HiFi Sound — Attraction in Minneapolis

I have been a customer of HiFi Sound for almost 5 years now and I absolutely love the relationship I have built with the staff. About 5 years ago I began the pursuit of building my HiFi stereo system and as most of us know, the world of HiFi can be daunting due to the vast amount of products on the market today. The beautiful thing about the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, it’s a hot bed of HiFi and a buyers paradise to shop local. I looked at a few different shops around town because I wanted to find the right sales guy who was going to take care of me, get me into a system that was affordable and I could continually build on for a lifetime. I found that working with Terry at HiFi Sound was just easy; I never felt that I was being spoken down to by a snobby HiFi salesman trying to sell me snake oil. Terry talked to me about the end goal of my system, what media formats I preferred and laid out a game plan to build the stereo I have been pining for since I was a child. As we were trying to figure out which way to go on product, Terry set me up in a listening room multiple times and left me alone to listen to music and make my own decisions on gear. I ended up starting out with a McIntosh MC275 tube amp and then every few months kept adding on new gear. Next was a nice McIntosh C2300 pre-amp, VPI Classic with Dynavector Karat cart, D100 DAC and a slew of Nordost cables ending with a set of B&W 802D speakers they got in on consignment. Terry understood that a new pair of speakers were a stretch for me and as soon as a great deal came along he didn’t hesitate to call. If you are looking for great advice, cool products and in those most joyous moments a partner in crime to help craft a dream system, HiFi Sound is your place.

Outside of the sales experience is the service and support, and they are always willing to help. HiFi’s in house tech Dave can fix absolutely everything, and I have thrown him some curve-balls. For starters, a 1970’s Pioneer SPEC 1 and SPEC 2 system for a full overhaul and even a bass guitar to source some vintage switches. If you need a house call, Scott and Joe have you covered and do such a wonderful job setting up and tweaking your system to bring out the...

I recently got into vinyl records again, after a long hiatus of actually buying physical forms of music. I started with a beginner's turntable, with aspirations of something nicer. I went to HiFi Sound because it was near my house.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of pressure to buy something and how they listened to me. They have some very serious audiophile level equipment here, so it would have been easy to push that. I explained where I was in the process and what I wanted. I left with a turntable, along with a nice gently used amp and bookshelf speakers.

The set up sounds incredible and exceeded my expectations for my budget. Seriously, this turntable may be the most elegant piece of electronics I have ever owned. I got the Music Hall MMF-5.3, for those wondering. It was much more turntable than I expected to get, and overall I had an experience that will make me a customer for life. I got everything for $9.75 over my budget, but got so much more for my money than I ever expected.

Set up of the system was a breeze, and they were kind enough to show me everything I needed to know, as I am a rank amateur when it comes to audio equipment. Shop here if you're new to stereo systems and want to get started, but I suspect it is also a great place for the serious audiophile as well. Something for me to aspire to!

Thanks again for the great experience and the...

The guys working at this store are responsible for what I feel is the best customer service experience I've ever had. The first time I visited, intending to buy some speakers, my budget was...not very big. Scott asked about my current setup, listened to my needs, made some recommendations, then sat me down in a listening room with a bottle of water and my choice of music and let me take my time comparing the different speakers he'd recommended. No rush, no pressure, no up-selling, no shaming my paltry budget. (I ended up buying those speakers on a subsequent visit, and was treated with the same level of courtesy, respect and good humor by Jim.)

Since then, I've been taking some heirloom McIntosh gear (that's older than I am) for Burt to service. I grew up with those pieces; they have a lot of sentimental value and I love that I can take them to someone local and trust that they'll be handled with care by someone who knows what they're doing.

Long story short, if you're in the market for audiophile-quality gear, advice, or repairs...you should give these guys your business. I wish I had an excuse to just hang out there, because the store and the people are...