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Bay Area must hit hifi shops

nyhifihead

nyhifihead

Well-Known Member
Hey all, looking to gain some insight of what hifi shops to hit during my stay in the Bay Area this next week.

Most of the trip I will be in San Jose/Silicon Valley Area but plan on dedicating a few days to San Francisco/Oakland

Looking to hear some sick dedicated rooms, much more interested in hearing a handful of well thought out demo systems than 100 pairs of speakers in a room

Headphone shops also welcome

also entertaining must hit restaurants/bars
 
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nyhifihead said:
Hey all, looking to gain some insight of what hifi shops to hit during my stay in the Bay Area this next week.

Most of the trip I will be in San Jose/Silicon Valley Area but plan on dedicating a few days to San Francisco/Oakland

Looking to hear some sick dedicated rooms, much more interested in hearing a handful of well thought out demo systems than 100 pairs of speakers in a room

Headphone shops also welcome

also entertaining must hit restaurants/bars
Click to expand...

Hi nyhifihead,

https://www.yelp.com/biz/sounds-unique-san-jose

^^
This is a place with 100 pairs of speakers, and other good gear to buy. Not a "show room" but they have some great rare gear in the shop.

There are not to many places to demo stereo set up's in San Jose that I know of. Magnolia in the Best Buys is about your best bet for that kind "dedicated rooms".

As for record stores,

Needle to the Groove:
https://needletothegroove.net/

Street Light:
https://www.streetlightrecords.com/

Rasputin Music:
http://www.rasputinmusic.com/campbell/

Metavinyl:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/metavinyl-santa-cruz

There may be a few places out in San Fran or Oakland that are actually "demo" rooms, but I don't know of any.

Kind Regards,
John
 
Berkeley Stereo is a nice little high-end stereo shop. They’ve usually got a nice selection of vintage and modern gear they’d be happy to audition for you. Plus, the owner Warren is a true gentleman who has many sound engineering credits to his resume, including one of my favorites, Waiting for Columbus, by Little Feat.
 
magnus_dopus said:
Berkeley Stereo is a nice little high-end stereo shop. They’ve usually got a nice selection of vintage and modern gear they’d be happy to audition for you. Plus, the owner Warren is a true gentleman who has many sound engineering credits to his resume, including one of my favorites, Waiting for Columbus, by Little Feat.
Click to expand...

^^

This one is new to me, I'll be sure to check it out, Super cool.

Thank you! :)
 
Audio Vision in San Francisco, Music Lovers in San Francisco and Berkeley, Audio High in Mountain View and Century Stereo in San Jose come to mind.
 
Bally: I'd second Harmony Audio Video - nice little shop, friendly owner. When I was there, iirc, they didn't offer any other headphones than Grados, though. But at least I had the opportunity to compare almost the entire line-up. And yup, there were a few nice restaurants on West Portal Ave., too. However, my recommendation would be the Bullshead, which isn't quite on WestPortal Ave., but almost. Basically it's just a couple of steps to the left, if one walks out of the West Portal BART station - I think that's Ulloa Street.

And then I'd definitely recommend Pauline's Pizza, if that also still exists - excellent pizza there, and I also fondly remember their "Sorbet Trio". That's at the northern corner of Valenica and Brosnan Street. And if you're looking for a fun place that's not so posh at the waterfront of the SF Bay, I'd suggest Pier 23 Cafe.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
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