Basil Audio San Francisco Bay Area — Local services in Saratoga

So my journey into Hi-Fi (audiophile stereo) began in August on 2020, while locked down and bored.. I'd already gotten one life's dream accomplished, a new Porsche 911.. there was one other goal.. to build my dream system.. Two issues to contend with... Small room and what I originally planed on, a small budget (considering what you can spend on this stuff)... I knew I wanted McIntosh to be a part of this system and I had two choices according to the McIntosh site for a local dealer, and so I checked out Magnolia and while they were nice, and had a good facility... and listening room, I got the impression that I was on a car lot.. the sales guys seemed to know just enough to work there, but I clearly knew a lot more... that always worries me. So I decided to call the dealer than was a good bit further from me (Basil) and got Jeremy on the phone... we spoke for a while, and he was extremely nice and knowledgeable... After doing some research I decided to go with a McIntosh MA9000 integrated pre-amp so as to save money as separates are a lot more... I also bought two XR50 speakers which he happened to have in stock and took those home the same day, with the MA9000 being on a 1 month back order. Long story short, the month went by, and they sent it to Basil, wherein it arrived with a huge hole on the side of the double box carton... based on what we saw, the assumption was it was only damage to the external box, but sadly the pressure from the forklift (or whatever penetrated the box) caused the glass front of the MA9000 to crack and poor Jeremy got chewed out for accepting the box, even though I had asked him to check it.. we sent it back to McIntosh and I took this as a sign that the universe wants me to go separates... well, so we ordered the MC462 amp and eventually after change it a couple of times, settled on the flagship C1100 pre-amp.. another month went by and the MC462 amp shows up with a hole in the box! Jeremy worked hard to try and investigate the level of damage but made the decision to send it back for inspection before opening the box... long story short.. I was an anxious mess, parting with that much money and everything being in limbo... Jeremy was kind enough to lend me a house MC402 amp to tide me over and over all did everything in his power to make this go smoothly... even if I was a difficult customer, he (along with his wife Deondra) tried their best to calm me down and fast forward 2 months, and the system is up and running with the MC462 a week away from delivery and in perfect condition. I couldn't more strongly recommend Basil... an as a side note, they sell way more than McIntosh... Naim, Linn and Chord but to name 3...

I don't usually write reviews unless the experience is extraordinarily good or bad.

Seeing all this high rated reviews here made me wonder why I am treated differently compared to everyone else. I visited Basil Audio for a demo session of turntable. I really liked the turntable but only wanted to get the turntable without the Linn or Naim DSM. This is because at home I have a setup streaming from my computer via an audio interface to studio level high end speakers. I was asked to listen to the DSM, so I did. Afterwards I said I don't hear a difference between the DSM and my current setup, if anything the ATC speakers are a bit different from my Genelecs. I was then accused of having no connection to music, it even got to the point that I was told if I do not cry listening to the music from the Linn DSM, I have no emotional connection to music. What I really expect here is an explanation of why the DSM setup is better than the computer setup, for example the DSM power supply is usually more suitable for musics and can reduces a lot of signal jittering (this comes from my own knowledge of audio equipments). Afterwards a lot of condescending remarks were tossed at me and anything I said was replied with "what you said is non-sense", it was extremely difficult to remain polite but I tried my best to be civil and mature here. Even remarks like "Sometimes we pick our customers just as much as our customers pick us" were tossed at me. Basil Audio also mentioned their customers are mostly startup founders or top executives of large companies as if I am not "qualified" to be their customers. First, they don't even know me or my networth. Second, who I am shouldn't make a difference as to my rights and privileges as a human being. I should not need to prove to anyone to purchase something like a turntable. As a result, I immediately decided to purchase a 30k turntable from a different Linn Dealer instead.

I do not see myself a picky person and I've had a lot of experience buying high-end products in many different verticals. This dealer did not open my eyes in the field of audio quality, but definitely revolutionary in customer service and salesmanship.

I cannot judge but I question why so much prejudice and condescending remarks are tossed at me when I am just being politely honest about what I hear. ALL explanations of why Linn DSM is better from Basil audio were "emotional...

I stopped by Basil Audio today to fix my old Linn CD player. Jeremy explained it could not be fixed because the parts needed are no longer available.

When I explained to him that I was looking for a simple and inexpensive alternative solution, he recommended a Blue-ray player. His store does not sell one, so he would not make any money by recommending it. But he even provided a specific brand and model name. I could have walked away with that information, and I almost did.

But I could tell that this person was sincerely trying to help me by recommending what I need. This was definitely not a sales person who tries to sell only to make money. I felt I could ask for more options and still walk away without feeling guilty. When I asked, Jeremy presented a wide range of other options, including something that was within my budget. He was very knowledgeable. And I felt very comfortable the whole time, no pressure at all.

I did not have time today to try out what he thought was the best option. But I will be definitely returning to check it out.

Update after my second visit:

I went back the next day. I brought some of my favorite music CD's and played them on some of the relatively inexpensive players that Jeremy recommended.Jeremy set up everything up for me so that I could compare the options. I sent almost 2 hours in the listening room. Again, no pressure. I finally found a player I liked, and that's when Jeremy thought of another option.

Now, this one was not the most expensive of all the options I had already listened to. It was actually at a lower priced than the one I liked. Unfortunately I could not listen to it because it was not available in the shop. I said I would come back to compare again. It is clear that this store does not do its business only to make money whenever and however it can.

The second visit was yesterday. And I get an email from Jeremy today. He says Linn may be able to repair my old CD player. He explained the cost and terms. I was very impressed that Jeremy contacted Linn only to provide more options for me. I am sure he could make more money by just selling a new equipment. I decided not to repair the CD player. I will be making another visit next weekend to continue the...