Peak Audio

I’ve been a Peak Audio customer many times over the hears, having purchased various headphones, a few sets of speakers, record player repairs, amplifier repairs, and other various parts for speakers and record players. In the past I found them to be reasonably priced, and friendly. I’m certain I’m very far from their best customer, but certainly would have remained a modest lifelong customer. Now I’m not so sure.
Perhaps they are under new management or ownership in recent years. The last few times I’ve been in I’ve found them to be increasingly unfriendly and unhelpful.
Recently I had a pair of speakers break at the spot where the banana plugs attach as a result of a fall from speaker stand. I called Peak and they suggested I send photos or bring it in for an estimate. I sent photos and received an email back saying «Estimate fee is $ 35», which perhaps I didn’t read thoroughly enough as a result of previous context, and took to mean that they estimated that the fee would be $ 35.
I brought the speakers in and the person I dealt with told me that I could do a $ 40 some-​odd dollar deposit. I mentioned that they had estimated the entire repair would only cost $ 35. At this point the guy got a bit snide and rude and made no effort to placate me as a customer, instead proclaiming that they always charge $ 35 for any estimate, because this is their work, and that they are certain that I don’t want to work for free (in fact I do always do estimates for free and get a lot of work that way…).
Why have me go to the trouble of sending in photos if you refuse to make any kind of estimate? I mentioned that I had had numerous things repaired over the years and never had this problem. He snidely replied that it wasn’t a problem.
I explained that it was a problem for me and that if a potential customer has a problem then it is a problem for him, but that in that case he probably would does not value me as a customer.
I asked him if he could even ballpark it — after all why would I want to pay $ 35 to get an estimate on a repair that might not be worth the cost of the speakers (they are an old pair of JBL speakers that we inherited). — he refused to give literally any indication whatsoever of cost. Flummoxed, I walked out with the speaker.
I’ll think twice about purchasing from Peak in the future as a result of this gentleman’s attitude (and to some extent the estimate fee although frankly I would have been willing if he had not been such a jerk and kindly explained, for example, that it would be well worth the cost of repair versus the costs of replacing the speaker).

The last time I was in Peak Audio I was in the market for a pair of head phones. My previous pair had met an unfortunate end in the wheel of a bike tire and I had the sad task of replacing them.
When I walked in the door a gentleman quickly greeted me and asked if he could be of any service. I told him my story and he actually said he was sorry for my loss as though a relative had past away. Being an audiophile I really enjoyed his sentiment.
I let him know that I was looking for a set of headphones in a specific price range and he quickly guided me to the the head phones within that bracket. He very candidly told me that all of these were top notch except for one and if I’d like a demo he’d be happy to help. Obviously I said sure and he guided me to a chair.
He then brought me each of the head phones (six in all) and let me check out the sound quality on all of them until I found the ones that were right for me. It’s amazing how much different music can sound in a good pair of cans! I sat back to listen for a little while and when I finally made a decision the guy knocked a little off the price for me!
Peak Audio is a high quality shop for those of us who love our music and our home theatres. If you’re looking for a real bargain, go elsewhere, but if you want top notch gear from people who know what their talking about, there’s no other choice in the city. After this great experience I’ll return to Peak Audio for all my audio purchases. You should do the same!

Last week I decided to pop into Peak Audio, to see what their turntable selection was like. There wasn’t a ton on hand and the sales rep helping me didn’t venture any info with regard to used/​refurbished items.
What he was interested in telling me all about was the Czech made Pro-​Ject turntables which were going for $ 450-​$ 700 depending on make and model. Perhaps he read me quickly and could tell that I am a sucker for being upsold on items based on non-​tangibles like the fact that the $ 450 model comes in shades of: black, white, red, yellow, green, blue and gray.
Overall, lots of interesting information. The pricing is a tad prohibitive at Peak Audio, but I would definitely come back here to get more info.

Christmas time had me hunting for a used turntable. Another customer overheard us talking and shouted out, «Peak Audio!» Apparently they refurbish old ones and resell them. Thanks for the advice, random dude. It totally paid off with a great shopping experience. I called before visiting, to see if they had any on hand, and was told there was one and that it was easiest to just come in and see it. Once at the store, it turned out there were two to choose from, and although I don’t know a lot about record players I felt completely confident buying one for my audio-​phile boyfriend because of the 90-​day guarantee and the helpfulness of the sales agent. He instructed me to «use it like crazy» in the first 90 days so that if there were any issues they would become apparent and we could get them dealt with early. Best part of the purchase was that he chopped $ 30 off of the sticker price on the model I ended up buying. Que bueno.