As we all know, finding the perfect audio equipment can be a daunting task, and when finally found, where to get it is an equally challenging hunt. So, I thought it would be great to crowdsource some insights and recommendations from this amazing community.
I’m curious to know where you usually buy your Hi-Fi gear, both offline and online. Whether you prefer the hands-on experience of browsing through stores or the convenience of online shopping, I want to hear about your favorite places to hunt for audio treasures.
To make this forum post even more helpful, please mention your country when sharing your recommendations. If you’re suggesting an online store, including a link would be fantastic. And if you have some preferred brick-and-mortar stores, please provide directions or their location, so we can find them easily.
Here are a few questions to kick-start the discussion:
Where do you usually buy your Hi-Fi gear, both offline and online?
Which online stores have you had great experiences with? Please provide links!
Do you have any recommendations for brick-and-mortar stores in your area? Please share directions or locations.
I’m excited to see what the Hi-Fi community has to offer. Let’s help each other navigate the vast world of audio gear and find those hidden gems!
Looking forward to your responses and thank you in advance for your recommendations!
This thread could become a very useful guide for all fellow audiophiles
let me start.
Normally I use internet to see what’s out there, or better what money can buy.
Lately I also consider what measurements reveal on products, to bypass all kind of biased opinions and/or reviews.
As I did my intern at NAD, a long long long time ago, I still have a soft spot for their gear.
I always buy my HiFi gear in a “brick-and-mortar” store. Simply because I want to hear what I am buying. This also means I will carry my speakers, cables, amplifier and audio tracks with me. As I want to hear my setup and not something that’s in store. Which sometimes surprises me, was pretty sure to buy some Dali speakers, but came home with Focals.
The only exception to this are my IEM buds which I ordered at https://www.wifimedia.eu (based on some good reviews)
and 2 LPS Weilang 5V/5A ordered from Ali
Since I am Dutch i go either to:
https://iear.nl/ Preferred as they have great knowledge and take the time to hook up everything to my request
For me it is most important to be able to talk to like-minded people, listen to gear together, and draw from their expertise. I joined the local chapter of the AAA which, despite its name, is also open to digital sources. There, I found very knowledgeable people, some of whom have connections to producers of equipment. I have the opportunity to listen to many different setups in actual living rooms. I feel this helps me immensely to make choices when I buy new gear.
The only HiFi component (except cables and power supply) that I ever bought on the web is Volumio’s Rivo, actually.
A very good address in Frankfurt am Main is Hifi-Profis. They have a web shop, too.
Hello, hailing from Hamburg/Germany. My approach is similar to @Wheaten, I spend quite some time in forums like Audioscience Review etc when I am searching for a specific hifi device. It’s always best to try and listen to the devices in a brick and mortar shop, but in this era of good and abundant information it would be a crime to buy something uninformed. I prefer knowing I am buying something which measures and performs good before buying anything.
Where do you usually buy your Hi-Fi gear, both offline and online? Mostly online and second hand, if possible. I got some sweet deals (like brand new KEF Reference 1 for less than 4K).
Which online stores have you had great experiences with? www.audiophonics.fr
Do you have any recommendations for brick-and-mortar stores in your area?
-Audiophonie - Rentzelstraße 10, 20146 Hamburg
-Lichtenfeld - Mönckebergstraße 7, 20095 Hamburg
Listening at a brick and mortar shop is not going to tell you how something sounds in your listening room at home. Room acoustics REALLY matter.
I only buy online these days, using measurements as the main guide but also crowdsourcing opinions can reveal some common denominators. I try to buy direct from the manufacturer (rather than through a company like Amazon) because I know it makes a big difference to these usually quite small audio companies.
I also buy almost everything online, usually from the store with the lowest price.
When I was living in the Netherlands, I’ve been from time to time to Hifiklubben, but it was mainly for curiosity and to have a look to nice products rather than to find the next item to buy.
To decide what to buy, I heavily rely on specs, measurements (when available) and reviews, one of my favorite source is TNT-Audio.
I generally buy online now. None of the Brick/Mortar shops have what I’m looking for (West Coast Canada). That said, I do check Best Buy from time to time and I’ll purchase electronic components from Lee’s Electronics.
On low volumes I am not convinced that room acoustics have a big impact, on high volumes it will. I lean more to have equipment that sounds very balanced on lower volumes. As cranking up the volume makes almost everything sounds acceptable.
If shopping online I have saved some serious money by doing a thorough comparison of the manufacturers direct site or their dealers against stores like Amazon. The trick is to also compare Amazon against itself. So check your local Amazon against the USA store or other markets. I have bought 2 DACs on seperate occasions with $100s of dollars difference in pricing due to a combination of local pricing, discount sales and currency conversion.
One secret, but it’s not only for electronic, I buy on the second hand market to be surclassed. My 1500 euros Dac has been paid 600 euros, my 3000 euros speakers has been paid 1000 euros. I try to buy at a price level where even repairing or revisionning can be covered when I sell the item. High end and rare items doesn’t lose much value in time, so you can even make benefice or indolore operation… and I make a good action for the planet since consumption is destruction by nature
Similar. When I first got back into hifi about 8 years ago I made so many mistakes, but fortunately bought second hand and was able to resell my mis-buys with little loss. The expensive parts of my current system are the analogue components and those, apart from my speakers, are all good-as-new second hand and therefore excellent value.
