Music Lovers Audio & Video — Local services in Berkeley

I came to this store I believe back in 2019, and the memory still remains clear as day.

I was with my cousin and a friend, at the time skateboarding down the street and stumbled upon this store. Being that I was just beginning my career in Film, the store name intrigued me. We, probably looking like a bunch of burnouts, walked in to a store far higher quality than what we were prepared for. Simply put, we felt almost out of place.

Now instead of getting asked to leave, we got graciously welcomed by if I remember correctly a gentleman named Graham? (If you remember this please remind me your name!), who could’ve given us a simple look and realized we wouldn’t have been able to purchase anything; took the time to give us a full tour, rundown, and description of the systems and products they specialize in. I’m telling you, it was the best pitch I’ve ever received in my life. He played us music in a listening room and for the first time, I experienced what it meant to hear music correctly. Before that, I always thought the more volume, the better, and I’d never truly understood EQ like that.

Beyond the incredible quality of products, what really stuck with me over the years was the quality of care and passion expressed by this gentleman. It was obvious he cared about sharing his passion and knowledge to us, not because he expected us to be customers, but because he could.

I know this review is about 6 years late. But it’s been a story my friend and cousin and I have continued to reminisce about over the years, and though I don’t see them as often as I used to, I am so beyond grateful that we got to experience this together.

So to you sir, and team here at Music Lovers Audio & Video, thank you so much for taking the time to welcome us in with open arms and not pointing us the other direction. You truly gave us a memory that felt like an extremely special moment engrained in our...

I shop a lot and this store has given me one of the best services I've received. Prompt response from Jacob (online chat support) and fantastic service from Chris. Very friendly and accommodating staff. Honest opinion and feedback on items. Never pushy on sales and upgrades. Gave me discount without me asking. I can trust that they aren't the type to just sell more expensive items for more profit. I don't typically leave reviews but they deserve a 5* review.

I asked if they have a certain speakers for demo. At that time it was in their San Francisco location but they moved it to the Berkeley location the next day which was closer to me. Once I arrived for demo everything is ready and I was explained how the device works and pros/cons. They allowed me to try different cables too so I can test for sound quality differences.

My second time visiting I asked for cable of a specific length, but they only had the longer length available which I'm okay with. Again, I didn't ask for any discount or bargains but they offered to lower the price and they sold it cheaper than MSRP of the shorter length cable. Wow!

My third time shopping I was looking for a turntable. I wasn't sure if I wanted one so I was mostly visiting to try it out. I asked if I can bring my equipment (headphones, headphone amps, speaker amps, cables, etc) and they said yes. I spent a good two hours trying out different things and they were there to help. They also allowed me to mix their equipment with mine and even helped me troubleshoot my amp. As usual, very honest and helpful information from Chris. Helped me get the most bang for my buck.

In a way I'm glad I don't live close by, otherwise I will be very tempted to try out more things and spend more. I don't have any more plans to purchase any audio equipment, but now I know where I will go when...

AVOID. The owner is a bully.

I have made multiple purchases from Music Lovers over the years, and although their service wasn't great (they said they couldn't help me when a receiver I purchased from them died not long after buying it) they do carry good brands. And it should go without saying that nobody had actually been abusive.

But this time was different. After a hard sell, I put down a deposit on a pair of speakers. The store has a no return policy though, and I had second thoughts. It felt too risky to spend thousands of dollars on speakers without an ability to do a home test or bring them back. Thankfully, the salespeople refunded the deposit when I said I didn't want to go forward with the purchase. They were perfectly nice about it. So far so good.

My sales guy then offered to let me take them home and try them, no cost. Great! I did that. Then I brought them back (at the agreed-upon time) because I decided they weren't enough of an upgrade on my current system to justify the cost.

The problem started when Jae, the owner, arrived--and proceeded to chew me out for about 10 minutes for not buying the speakers. He was incredibly angry. He insisted that I pay a 15% "restocking fee," which had not been mentioned or noted in any of the paperwork, and which none of the other employees had brought up when they fully refunded the deposit.

I regret paying it, but I did because I felt trapped--Jae was very aggressive about it--and I just wanted to get out of there.

I have never been treated this way by any business owner, much less one where I had been thinking of spending almost $4000 for a discretionary purchase.

Stay away. There are lots of other places to buy audio gear that don't harass and bully...