Soundings Fine Audio Video — Attraction in Greenwood Village

I don't know if i can quite capture my Soundings experience in a review, but here goes. It was nothing short of outstanding. The net of it is that there was never any pressure to buy - i had several interactions with the Soundings team over a period of about 18 months and both times they started with conversations about what I wanted to achieve from all perspectives - equipment, usage (music, film), and aesthetics. And at the outset of both interactions, they wanted simply to visit my home so they could understand the environment in which i was working.

After the first interaction, i did nothing other than completely change my plans as i was in the midst of re-modeling my basement where i was planning to put the A/V equipment - most of which i already possessed.

Once i completed that, i returned to Soundings and started over with Mark, who happened to be at the store when I arrived. Again, never any pressure to buy, but simply a conversation about what i wanted to do. At that point, most of it was related to A/V furniture and installation of a TV. We decided to add a subwoofer and replace some of the builder furnished in ceiling speakers. Once it was delivered and installed, then the fun really began.

The Soundings master set process is truly amazing. I refer to the Soundings team now as the Sounder Whisperers. My stereo has never sounded so good. Mark arrived with several known source materials (audio and film) and we proceeded to spend several hours listening and using an organized process, making what are seemingly infinitesimally small movements in the placement of front, center, and sub speakers. This process truly fit the equipment to the room and sounded superb.

Even though I was satisfied - i could still tell a difference in my 20+ year old equipment compared to some of the equipment i had listened to in the store. Moreover, my speakers were a little large for the space. Thus, i returned to the store, was encouraged to bring some source material, and then simply spent some time in one of the rooms and listened.

To make a long story short, I decided to upgrade both my speakers and A/V receiver. It was a two step process as i didn't quite believe that the electronics could make such a huge difference in sound, but it was truly amazing. After a few months to let the equipment settle in, we repeated the master set process and I now have a sound system that matches the full sound i heard at the store.

Whether it's listening to audio or watching a movie - the experience is wonderful. As i said, there was never any pressure to buy anything, just conversations around what i wanted to achieve. Certainly there are different price points to consider, but they have really done all of the research for you and what you'll find at Soundings is remarkable sound at each of their budget levels and a great staff that is truly interested in helping you achieve your A/V goals. All in all an...

I've been a long time dreamer with regard to audio. I stumbled upon Soundings years ago, and have since led a parade of friends, family and at one point, even a boy scout troop, into Rod's store to hear what music should be. After outgrowing my original system (also purchased through Soundings), I began working with them to set up the ideal end-game system, for my budget, anyway, for our family room. Mark was able to take the components I'd assembled from near and far and make them into a cohesive whole with the Master Set service they provide. Also, they were able to special order two white RELs to complement not only the speakers, but the kitchen and make my wife really happy... from the looks, AND the sound.

After listening, both casually and with serious intent, I have yet to not be utterly relaxed and lost in the music when I sit down. Vast improvement in consistency, equal-octave response and in the ease of playback.

Here's to you guys - thanks for being patient as we dithered and second-guessed ourselves. Could not ask for a better sounding system.

• Addition *

My turntable died several months ago, and I worked with Rod to find out what would work best with my system as a replacement He stepped me through the theory and opened my eyes to the need for a proper setup, then delivered exactly that on the EAT turntable. It's going on 200 hours of play now, and I couldn't be happier. Viva analog!

• addition again! *

Moved the hifi setup upstairs to a custom listening room several months ago (late 2018), which necessitated a new Master Set. I'd messed with settings and calibration for several months before calling Soundings in, and never could get it to just click in place with the room where the music was a thing of ease and essence. Mark was able to come out and integrate the Focals with their paired RELs into a beautiful, organic whole. Amazing what a trained set of hands and ears can do.

• Addition, October of 2020 *

I accidentally upgraded my speakers to a beautiful set of Vienna Acoustics The Music's, and Jeff and Jess from Soundings did the honors of the master set after letting me audition them in the store at length. It's now the kind of system that makes me lose my train of thought mid-conversation because of the bushes and emotion in the music and how effortlessly it's presented. I've got depth to the soundstage now that takes no magic to hear. Balanced sound in the room regardless of where we are sitting. It's... Stunning. At the end of a dismal year, this is medicine for melancholy. I keep interrupting my wife to make her come hear something new, and this is more than I'd ever hoped for in nearly thirty years of chasing Hifi. Go see them. Trust them when they suggest something that seems esoteric. They know what they're...

It's hard to properly review this place. As far as the equipment they have, it's great, and it's always fun to listen what's out there. But my experience was extremely disappointing. Look up "Audio Woo" on rationalwiki to prepare yourself for the lies you'll be told here.

I only talked to one person there, so maybe the rest are better, but the guy I talked to was extremely elitist in addition to being scientifically incorrect about most of what he said. At one point he asked if I had any music, and I said that I did and we should connect an aux cable to my phone. He said something along the lines of "well I have a $5000 DAC, you're not going to be doing the equipment any justice coming from your phone." What does he think a DAC actually does? You don't need to spend more than $100 to get one every bit as good as a five billion dollar one would be.

I feel bad for anyone who actually listens to these guys, they're just taking advantage of people to make money from selling products that are overpriced and offer zero audible improvements over devices 1/10 the price. Things that actually DO make a difference are the speakers, and this is why they get the extra star, because they do have some of the best speakers possible. Other than that, you just need to make sure you have an amp with sufficient power for your speakers and low distortion (my 7 channel Monolith amp was $1600, which isn't cheap, but it can power literally any speaker that you'd ever want with no degradation in sound quality at ALL compared to whatever $50,000 craziness they'd want to sell you).

Acoustics in your room also make a gigantic difference, but the misleading/misinformed salesperson seemed to think that was the one thing that almost never help as long as the speakers were placed optimally. SO much fail from this place. Not to mention he believed SACDs are better than CDs. Such a facepalm, he's telling me he can hear the difference, but he doesn't realize that's akin to telling me he can hear the difference of the number "4" when 1+3 was used to get that number vs when 2+2 was used. No, you can't hear the difference because it isn't there. However, many SACDs have been mastered differently than their originals, so when THAT happens, then sure, you'll hear a difference. Just not because of the sampling rate or bit depth.

This place needs to stop perpetuating audio myths. ...