Review: Bay/Bloor Radio

[hugh]

The purpose of this thread is for Digital Home members to review and relay their experience buying consumers electronics at Bay Bloor Radio.

This thread is strictly for reviews and is not for discussion. If you have any questions about what belongs in this thread, then please this thread prior to posting.

When you post, please try to include the following information:

• What product or service you purchased.
• Approximate timeframe you ordered the product
• What location you dealt with if it’s a company with many stores or service locations
• Your overall level of satisfaction
• If you had a positive experience, please explain what made it such a positive experience.
• If you had a negative experience, please read our guidelines below.

[57]

The service and selection at Bay Bloor is pretty good, however, the prices (unless a good sale) are usually pretty high, reflecting the service, location and clientele.

I like their Headphone wall and bought headphones there after trying out many. Got the Grado SR-125s "on sale" a few years back.

If you're the type of person looking for "full service" (installation, discussions, etc) and are willing to pay for this service, then this is the place for you. If you're looking for low prices, you should probably shop elsewhere.

Location - Go into the big grey building (Manulife I believe) on the SE corner (of Bay & Bloor) and look for directions on an "info board", or simply walk south on Bay St about 100m, looking to your left and it's visible from the outside, walk down the steps and go in.

http://retail.manulifecentre.com/sto...ldirectory.ch2 (map, courtesy nfitz)

[hugh]

My experience with Bay/Bloor is limited. Selection is great, the service to me seemed well informed but a little too aggressive for my like. Pricing is definitely high. For anyone outside of downtown, this store is a pain to get to.

Bay BLoor is a good starting point but I would shop around for other suburban stores that I believe offer good selection and better prices.

[newantenna]

I've bought some stuff there over the years and found the sales people will almost always try to upsell you. I wanted to buy some Tivoli audio add-ons to match some existing equipment and they tried to convince me to trash everything and buy a complete new setup. I bought elsewhere. However, if you know what you want and why, its a good place to go.

[supervij]

I will never understand why BBR refuses to list their products on their webpage. All they do is list the brands they carry, which is utterly useless. I really believe people on this forum would discuss BBR and their merchandise more often if they just told us on their webpage what items they carry. Oh, and they're super pricey too. I'm always amazed they stay in business considering those prices.

On the other hand, I've always felt that the salesguys really know their stuff. I've had great conversations with them about HT stuff, and they're very knowledgeable.

Anyway, I bought a Denon bookshelf CD player back in '98. I wish I could remember how much it was. I do remember that I was surprised it was so pricey, but even back then, I knew that Denon was a well-respected name in audio. I was very satisfied. They repaired it for free when it broke down mere days before the warranty expired, and it came back to me pretty quickly.

Today, however, it's extremely unlikely I'd ever shop there, based on the fact that I don't know what they sell (the webpage again) and the prices are so high.

cheers,
supervij

[Sugith]

Best to shop for items when on sale here, I think. Unless you require tremendous after-sale service, you're paying a premium for location and staff. If they are not the exclusive dealer for a product line you're interested in, you can do better on price and possibly service from some other bricks and mortar dealers further afield in GTA.

[dalmond]

Had an easy experience in Bay/Bloor the other afternoon. Picked up a pair of speakers with quick service and no upsell.