{"id":46255,"date":"2017-07-05T16:26:15","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T20:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=46255"},"modified":"2017-07-05T16:26:15","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T20:26:15","slug":"toronto-audiophile-6-torontos-best-stores-for-high-end-audio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/07\/05\/toronto-audiophile-6-torontos-best-stores-for-high-end-audio\/","title":{"rendered":"TORONTO AUDIOPHILE 6 | Toronto’s Best Stores For High-End Audio"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toronto's
Toronto’s Audiophile brings you news of the most recent high end audio hardware and software, much of it available for audition in Toronto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a lot of news last month\u00a0about Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods. Why did they make the\u00a0purchase, what is their strategy, etc?<\/p>\n

Over the years, Amazon has modified and shortened its company motto from the sales of books online to \u201cOur vision is to be Earth\u2019s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online,\u201d and now shortened even further to \u201cWe seek to be Earth\u2019s most customer-centric company.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, with Whole Foods acquired, will you still want to make the trip to the store to squeeze melons, or have them shipped right to your door?<\/p>\n

The same can be said for high-end audio stores. I’ve heard umpteen store owners complaining of customers \u201ckicking the tires;\u201d tying up sales people for hours on end, getting as much advice as possible and listening to the finest equipment, only to go home, research and buy the kit on the internet for a few dollars cheaper. Worse, many manufacturers are complicit, endlessly damaging their distributors \u2014\u00a0and in turn, their dealer network.<\/p>\n

\"(Photo:
(Photo: cs098\/Imgur)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My point is not to discourage you from finding good deals on the internet, but to value the knowledge that the very best high-end audio dealers bring to the\u00a0table \u2014 and in the long term, how you can benefit from that knowledge. The internet landing page cannot discuss (and know) your musical preferences, your room size, your favoured topology (tubes, solid state, etc.), and most importantly, the synergy of\u00a0great equipment playing nicely with each other.<\/p>\n

A problem, hopefully from the distant past, is the attitude of some snooty high-end stores. Oh, the stories! Many have been guilty of discouraging youngsters, especially. The best stores will be encouraging towards young people on a strict budget \u2014 you’ve got to start sometime, right? Like a good car salesman, they want to sell you your first car, and also your second, third, and so on.<\/p>\n

\"(Courtesy
(Courtesy 10thCircle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are very lucky in Toronto to have some of the finest high-end stores in North America. In fact, I attended a big party for the owner of one of my store suggestions this weekend \u2014 her 40th year in the business. It was packed with the most adoring, happy, long-time customers.<\/p>\n

So, if you’re in the market to begin your high-end journey (and it will be a journey), the following five stores sell all the top gear, have incredibly knowledgeable sales teams, and will guide\u00a0you towards the perfect purchase that will suit your budget, musical and electronic tastes, and will fit your room size.<\/p>\n

In no particular order:<\/p>\n

Bay Bloor Radio<\/a><\/p>\n

American Sound of Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

Executive Stereo<\/a><\/p>\n

Audio Excellence<\/a><\/p>\n

Trutone Electronics<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, money is an object, and nothing falls out of bed faster than the value of new high-end gear. Worse than cars. But, don’t let that scare you. Two good, reputable sites to check for excellent value in used equipment are:<\/p>\n

Canuck Audio Mart<\/a><\/p>\n

Audiogon<\/a><\/p>\n

Happy shopping. Let me know your system, and your wants and needs in the comments.<\/p>\n

Keep Up with Toronto Audiophile\u00a0HERE<\/a><\/span>.<\/h3>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/h3>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High-end audio isn’t just for highbrow society. Anthony Kershaw takes us through Toronto’s speciality stores that cater to all audiophiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":41986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,61,63,8628],"tags":[9418,9664],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/01\/MTAudiophileheadphoto.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-c23","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46255"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46255"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46264,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46255\/revisions\/46264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46255"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=46255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}