These guys were true professionals. From the product selection to installation, they were top notch.

Made an appointment at my house with one of the sales guys and noone showed up. No call or prior cancelation either.

I've been using Magnolia for some time now and the fact that I went to this store was to stay away from Alfredo Villagomez since the last time I recall his store was Almaden. Once I saw him at this location I knew it wasn't going to go well. This man is; egotistical, cocky, arrogant, prideful above all. With HORRIBLE customer service skills. His supervisor, Frankie Choi is just has horrible not knowing how to manage. John Faustino did his best to resolve all the issues I had at this location. They have a lot and I mean a lot of miscommunication here! He was just stuck in the middle of it and having to deal with the repercussions of other peoples actions, felt sorry for him but, appreciate his supervisor work ethics. I would not spend a penny at this location ever again! Even though they have a wider range to select from in person, it is not worth it if you have to deal with Alfredo. Run away by all costs! He gets paid by commission and you can tell - looking back on the conversations I have had with him. All he cares about is himself and what he profits. The value and selection is just not worth coming to this store and buy it from a different location, don't buy it from the Almaden location either. read more

I have been working with Richard Faustino since 2017 and have done two audio/visual setups at two different homes. The first was in 2017 in my home in Santa Clara where we decided to do a living room add on. Richard helped us pick out Bowers & Wilkins speakers, 82" tv, and all the audio equipment including receiver, amp, power conditioner. We also purchased the salamander floating media cabinet. The setup was sick! We ended up selling our home and moving to a new build so--who did I call?? I once again reached out to Richard to help with building out our theater loft with more a more powerful system to include higher end Bowers & Wilkins in walls, in ceilings, and audio system. We also did the downstairs great room with a flush mounted samsung frame tv (which Richard really pushed me to get-and I am so thankful) and 5.1 in-ceiling B&Ws. The design is so clean! The sound in both rooms is amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better setup. To complete the home automation we got the Savant control system with a system rack. We are now in the process of integrating the lighting and will complete the scenes for Savant. Thank you Richard for your help, guidance and making sure we were well taken care of! Your customer service and product knowledge is amazing! read more

Magnolia Design Center - Electronics Near Me - San Jose, California

See all

went in to Magnolia (located in Best buys up stairs) spoke with Tom Cisper. I wanted a pair of listening device's that I could watch movies with at a higher volume while at the same time other people could listen to the TV without getting blasted out of the room. I ended up opting for the sennheiser RS 195 now if I can figure out how to make them work lol. Tom was very helpful and knowledgeable and even gave me his direct like if I should need help getting the headphones to work. the inside of the store has a lot of high end home theater components and systems. they have at least one theater room that you can sit in and experience quality sound and theater. recommended checking them out if your in the market for a home theater. read more

See all

I was in dire need of new jean. When jeans have holes tjat aren't there for the style, then they need to go. doing some digging, i found this place.Soon as i walked in i was greeted by Sarah who took me on a tour of the jeans section.Didnt think it was possible but i was instantly drawn to these comfy full of unique finds. i'm impressed that they're able to stay fully stocked. read more

**This was originally posted under Best Buy a few months back, but Yelp informed me that I posted it in the wrong place. Apparently, Magnolia is a separate store, but all along, I assumed it was simply the name given to Best Buy's A/V department. Here is most of the original review, with a few tiny amendments.** Terrible service in the Magnolia department! I went in asking if they had any of the highly anticipated, just released AudioEngine A2+ available for listening. The dolt of a salesman didn't even know what I was referring to. How the heck can one work in the speaker department, and not know what AudioEngine is?! They actually do carry the older A2 and A5+, so I would assume that the staff should at the very least be familiar with the product line. After a few seconds of looking at me like I was asking about Nokia Lumias at the Apple Store, he said he would look it up for me. "No, we don't have it," he retorted. ... Aaand that was it, with NO attempt to even find out WHEN they would be receiving any shipment. I've been waiting a long time for these speakers, and I sure as heck won't be buying them from here. With the tanking job market these days, can't people at least act like they are grateful to be employed?! P.S. I ultimately ended up purchasing both the AudioEngine A2+ and A5+ from Massdrop.com at a much better price. read more

Located in Best Buy at Santana Row. Went shopping for a replacement DLP TV. Met with Anthony who helped me select a great value, super high quality 64" Samsung plasma unit. It was a demo model so they quickly packed up the unit, located the spare remote and loaded it in my car. I drove the new unit home, and after installing the stand, noticed the screen was cracked. I did NOT purchase a warranty, and thought there would be mountains of paperwork and days and months of delay working on a replacement unit. I called Anthony, he had a quick chat with his store manager, and offered a replacement unit over the phone. Wow! I went back to return the damaged unit and met Eric, the general manager (a shareholder in Best Buy/Magnolia). A very knowledgeable guy, understands their business model quite well, the competition, products and the value of great customer service. I offered to buy a warranty on the replacement unit - but he didn't try to upsell me at all - just said to buy it if I saw value in it. Everything was quick, efficient, friendly and deadly focused on customer satisfaction and service. I have purchased a lot of electronics from many places and never met a better team! read more

Magnolia Design Center - Anthony and Store Manager Eric - awesome team - Electronics Near Me - San Jose, California

I had the pleasure of spending my hard earned after tax income with Robert O from the Magnolia store in Santana Row. Robert is thorough, listens well, sells well (w/o unnecessary pressure), and remembers important details about your setup. He has even provided phone support on a few topics, graciously. The products I've employed in my home are truly amazing as a result of his scoping and sizing efforts. As a result I am a satisfied and delighted customer. read more

After spending an hour in the store talking to Gerald Jimenez, we decided to have an in home consultation. We waited 2 weeks due to scheduling conflicts and finally had a day when both my wife and I were home in the hours they had available (before 5pm). That day was today, and although the appointment was for 3pm I get an email on an old account I rarely use at 1255 requesting that I move the appointment to 130pm. Gerald writes that he tried to call me but the number was wrong. No Effin sh@t it was wrong, it wasn't even close! It was my ex-wife's (of 7 years!) number. I finally get a hold of him and he starts to argue with me insisting that's the number I gave him and the email I gave him. BTW, my wife was with me the whole time and trust me, she would have picked up on me giving the wrong number, especially that one!! Clearly they had some mix up of a very old account. And of course that he wouldn't be here for the in home appointment and we need to reschedule. No way would I go with this company if the communication is this poor from the beginning and the arguing about how I gave him the wrong information. read more

Magnolia is a bit of a confusing business model and I'm not certain of the general idea but my experience here was great due to one of the team members, Richard. I purchased an out of box television. Some components were not included by accident. Richard provided them along with the offer to ship them overnight so I wouldn't have to go in to the store again. For the trouble he provided an in-home calibration for no cost. Richard knocked it out of the park and I would highly recommend purchasing a television here. read more

For real audiophile-grade AV equipment, this is the most convenient place to shop. Well, besides the Internet. But you can't grade quality first-hand buying off the Internet. So you go to your local Magnolia! Tucker was our sales-guy, and he patiently endured about two hours of my wife and me going back and forth, "can we hear these bookshelves again? back to those ones? oooh, what about subs? etc etc" But in the end, his helpfulness and patience paid off, as we bought a few hundred bucks' worth of speakers from him. In the end, I'm very happy with my purchase, and I know that the speakers I bought are exactly suited to my listening tastes after listening to and weeding out all the rest. But damn, everything is so pricey!! read more

Nice showroom, great location. Just picked up a special order from Magnolia that, in all honesty, I haven't been able to find anywhere else. While I was in there the sales guy was finishing up the order, when another sales guy starts talking all cocky about how he sucked a customer with his sales pitch. My sales guy stops working on the computer, turns around and starts chatting with the other guy. Right in front me they're talking about how they got this poor customer. Then he turns to me after a minute of chatting with the other guy, and says 'OK you're done'. Hey dude, I was done a minute ago before you started blathering with your friend there about suckering a customer, why did you just waste my time. I guess if you're spending 20$ on something, you get a far different level of service than if you're spending 1000$ on something. read more

Thought they closed - just moved across the street, upstairs in Best Buy at Santana Row, new selection of OLEDTVs are amazing. System designers come out to your house for free, not many places do that anymore. read more

See all

Tom Cisper knows EVERYTHING! I had questions about my wifi connectivity to my tv I bought and he answered everything to the point, smartest guy I know when it comes to technology, very friendly read more

Yelping and playoff baseball. Barry Zito on the mount, he's part Trojan (whoop!) and part Gaucho (frowny face). Yelping is all me, but the baseball part is made possible by the expert salespeople at Magnolia/Best Buy. The beautiful HD television gracing the wall of my bedroom is perfect for the space. As am resting comfortably on my bed watching the NLCS the picture on my television is absolutely stunning. I originally wanted a 55" but was talked off the ledge by the sales associate and down sold to a 40". And after six months of living with this TV I now understand why. Bigger is not always better. Did you get that ladies? read more

I have been here just once of twice to look at a speaker system. I cannot remember the name of the man that helped us, but he was very nice. The store is very small, but there are a variety of rooms that you can demo sound products in. The selection is ok, but I wouldn't say that it's fantastic. Of course they focus on pieces rather than systems. The man who was helping me, demoed a variety of speakers, subs, receivers, and other items. He even printed out the information on the speakers I was interested in and explained the differences between those and others. I spent over an hour in the room, and he was accommodating even though I was not ready to buy. Overall I would say that I like the place. The only thing that I would change is the decor. It reminds me too much of Best Buy, which can turn off a lot of people who have had bad experiences with the company. read more

I feel like we made a mistake. We spent $25k on a Savant system... wish I went with Control 4 and used a local person. The team in Cary NC have not been good at all on followup and today I learned the sales person who sold us this system is gone.. just 2 months later. We bought the system for music...wanted to digitalize the many CDs we have and the system installed doesn't even do that... it is an expensive system just to play Pandora. My husband can't even play from his phone as something is wrong with his profile and getting support is lack luster. Support is less than stellar... beware. read more

EDIT--- The power of Yelp. Certainly I did not expect any results from my Yelp post. I was upset and wanted the world to know about it. Chris read my review and acted on it. I would have liked for him to have acted on my initial contact attempts, but I am a patient man and accepted his resolve. Chris personally drove the Bluray player to my house and apologized. Hey late is better than never. And for that, I will improve my 1 star to a 3. GL Chris, you're not half bad. ------------ I worked with Chris Baker - Systems Designer at the Magnolia Design Center in Best Buy. Chris did a great job pre-sales. The Samsung 3D unit I purchased was exactly what I wanted. They had a deal where the TV was part of a bundle that came with a blu-ray player and 3D movies. Unfortunately they did not have the blu-ray player in stock and one of the movies was a voucher (no actual movie, Chris did mention that one of the movies would be a voucher, again great pre-sales info). After I purchased the bundle from Chris, I contacted him later that week asking when the player and voucher would be available and was told I would be notified when they arrive in stock. I never heard back. I have called multiple times only to somehow never manage to catch Chris while he's available and apparently Chris does like to return post-sales calls. Everyone else told me I needed to speak to Chris and could not help me. I have sent multiple emails as well. Here we are over 6 months since purchase, no blu-ray player and no voucher for the 3D movie. You will get 5 star pre-sales service and might fair better post-sales, but my experience turned out to be a 1 star for horrid post-sales service and losing money on the bundle. read more

I was in the market for a SC-68 and a 5.1 set of speakers from Def. Tech. Very few stores had the model in stock and their prices were prohibitively expensive (i.e, full price). On the other hand Magnolia had it in stock and their prices were so competitive I had no reason not to pick it up right away. Top of the line inventory and a fantastic & knowledgeable crew. read more

I helped a friend do his preliminary home theater system shopping there and was helped by Chris, a Magnolia 'system designer' (not sure of his exact title), who was terrific. I used to sell audio but am way out of touch with the latest gear and tech, and he was an expert. No hype, not pushy, knows his stuff, respected my friend's budget and VERY patiently listened to my friend often repeated questions. This was for a system that might run at most $1200 but I felt we were treated like he was spending $12,000. And if I were spending $12k, I'd be very comfortable doing it with Chris. Highly recommend him. read more

I prefer Magnolia Design Center above all others. Such a great group of guys...they've made my purchases of home entertainment media equipment so much easier, since I'm clueless about the technical side off such things. Tom Cisper is my go-to guy and has assisted me many times with decisions and also with the setup of my technical equipment. I trust his advice. Because of his professional and also very personable attitude in assisting me, I will always continue to return to Magnolia. read more

I personally want to thank Tauron Tucker from Magnolia Audio-Video for his knowledge and professionalism in the areas of audio /video and TV. When I first met him he provided me with a sense of warmth and detail like I had never before experienced from a sales person. After my purchase of high end equipment a couple of years ago, he said that he would always be there to assist if issues arose. Although nothing major has erupted, I have made a few calls for clarification and minor adjustments. Each time I have been greeted with his friendly demeanor and technical assistance. I highly recommend him and the store for their high quality service and products. read more

Magnolia AV is just okay...middle of the road. They got some good gear but I feel the selection is somewhat limited. What magnolia lacks the most is service. The sales team is a mixed bag. There are some that are true pros and then there are some that seem like they would be better off at Fry's electronics...and thats not a good thing! If you want something there and you dont like the sales person...just ask for someone else! read more

Tim Cordell was incredibly knowledgeable about the equipment and followed up with me afterward when something important came up concerning my recent purchase. Customer service was excellent! Delivery scheduling was easy; they totally worked with me on my schedule. read more

My fiance and I have an entire system that was installed by Magnolia. When we have issues with our system or have a question, they are terrible to deal with. I have had several extremely frustrating experiences trying to coordinate appointments with them to get our $20K system fixed. Looking back at my experience with Magnolia as a whole, I would say that they will only respond to you if you are going to spend $300 or more for a system change or additional component. The last time I needed the system changed, I tried our primary contact through Magnolia via email and phone. I left three voice mails and sent two emails. I never received a response. When I called in to Magnolia through the general phone number, I was told that I would "receive a call back shortly" from our contact there, which never happened. I decided to give up and try Best Buy's Geek Squad. The Geek Squad was amazing. I was able to get scheduled through them quickly and easily. They sent out a competent technician who addressed all of our system problems. In the future we will no longer be our wasting time with Magnolia. Geek Squad is WAY better. read more

The store offers great products. The salesman was knowledgable and helpful. my husband and I purchased 2 speakers for $4000.00. We have a living room that is multi level and unusual configuration so we wanted to be sure that if the speakers did not work for us that we can retiurn them. The salesman asured us that that would not be a problem at all and we only had to pay for transportation. For two weeks now, I have been trying to return... 1st call: My call was shunted around from customer survice to sales. I was told someone would call me back. No call. 2nd call: Customer support said they would call me back. No call. 3rd call: Customer support wanted to know if I needed help with installation. I declined. I had a professional try them out. They said they would call me with details for picking up the speakers. No call. 4th call: I called and scheduled a date and time for them to come collect the speakers. The day and time came and went. Nobody came to pickup. No call. 5th call: I called customer service and told them the pickup had not happenned. No apology. Lloyd said he will check on what happenned and call me back in a few minutes. Waiting.... I got a call. There was a misunderstanding on the date of pickup. Not sure how.. They will come by tomorrow and pickup. They need my husband's credit card to refund though..and he is travelling so...good luck to me. Will update... read more

Wow, ineptitude at its finest. I ordered an AV stand over a month ago that was supposed to be delivered in "no more than 2 weeks". I've been calling once or twice a week to remind them I'm still waiting. And they're often dimissive and nonchalant. What a way to earn customer loyalty! I was finally told it had arrived in their warehouse and would be in the store on Sat. No call on Sat. I called yesterday and got "our computers are down". I called again today to hear "it's just sitting in our warehouse, but it hasn't been delivered to the store, maybe thursday". What a load of crap! read more

Llyod helped me out at the store and he was very nice and explained the different types of speakers I was looking at. After purchasing (on Tuesday afternoon) and requesting installation is when the mayhem insued: -scheduler never called me after 48 hrs. -called Llyod and he said he made a mistake on the order (apparently saving me some $) and I should be getting a call by Monday -Monday came around and no call so I gave the scheduler a call (who is in Seattle) -Scheduler never called me back so I Tuesday I called Llyod again and I told him the scheduler never called me back and if I don't hear from anybody by Wednesday then I'm going to have to take my business elsewhere. He said ok. -Wednesday I called the scheduler again and finally got him on the line and said they he didn't get a vmail from me. He made an appt. for Nov. 30th and then I asked him what other details did you need to know about my house and current layout so you can install them properly. He responded by saying "No one has come to your house yet? Ok I'll have to email Llyod and project manager to schedule an appointment to come to your house." -Friday no call yet on a new appt to come see the house. I've kept my Nov. 30th appt. just in case things work out. Not hopeful at all! What horrible customer service! They take pride in doing the installation themselves and not hiring outside vendors to do it. I thought great maybe I'll get better service. All this for just a couple of rear in-ceiling speakercraft speakers. I've purchased my receiver here a 4 yrs ago (apprx.) and had great experience but I did all the wiring and setup for it. Maybe I should never get installation here. Has anybody else experienced this mayhem? Let me know. read more

Top-quality brands and equipment, and excellent prices for what is generally a high-end store. I have shopped at this store for some time, and I was concerned that its service and equipment would be diluted once it was moved into the Best Buy in Santana Row, but so far, it hasn't missed a beat. My sales person was Tim Cordell, who is patient, knowledgeable and friendly. read more

***I'm writing this review on behalf of my husband, since he doesn't have a Yelp account*** I went to the Magnolia store inside Best Buy today and was helped by a guy named Chris. He was very knowledgeable and explained what I needed to know in simple terms that I could understand. Thanks to him, a nightmare project became easily doable -- I came straight home and set up what I needed quickly and easily. Before visiting Magnolia it was looking like a hopeless wire routing situation. Thanks so much to Chris for the awesome help and customer service! read more

First time I came to this Magnolia I had such a great experience with Tom Cisper I had to come back to purchase a another TV for my living room. Tom Cisper was extremely patient and knowledgeable to all my questions and made me feel like a friend. I received a deal for a floor model and said I would come back another day. The day I returned I was waiting for them to find the TV I wanted at which point they could not locate. It took awhile but I didn't mind. Because the floor model was unable to be located, the general manager decided to let me keep the same deal price wise, but gave me a brand new TV in the box!! That is what you call great customer service! Not only that but after my purchase I received a follow up call to ensure everything was ok and that I was happy with my purchase. I would definitely recommend Tom to anyone for any further purchases and questions. Thanks Best Buy. read more

Great staff, no BS. They sell records now too. I purchased a Pioneer Elite receiver and I couldnt be happier. Instead of the sales guy convincing me to buy the more expensive receiver, he convinced me to buy the receiver that was right for my needs. Surprisingly. A+. read more

I cannot speak highly enough about my experience with Magnolia. I was looking for a new entertainment set up, and was fortunate enough to end up speaking with Evan Emery. His knowledge of all the various components I would need was impressive. I do not think I have encountered another person with that much knowledge across the various products and system configurations available. He not only customized the most suitable set up for my needs, but also introduced me to SONOS, which I have found is one of the coolest sound system products I have ever used. The team of Trevor & Albert came right on time, as scheduled, to set up my new system. They were professional, courteous and really went out of their way to make sure all the odd previous quirks in my system (set up by my home's builder) were addressed so I now have a truly cohesive set up. They did not rush through things, and took the time to make sure I was knowledgable about my new set up and addressed any questions I had. Before, during and after my purchase, Evan always checked in to make sure I was happy with my purchase and if I had any questions. He and his team provided truly superior service and I know this set up will last me for quite some time. read more

Absolutely amazing service. Ask for Tom or Robert. I'm generally an online buyer but when it came to getting a killer audio set up for my backyard project I thought I would go to the pros for a second opinion. Boy did I make the right call. Tom educated me and changed totally my set up. Now audio in my backyard is an amazing experience and the envy of anyone who comes over. I send everyone to Tom at Magnolia. read more

My install is finally done after over 2 months. I have had a chance to look back at the installation of my home TV set up and reflect on my experience. The equipment that was installed is really cool. Now that it is in I can see that the 20k in cost was well worth the money given the years of entertainment that it will provide. On the other side, coordinating with the installers was an absolute mess. Don't go into a deal with them thinking it will happen quickly. I would recommend working with David Carr as he will do anything he can to get the system in smoothly despite the problems from the installation team. read more

sadly, i haven't been here since 2005, but i got fantastic customer service here. a friend told me that i needed a panamex(?) power surge protector for my flat screen tv. the guy helped me out and i think he helped me safely place it in the trunk of my car. if i ever need something, i know i can come here. a little pricey, but i guess you're really paying for great quality and customer service. read more

I have been impressed with the guys at Magnolia in every single interaction I've had with them. I contacted Tim Cordell about a new big screen tv based on a friend's recommendation and he was terrific in helping me figure out what kind of equipment I wanted/needed. He was reasonable, asked the right questions about what was important to me and never pushed a solution. From sales, to delivery to installation, he was on top of everything. So when he suggested that Magnolia could also make some sense of the spaghetti like wiring in the old AV cabinet and the mysterious CAT-5 stuff we inherited with the house, I took him up on it. Albert the installer/wiring wizard was thorough and meticulous and I no longer fear having an electrical fire in the cabinet and actually understand which outlets are live. They are great ... read more

I walked in to Magnolia and immediately was met by Tim Cordell who was super friendly. I was looking for a Sonos Zone system for my whole house set up. Tim really knew his stuff and gave me a quick demo of how the system works, as well as how complex or simple I could make it with adding zones in my house for variety. Now under normal circumstances, I would walk out and shop around for pricing. For probably the first time in years, I chose to just go with Tim's advice. I felt really comfortable with him and wanted my house to run smoothly. The system is set up, & we have wars using our iPhones to change channels and music selections, and have loved the ability to crank the music throughout the entire house - or separate a couple of zones. We're super happy with it, and it was well worth the cost, which wasn't crazy. Tim also found me a bit off since someone had just returned a similar system that was never used. Score! I have one restriction in that I have a Bose lifestyle 18 which is really exclusive so, I before to make the house speakers work well, I would have to buy a Bose amp for every set of speakers. I didn't want to do that, so my system had no pump an was barely hanging on. I have a surround sound upstairs for TV, and 6 other sets of speakers to complete my entire house.... now we are so happy and enjoying every minute. I HIGHLY recommend you go talk to Tim. He's awesome. read more

Bought our flat screen Panasonic here for less than everywhere else and back ordered for months everywhere also. Great customer service. Not pushy but probably because we knew what we wanted and it wasn't cheap. The sales man did know what he was talking about, my husband did a lot of research before we decided what TV to get and basically we would have had to spend at least another 2k to get a better TV then what we got. read more