my surprise when I went to the store recently to audition quality closed-back headphones and was informed (in that dismissive and arrogant way that, sadly, seems endemic to certain high-end store sales guys), that I would need to lay down a $250 deposit for the honor of considering whether to spend $2,500 or more on a product. (There literally were no other customers in the store at time, so it wasn't as if the fellow was terribly busy.) I told him how incredibly off-putting I found that policy and left. I won't go back. In an era when independent high-end brick-and-mortar stores (that we really want to preserve!) are an endangered species, it seems to me that first impeding, and then simply blowing off, a prior, serious customer is, sadly, incredibly self-important and self-destructive. I'll certainly never spend another penny there. read more

Beware - owner forces you to pay to shop. Yes, that's right. If you want to spend more than 20 minutes in the store listening to gear you are forced to pay a $250 consultation fee which you can apply to a purchase. No one can make an expensive purchase in less than 20 minutes. If you pay the fee and then don't find what you want, you're stuck. The owner explained he instituted the fee because people shopped there and then bought online. No surprise with service like this. I entered the store wanting to "buy local." I left wanting to buy local, but anywhere else. Try Music Lovers, their service and gear are top notch. read more

Once again - they get my money and I get nice equipment. Still a little pretentious, but OK - that's what you get. I had to put down a deposit to have a listening session, but they did work hard. they hooked up many speakers and would have hooked up more if i hadn't found exactly what i wanted. One of the sales people is a Ween fan, so that's a plus. read more

Dear lord, I feel like I need a shower to wash off this experience. I initially called to find out whether they carried several different headphones I was interested in. It turns out they have a pretty incredible selection in-store and I was psyched to make a trip to the city, listen and get geeky with fellow audio-nerd brethren. My initial phone call was the first sign of trouble. After an initially nice chat with Randolph, I said "sounds great, I'll be in later today!" to which he replied "woah, woah woah! We only do appointments," and proceeded to ask me questions about what headphones I have, if I'm upgrading, what I don't like about my current ones, etc. The thing is, I have more experience with this stuff than the average bear, know what I'm after and can quickly tell whether I like something in a demo. Given their huge selection, I was looking forward to meeting in person and perhaps learn about brands or models I hadn't heard of. Regardless, I relented and answered some of his questions because he doesn't know me or my experience and I understand the nature of a specialty shop like this. Based on my answers he told me I wouldn't like anything in their store. I was shocked and ended up having to argue, explain my position and why he was wrong. I asked if he didn't want me to come to his store and that I was turned off by getting the run around on the phone. He backed down, said he was just trying to help (or, rather, size me up) and invited me to make an appointment. BUT, he pointed out that they're an independent shop in SF and want people who come in for demos to buy from them rather than go online. While the pitch was a bit heavy-handed, I appreciate that fact and as there are literally no other options for places to go, I went in. In person Randolph had a good vibe but he made a huge mistake and had Taylor help me. If you are a person who likes to be abused, treated with contempt, suspicion and haste, look no further: Taylor is the supercilious, judgmental, contemptible, irritating man of your dreams. Don't take it from me: read about Taylor's greatest hits in any number of 1-star Yelp reviews. I could go on and on about all of the ridiculous assertions, misinformation, snobbery and unpleasantness that I experienced over the following 20 minutes, but you, dear reader, have better things to do with your life. I went in fully willing to support their brick and mortar operation (thus possibly spending more) because I greatly value the opportunity to demo high-end products in real life. As Antonio reminded me, for the 3rd time on my way out the door, it wouldn't be possible without them. And he's right. I just wish they could find a kinder, more friendly way of doing it. Music is supposed to be fun and that's why we're all here, is it not? read more

Super rude don't waste your time. $150 to demo any headphone amp. This was my first time looking into buying a dedicated headphone amp for my music studio and the guy at the front desk didn't seem to want to be bothered. read more

This place is a joke. Good selection of products but I literally cancelled my appointment to listen to some speakers and pre-amp because of the negative interactions I had both times I went in there. There's a little mustached hipster named Taylor that enjoys trying to make you feel like you know nothing. The pony tailed owner kept telling me he's been doing this for 25 years and sells systems for a quarter million dollars, blah blah blah. I got an email from him basically admonishing me that I looked at products online and that he needs to charge a premium "because he is a professional and needs to be paid for his time." Like I don't know how retail works. But if you want to charge for time then make it a good experience. Just read the other 1 star reviews (there are many) and then decide for yourself. read more

My search for an entry-level/mid-level turntable setup is over, thanks to Antonio and his team at Audio Vision. I have been wanting to give vinyl a try for years and after attending a concert where the artist sold his album at the merch table, I decided to buy his vinyl and finally buy my analog setup. This led to countless hours of google searching, which ended up turning fruitless. For a basic budget system (talking less than $500) there are ample recommendations for a full system. But for anything past that, there is a void of good information. That, along with audio equipment being very subjective led me to look locally for information. This is where Antonio comes in. Customer service is a lost art. Antonio seems to be old school in his ways. When I first walked into Audio Vision I was quickly greeted and asked if I had any questions. I had no intention of buying anything that day but he was happy to answer any questions I had and let me browse around. I must have gone back to Audio Vision 3 times in doing my research to see if they had the brands of equipment I was reading about online, as well as to get a recommendation of what he thought of the items I was looking at. He always gave me great information and pointed me to two or three different items he thought would work for my specific situation. Finally, on my 4th trip, I had completely settled on a turntable and was deciding between which preamp and speakers to buy. I had a few in mind and told Antonio which ones I was looking at. He told me to schedule an appointment and they could set up the equipment for me to do an A/B test back to back so I could decide for myself (over online reviews) which system sounded better to my ears. I thought this was great and told him I would be back in an hour to pick up the turntable I just bought (because they had to install a cartridge for me). Lo and behold, when I returned to pick up my turntable, they surprised me and had the full setup ready to go including implementing my turntable, so I would get an accurate impression of how everything would sound together. I was able to sit there as long as I wanted trying out different albums and listening to the speakers to see which one I truly enjoyed better. Talk about customer service! Hearing the full set up together helped me make my decision easier rather than going home and reading a million more reviews over the different products. After I bought everything I realized the speaker stands were not in stock and would ship and be there in about a week. I asked Antonio if he knew of any stores that sold speaker stands that I could buy in the meantime until mine arrived and he let me borrow a pair of speaker stands to use until mine arrived! No other store would include this level of customer service that I can think of. And since I had booked an appointment to listen to different speakers he told me I could still come in and listen to a system that cost over 10x of what I just spent on my setup if I were interested. I definitely took him up on that offer and brought in my own vinyl to try on that setup. Let me tell you it was a dream! During no time did I feel pressured to make a purchase or felt like they didn't want to answer my questions about any and everything audio related. I would definitely recommend anyone looking for audio gear to check them out! I will definitely be back whenever I decide to upgrade my system. read more

I went in on a Sunday without an appointment to demo a couple of their less expensive amps with the intent to purchase, if I found the one I liked. It took a minute to talk the salesperson into offering a demo, as he claimed he needed to attend to other customers (who were not present at that time). After confirming that I did intend to buy that day, he hesitantly said the other guy sitting up front could handle the invisible customers and he'd let me listen to a couple of amps. I landed on a nice Rega Brio that easily blew away the others and purchased it. When I got it home, it sounded great, but had a distinct buzz in the right channel that seemed related to the power supply. Doing some reading online, I found tons of praise for this amp, but also more than a few people who had the same buzz. After giving it a few days to see if the amp would work itself in, I boxed it up to take it back. When I arrived at the store, I said to the owner, "I love the amp, but I seem to have the same buzz that everybody is complaining about..." He said, "Now hold on--I've been selling these longer than you've been alive. For every complaint online, there are hundreds of people who love the amp." "I love it!" I said, "But I have a buzz." "Well, go with (slovenly looking ponytail dude) and he'll check it out for you then," he said, seeming to relish the chance he was sure was coming to tell me I'm full of shit. I follow the ponytail dude to the back and he starts hooking up speakers. I stand nearby and look at some other amps. He tells me, "you can look around if you want. This'll take 5 minutes." I tell him I'll just look there in that room. After another 60 seconds or so of simply plugging speakers into an amp, he looks up and sees me watching him and says, "I'm sorry, could you go in the other room. I don't like an audience." I go to the front, where the owner, in a snarky kind of tone, asks, "So did he get you all fixed up?" I say, "No, he ran me out of the room." He says, "Well, sometimes it's hard to pinpoint an issue with someone asking lots of questions." I say, "I didn't ask him anything. I was just watching him and he rudely said he doesn't like having an audience." "Oh." the owner says and goes back to whatever he's doing. A few minutes later, the ponytail idiot hands my amp off to another guy who's apparently allowed to go back there with him and he comes out to me and says, "yep, you've got a buzz. Let's replace it." Well, it turns out that they didn't have another one in stock. So, they offered me the floor model. I was reluctant, but asked if there was a discount for the floor model. I noticed the owner shaking his head, but the sales guy says, "Yes!" and pounding on his calculator adds, "We can give you that one for $795" "Let's do it!" I say, against my better judgment. Like I said, I loved the little amp. As he's walking back to get the floor model, I guess the owner texts him or something, because the guy turns around and walks back up to his calculator and says, "Well, actually, it'll be $930. I forgot to carry a zero or something?!?' Even he didn't look like he was buying that. I say, "Okay, then I guess I'll just get a refund." "Do you want us to call you in a couple of weeks, when they come in?" he says. I reply, "No, I'm going to buy it somewhere else." read more

Incredibly helpful, friendly, patient and knowledgeable staff with a great range of products. Went in with an incredibly broad brief for a new amp and speakers for my Technics turntable and they were brilliant in understanding the needs of my system and room and recommending a few options to test and walking me through the pros and cons. But also had the patience to let my ears make the choice. Highly recommend. read more

Live in the neighborhood and decided to stop in because I'm in the market for high end headphones (budget less than $2000). Spent a while auditioning a couple of pairs while receiving a few backhanded comments about me not knowing what I'm doing. Fine, I'm familiar with the audiophile community and take it in stride, you guys know what you're doing. Finish up with 2 pair and ask to see another in a similar price range so I can compare. Dude responds with, "Are you buying today?" I said no, but I have time to get through a few pair today...I wanted to break up the audition process. "Come back when you're ready to buy, we just have too many options for you." Well, I won't be coming back. What I didn't tell him is that I'm also in the market for reference monitors. There are plenty of other options in the Bay Area, and if they don't have time for a customer on a slow Wednesday afternoon it's best I take my business somewhere else. read more

Was hoping the customer service improved since last time I was there. It hasn't. I was looking for a new phono cartridge or a re-tip for my Benz Micro which I brought into the store with me. He told me twice my handmade Swiss cartridge was sh*t and if I traded it in, they would give me $50 off a used Ortofon (which is mass produced and less than 1/10th the price when new). Why all the deceit when prices can easily be confirmed? Not a good idea to be antagonistic or attempt to deceive customers. Never again. read more

All the one star reviews about this establishment are on point. This place has a huge selection of audio equipment BUT the customer service here is absolutely atrocious. A couple years ago I had purchased a turntable from this store and the turntable was missing a part upon opening the box. I called the store to let them know the part was missing and they basically told me I was lying and the gentleman even cussed at me becuase the turntable was ONLY 500 andI wasn't worth his time. Absolutely appalling service from this store. Do NOT shop here. Trust me and the others that have had horrible experiences here. It's a shame because I love audio gear and do upgrade my system often. I'm not quite sure how they have a 3.5 star rating when a good percentage of their ratings are 1 star. read more

These guys are down to an average of 1.5 stars on Yelp, just click the "Details" button next to their Yelp review. I don't know why Yelp is still displaying 4 star review since every recent review has been 1 star, but these guys pay Yelp for advertising so keep that in mind. read more

Dreadful. Visited store to check on (a mere!) $712 open box IEM. Took my own DAP and existing headphones for comparison. Was told it was $250 to try their IEMs, NON-REFUNDABLE in the event I didn't buy. All wrapped up in a thoroughly condenscending attitude from the staff. Vote with your feet and buy elsewhere. read more

Engineering the Right Acoustics For Your Environment SITREP I really get tired of the cheap consumer that is looking for Radio Shack pricing for IMAX level sound & viewing quality. But that seems to be the level of expectation when people want the best, but don't responsibly price their expectation. What I really enjoy about Antonio Long and Randy Johnson at Audiovision is that they are consummate sound engineer professionals who build you a tight quality electronics package, and as complex as it may be, their price will still be by far the most reasonable for the same package you will find anywhere else in Northern California. After 12 years of being on the cutting-edge of their industry, they have brought their special audio-visual sound quality to a lot businesses and homes that depend on the highest-level sound. PRODUCT I have found them to be one of the few places to still get a quality turntables, toner arms, and top-of-the-line dvd players such as the Arcam, which if you get a used / floor model, you can get an exceptional deal on. Just keep checking back for latest inventory for the latest deals. I also enjoy their "Cash for Clunkers" program for your old CD and/or DVD players that allow you to net some cash and discounts for new equipment. A lot of great deals that can be had taking advantage of this program. THE LOWDOWN Audiovision continues to foster great deals for me and has a stellar staff to answer my audio-vision questions for my electronics needs. read more

The 1 star reviews are accurate. These guys are douchebags. They are not interested in forming a business relationship with you and don't care about building customer loyalty or earning repeat business. All they care about are their margins. Don't you dare ask for a discount, not even 3%. Don't spend your money here they don't deserve your business. Update: 2 days after writing this i went into Music Lovers Audio in Berkeley (they have an SF store too). They were total pro's! Friendly, knowledgeable, and competent. They sold me the same piece that i was looking for at Audiovision, and gave me a discount without me even asking. HA HA he who laughs last laughs best! read more

I usually love supporting brick and mortar local business. If nothing else, it's a great chance to get to know the local community. These guys are just downright mean and condescending. The worst experience I have ever had in a retail store. Taylor treated me like dirt for taking interest in something that wasn't expensive enough, then cursed at me and told me to leave. Hope these guys go out of business, making room for a local business that is a positive member of the community. read more

Horrible experience going into Audio Vision SF. I'm an avid audiophile and an enthusiast of Hi-Fi equipment, and have purchased many a headphone and speaker in my time. This is usually a very collaborative hobby, but the service at this place was unreal. They openly don't allow you to touch their equipment that is sitting out, because it's too expensive if you're not actively considering buying on that visit. The moment I asked to try on a particular headphone, they said "Nope, do you think they let people test drive Ferrari's? Try again." That rude response was then fueled by more of the same ("I'm running a business here, you don't get to try those headphones okay?" etc) as I tried to explain that it would help me with a decision to purchase if I had a chance to listen to the headphone. It's not that hard to let someone simply put on a pair of headphones for a moment, especially if they are avid hi-fi enthusiasts that would be willing to pay for that "Ferrari." I would LOVE to support a hi-fi retailer in the Bay Area (as there aren't many of them), but this is one I will absolutely try to avoid at all costs. Not a dollar is going to them anymore. read more

AVSF was recommended to me by a friend with a careful ear when we decided to take the plunge and invest in our first home record setup. We had already done tons of reading online and gathering reviews to make a decision. My expectation was to make my own selections and simply pick up the gear on site. What we got instead was extremely experienced guidance, and an opportunity to try out the sound of our selections in store. After making an appointment, Taylor was able to set up a listening room to try the turntable and speakers we were interested in, and in real-time make suggestions based on our specific interests in sound. We auditioned different turntables, amps, and speakers to match our particular taste in music, budget, and space at home. His experience directed us to a full setup that is absolutely stellar, and would not have happened without his help. In addition to the core components, he's also been continuously helpful in cable choices unique to our turntable, adding in a streamer, and has worked to find components when out of stock. While we've most closely worked with Taylor in getting started, everybody we've spoken to at the shop have been amazing. I have full confidence in the expertise of every person at AVSF, and look forward to working with them for any further upgrades. Negative reviews for not arbitrarily granting discounts or catering to people only interesting is test driving equipment says more about the reviewers than the shop. This team is outstanding. read more

I called these guys to purchase a set of speakers I had looked at and had been wanting for some time. Everything seemed to go smoothly, but 20 minutes later they called me up and said they were cancelling the transaction. I was taken by surprise and asked why. They said if I still wanted to buy them, the new price would be this new amount -which was considerably higher. When I asked them to honor their agreement the guy put me on hold and the owner picked up. The long and short of it is that he was unprofessional and rude enough to me that I am now writing this review. It's hard to find brick and mortar stores for really good audio gear. You would think the ones still around would know better how to treat people. This wasn't a cheap sale, and I felt like I was really polite, respectful, and positive on the phone for the most part. read more

My experiences with this store have been wholly positive. We have purchased a turntable, used amplifier, and speakers over the past few months. All of the items were significant upgrades from our prior components. The amplifier sounds great, and when I did a dumb thing with the tubes, which made me fear I had broken it, the staff were very understanding and quickly restored it to full functionality for a very reasonable price. If your main priority is getting budget items quickly, you might be disappointed, but if you want high quality matched with good recommendations and no upselling, you will get fantastic service here. As some others described, they suggested we bring our components to evaluate potential speakers, and we got fantastic sounding speakers within our price point and avoided some others that get good reviews online but don't match our taste in sound through the service we got at Audiovision. They also have great products in store, which was a great relief during a time of supply chain restrictions. read more

Tell you what, I have searching for a pair of Focal Supra one and Diablo for audition, these had it all, while I was asking door to door in Bay Area just to listen to them. Randolph was kind enough to set it up for an A/B test for both speakers AND components. That took my guess work out of equitation. read more

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A Disneyland for audiophiles. Their line up is diverse from entry level products to super high-end toys. Items are nicely arranged their two main rooms for listening tests. Store attendent was informative and really knew the stuff. Although they sell both home theater and 2-channel music equipment, their focus is more on 2-Channel. Manufactures they carry: Acoustic Solid, Amphion, Analysis Plus, Anthony Gallo Acoustics, Arcam, Artcoustic, Audioaero, AudioQuest, Balanced Audio Technology, Bryston, Cairn, Cardas, Cary Cinema Design, Clearaudio, Creek, DALI, Dalite, DVDO, Eastern Electric, Eclipse TD, ELAC, Esoteric, Fujitsu, Fusion Research, Harmonic Resolution Systems, Harmonic Tech, Hitachi Directors Series, Innersound, Integra, Lyra, Miscellaneous, Mission MJ Acoustics, Morel, Musical Fidelity, Musical Surroundings, NAD, Naim Audio, Niles Audio, Nordost, NuForce, Olive, Opera Loudspeakers, pARTicular, Podspeakers, Polk Audio, Pro-Ject, PS Audio, QUAD, Quadraspire, Raidho, Redpoint Audio Design, Rega, REL Acoustics, Richard Gray's Power Company, Rives Audio, Runco, Sennheiser, Sherwood Newcastle, Shunyata Research, Sim2, Simaudio, Solid Steel, Sonos, Sonus Faber, Soundations, Stewart Filmscreen, Sumiko, THIEL Audio, Thorens Triangle, Ultrasone, Unison Research, Von Schweikert Audio, VTI Manufacturing, Wilson Benesch read more

Audio Vision - Electronics Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I had been contemplating upgrading my two channel analog system for quite some time and started with a new turntable and cartridge. I zeroed in on two different turntables and cartridges and started an online dialog with Antonio at Audio Vision. He gave me a lot of insight into the pros and cons of each along with info as to how each would comply with my existing preamp and gave me a road map of further upgrades I might want to consider down the road. I decided on a system and found an online seller that would give me a better price on the cartridge. Antonio discounted the cartridge so that I would get the same pricing along with having local support for the entire package. Audio Vision has a great selection of both mid and high end gear, the staff is very helpful and friendly and I cannot recommend them highly enough. It is so much better to deal with people face to face and establish a true rapport than to go through a faceless online dealer. Support your local small business! read more