Stereo Exchange — Local services in New York

I know this place has great audio equipment but the service.... Just awful, to the point of being racist! Read on.

I went in last week to ask about some stereo equipment and wanted some high end gear and not those BOSE systems one typically think is the best. Went in and had a gentleman named Michael Toto help me out. I didn't dress all fancy just t-shirt and jeans and sweaty from the 100+ temperature we were having in NYC.

I must say the layout was nice and the equipment amazing. Went in and started saying I would like to look into a system for my mother since she moved into a new place and wanted to get some high end equipment since they are better. Right off the bat he told me we have many choices and sounded a little pretentious. Then I told him my budget was around $2,000 to $5,000 for a speaker and receiver. Then he told me he has some options but he would really like the person paying to come in and tried to shove me away. When I told him that I would be paying then he started helping me out.

He showed me some stuff and after I told him I knew a little about audios, he became even friendlier since I guess it was different than talking to a totally new person who didn't know anything and he didn't want to waste his breath explaining. But isn't that what sales people do? Well fast forward to today July 24th 2013.

I went in with my mom to show her the different systems they had color choices since she wanted to match the color scheme in her new apartment she recently bought in NoHo. It was hot and she had a headache from the heat so she wasn't all that focused. On top of that English isn't her first language so her responses weren't that spot on. Michael was around and I greeted him since he helped me last time and introduced him to my mother. He showed her the speakers he mentioned to me last week and she started asking about pricing and quality. He had mentioned to her several speakers 2 or 3 if I recall and prices for the stands. She couldn't remember all the pricing so she asked again while having Michael demo the speakers and that's when it all went to hell.

He was already unhappy to deal with her because of her English skills. Mind you there is a slight accent but nothing that you cannot understand. He had this disgusted look on his face while explaining. When she asked him about pricing he gets loud and tells her, "Well if you are talking about pricing why should I even bother showing you how they sound?"

Really?!? Is that what you say? My mom became irate at that and was about to walk out of the store. Luckily another salesperson Ron stepped in and helped her out. He demoed the models a Totem speaker system and a Bowers & Wilkins set. In the end i ended up paying about $3000 for a system after he gave me a discount for the treatment we got.

Service was terrible, downright disrespectful and very pretentious. As a veteran if I had known I had to defend this country for turds like that I would have given my Eagle Globe and Anchor and said screw this. Treat me that way is fine but treat a 60 year old women that way, come...

Ok. I read every single review about this place before stepping through the doors. I was a bit uncertain about what to expect, but being relatively new to the audio world, and after a very painful $35,000 experience with Magnolia and their "White Glove Service", I was really skeptical if such thing even exists still in the audio world.

In comes Evan Fusco, who I talked to on the phone when deciding to add a couple of components to my system after giving up on Magnolia's performance, customer care, and even the most basic understanding of what they are supposed to do. After a very brief and friendly chat on the phone, I decided to schedule an appointment and view their showroom.

To say that the experience was phenomenally celestial does not do that man justice. I fully expected to be upsold on products, to be blasted by technical terms that I did not understand in order to make a sale, or to bamboozled with a whole "return everything to Magnolia, get a refund, and we'll build it better." That was not the case.

Evan took over an hour to answer every question, explain to me in a very friendly and simple way every misconception I had. He came over to my place, checked every input, every audio configuration, the Savant programming, and gave me an incredibly reasonable pricing to "fix it, without replacing it." I was completely surprised by the honesty, and finding someone who actually wants to win a long-term client, versus make a quick sale.

Three weeks later, everything that was wrong in my Magnolia setup was fixed. I've added some SimAudio Moon components, and upgraded my Turntable and it's Phono Stage, and the difference in sound was exemplary, and the best part about it, is that I was not forced into buying any item. Things were explained to me in the most detailed yet simple fashion, and I made the decisions to actually invest in those upgrades. The result is outstanding.

I could not recommend this place enough. I understand that a lot of the negative review bombings are from people who just walked in, and felt neglected. Well, to be fair, this is not a RadioShack or a BestBuy. I would recommend anyone to call, make an appointment, and I assure you, regardless of your budget, you will find an excellent reception, and attention to your time and needs as a potential buyer.

I wish I could give a six-star, but I guess it will suffice that Stereo Exchange has won a permanent client. I can truly say now that I have...

I had been looking for a while to upgrade my amp and speakers and decided to make an appointment with the folks at Stereo Exchange since they carried the brands that I was interested in. Evan helped me to narrow down the choices between two sets of speakers and two different amps, some of which I had not even considered. He said he could show me how some speakers would sound better with the proper amp driving them and what the differences were that I should listen for. I set up an appointment and Glenn gave my wife and I a private demo to help us decide. The equipment I was considering was at the high end of the equipment they carried so the demo was long and we needed to return for some final decision making. Glenn was extremely patient and answered all of our questions. He made it easy to compare the different components and assess the virtues of each. In the end the choice was obvious to us and there was no doubt that I found what I was looking for. My wife and I both preferred the intimacy of having a private demo rather than the walk-in experience with many interruptions. We were also very impressed with the variety of equipment they carried from the entry-level to the ultra-high end (are you nutz!!!, I’m leaving you!!!) level.

It seems that about every 20 years or so, I make some major upgrades to my system. I’ll be retiring in a few years and I figured the next speakers I get would probably be the last so I wanted to stretch myself and buy the best system possible. Dave made that possible for me and I ended up with a set of speakers and an amp that I never thought I would be able to own. These guys at Stereo Exchange are different than some of the people I have dealt with over the last 50 or so years in which I have been involved in high-end audio. They really care that you are happy with your purchase and it is the right equipment for you. I have gone from a $200 all in one system my parents bought me when I was a kid (including an 8-track tape player with an AM/FM tuner by golly) to a fully dedicated home theater with a new Simaudio Moon 860A v2 amp and a pair of limited-edition Sonus faber Il Cremonese Ex3me speakers. (Oh-yeah, Oh-yeah!!!). I still have some old equipment that needs to be upgraded, so when I recover from this purchase, I’ll be heading to Stereo Exchange asking another million questions for the next purchase. Guys…....