It's an interesting experience I think to pop into local "brick and mortar" audiophile stores when traveling (like this, this, this over the years). This past week, I've been in San Francisco visiting family. We happened to stay within walking distance from what I think is the most well-stocked audiophile gear store in the city - Audio Vision San Francisco - located in the Nob Hill neighborhood. They're opened on weekends, closed on Tuesday, and by appointment on Mondays.
Chatting with the salesperson, I was told the store opened about 26 years ago. I suspect most audiophiles will be impressed when you walk into the store and see their selection of gear sitting in the hallway!
This is just the stuff that isn't already in the listening rooms. Have a look at the website and you'll see the massive inventory with new, floor samples, and used equipment; much of this available to demo - contact them for bookings and the reasonable set-up rates.
I visited on a Sunday afternoon about an hour before they close (6:00 PM). The atmosphere was relaxed and I was free to wander through the store, sit, and listen to music. The guys manning the place were chill, available to answer questions when asked.
They have 3 listening rooms, here's a view from the listening chair in the "high-end" one closest to the entrance:
We can see the large all-black YG Acoustics Sonja (3.3 I believe, ~$147k) and the black outer speakers are Stenheim Alumine Five LE (~US$98k). When I was there, the walnut Marten Oscar Trio (a reasonable $18k) were playing some Florence + the Machine's "Sympathy Magic (Chamber Version)" from Everybody Scream (2025). I'm not too familiar with this album (although I had listened to it in multichannel last year). The music sounded good, quite neutral sound from the speakers, fine vocal clarity, nice sense of depth, but clearly not the deepest bass extension from the dual 7" ceramic drivers of the Marten.
There's some pretty exotic looking stuff in this room:
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| Acoustic Signature Typhoon Neo about $32k new. |
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| SME Model 15 + Series V tonearm - about $26k new. |
Just outside the room we see a couple of other YG Acoustics speakers:
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| YG Vantage 3 (black, $45k), and Hailey 3.2 (silver, $63k). |
Further down the hallway, there's the second listening room consisting of a wall of bookshelf speakers:
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| The speakers being demoed at the moment are in the middle rack - Revival Audio Atalante 3 (~$2.9k). |
Among the large selection here are some Harbeths, Moon, Dali, Dynaudio and AudioVector.
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| I see the Moon Voice 22 (~$3k/pair), Dali Rubikore 2 (~$4.5k per pair). I'm not familiar with the Harbeths to identify the models. |
And in the back of the room near the listening seat, we see the patch bay to select which speaker is being connected / demoed. Notice how the store likes using flat speaker cables throughout (yes, good performance from such cables).
We can see the selection of source hardware and amplifiers back here. For vinyl lovers, of course there's a selection of turntables to try out:
We see the MoFi UltraDeck ($2.8k retail) closest in the picture. Technics SL-1200G or some variant in the middle.
The last listening room consists of speakers and pieces in the "mid-priced" range:
This system consisting of the Revival Audio Atalante 5 (~US$5-6k/pair) sounded good with the 12" woofer. It was paired with the Silent Angel Munich MU streamer ($3.2k) and Atoll AM300 EVO dual-mono amp (~$4k). With the larger woofer, the speakers clearly were able to hit adequate low bass such that a subwoofer seems to be optional save for maybe some intense electronica or deep explosive soundtrack!
As you can see, there's a good selection of electronics at the back shelf including Yamaha, Simaudio, Merason, HiFi Rose, Naim, and Chord. Speaking of Chord Electronics:
As usual for the company, they seem to love round bulbous colored buttons rather than typical LCD screens and LED indicators. The dim red color means they're in standby. I think the top box is the Chord Ultima 5 stereo amplifier (~$16k, 300Wpc into 8Ω, 500Wpc into 4Ω). The lower two look almost identical, one I think is the Ultima Pre 3 preamp (~$9.3k), the other the Ultima Integrated ($11.7k, 125Wpc into 8Ω advertised).
On the side shelf, I finally see one of these in person - the HiFi Rose RA180 integrated amp (~$7k retail):
No complaints about the feel of the knobs and switches. Seems like a well-made unit. And I imagine the GaN solid-state amp technology is great. But the look of the unit remains overly busy and an acquired taste IMO. Not something I would personally feel comfortable with in my 'mancave' I'm afraid.
Here's another look at the front rack of electronics:
Notice the speaker output patch connectors bottom right to allow relatively quick switching for demo listening.
Let's see what else we have around here:
That's a cute combination of the Quad 33 preamp ($1.6k) and 303 Power Amp ($1.6k, 50Wpc stereo into 8Ω, 70Wpc into 4Ω). Distinctive "classic" late '60s to '70s appearance.
One last shot of audio p0rn:
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| Brinkmann direct-drive turntables, one is the Taurus and I think the other is a Bardo. Varying from $14-37k depending on options like the tonearm and which power supply. |
Again, very impressive stock! I don't think I've ever seen this amount of brands and potential mix-and-match combination out in the open like this with opportunities to audition. Their demo policy is very reasonable. 2 hours of private listening time, up to 3 pieces set-up for you given 24-hours notice, priced between $150 or $250 depending on the device(s). The demo fee can then be applied to purchase within 90 days.
The demo rooms are relatively small but they are treated, reasonably dampened, good enough for one or two people to relax and listen in. While it's always nice to have excellent sound rooms to listen to stuff in, to be honest, I'm not sure that's as important as making sure one can A/B listen in the same room with the same supporting components.
Auditioning at the local dealership is better than an audio show because at least it'll be quieter and you're not going to have attendees constantly shuffling in and out of some hotel room or asking questions of the room host while you're trying to pay attention to the sound. Nonetheless, even though you'll get a chance to compare changes between components, these rooms are still not your room and the changes in sound quality will not necessarily correlate one-to-one. As we know, the room is one of the most important "components" in any audio system and it would be impossible to truly experience any product except in one's intended space.
Bottom line: Audio Vision SF has a remarkably well-stocked selection of hi-fi/high-end products providing an opportunity to demo. If you're into certain pieces of equipment, make sure to check the website and see if what you want is available. If it is, you're in luck and I think you're going to have fun coming in here to compare with other pieces for a listening shoot-out!
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In contrast to Audio Vision SF, just recently in November 2025, Bang & Olufsen of Denmark opened up their new 'flagship' store in San Francisco at Union Square (as per article in the SF Chronicle):
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| One block east of Union Square, along Geary St. |
Obviously as a store that sells items from a single brand, one is not going to see anything like the diversity of items as AV SF above. As you might also imagine, this is a luxury brand where form, materials and workmanship are arguably just as important if not even more important than function. You're not going to see hallways with speakers lined up or stacks of components here. This is about pleasant interior design showing off the looks (and sound) of the gear!
They have on display their line of "lifestyle" products including soundbar, headphones, portable speakers, living room (HomePod-like) speakers, etc. Like McIntosh and Bose, the lawyers, doctors, finance guys I know recognize the B&O brand.
Walking through the store, as an audiophile, I focused on 2 main products on display during the visit:
There's a sitting area as you walk into the store to demo the Beolab 50 (~US$80k). These are active floor stander speakers with a top tweeter that rises when the speakers are turned on. That top piece and waveguide can rotate to change dispersion and beam width, something they call the "acoustic lens" (for more check out the blog). The speaker features a single 3/4" tweeter, 3x4" mid-range drivers, and 3x10" woofers. No surprise that this is powered by B&O's ICEpower Class-D 300W amplifiers, one for each of the drivers!
These speakers are considered to be an evolution of the Beolab 5 (from 2003), and released in 2017.
The remote controller is called the Bluetooth-enabled BeoRemote One (~US$600), a well-made, nicely weighted metal stick appropriate for this price range and can be used to control many B&O products:
The speakers on display have been calibrated with DSP room correction (of course). I had a listen to some modern pop (like Alex Warren's recent hit "Ordinary"). I have to admit that this sounds really good. Plenty of bass definition, clean imaging of the vocals with nice side and rear envelopment when sitting in the central sweet spot.
The other speaker I spent time with was one that I had heard many years back - the Beolab 90 (currently ~US$200k):
Wow, talk about inflation! When these were first introduced in 2015 (yes, the Beolab 50 came out later), the MSRP was around US$85k which for those looking to purchase a new pair today would have been a relative "steal" 😏.
Anyhow, as you can imagine, the appearance is highly polarizing. If I owned a pair, I cannot imagine not having the grilles in place given the naked Dalek-like look of those multi-directionally oriented drivers:
Technically we have a solid aluminum cabinet (65kg), 7x1" tweeters, 7x4.5" mids, 3x10" woofers, 1x13" subwoofer in each speaker. Drivers are made by Scan-Speak A/S. Like the Beolab 50, each driver has its own Class-D amplifier - either ICEpower for the tweeters and mids, or Heliox for the woofers and sub.
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| Notice the thin wireless Beolab 28 positioned as rear speakers. |
Alison Krauss' "When You Say Nothing At All" was rendered beautifully with great clarity on the vocals and guitars, with quite a bit of pleasant reverb on the track I had not remembered before. I was told that the tonmeister used the track "Angel" by Massive Attack to demonstrate the bass capabilities; indeed these speakers performed admirably with those low notes!
With a click of a button on the remote, one can immediately switch between the "narrow" and "wide" beam modes; a fun exercise to listen to the massive difference a change in dispersion makes (there's also an "omni" mode). If you're interested in the technical abilities of these speakers, make sure to check out the online Beolab 90 Technical Sound Guide.
While the room set-ups are quite different between the Beolab 50 and 90, thus making it impossible to directly compare, both speakers sounded very good. Admittedly, I walked away a bit more impressed by the sound of the Beolab 50. Better WAF and lower price point are also potential benefits. Regardless, even if traditional audiophiles might view these B&O products as emphasizing design over function, there is no doubt a lot of impressive technology is being implemented in these active, highly DSP-capable speakers! There's clearly more technology in these boxes than most other "high-end" $80k and $200k speakers I see advertised.
Unfortunately, I had to go meet my kids and wife for an appointment after listening to a few songs on these Beolab 50 and 90 speakers and thus did not give me enough time to go upstairs to check out their multichannel home theater system 😞. Oh well, maybe next time...
I might get a chance to visit Copenhagen later this year so I'll check out their flagship store in the home country if possible.
When you enter the doors at Amoeba, it quickly becomes clear that this is a music store with deep inventory; literally hoards of music available:
A lot of LPs of course...
Then there's some unusual stuff like these "Celebrity prayer candles": 🤪
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Although I talk a lot about hardware in these pages, it's also fun to check out music stores when travelling. In San Francisco, there are a number of options, but the place I would highly recommend is Amoeba Music in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood which opened up in 1997. It's a convenient place to visit if you're in the area of Golden Gate Park (you might want to explore the California Academy of Sciences or have a look at the bison inside the park).
[Haight-Ashbury as you might recall is well known for its association with the counterculture hippie movement and the Summer Of Love. Great music and creativity back then. It looks pretty gentrified these days and I don't think many old-skool hippies can still afford to live around here!]
Along with rows upon rows of CDs from bargain-bin $1.00 items on up (apparently the band Fine Young Cannibals isn't in high demand to justify higher prices - lots of bargain bin CD copies 😉).
Music stores have to evolve and make sure to cater to new music - like their K-Pop section these days.
Beyond the music available, which one can easily spend days rummaging through to find rare items, we have other music-related stuff like their books and magazines section:
I see rare and signed LPs on the wall - higher prices but this doesn't seem ridiculous:
And gold audiophile reissues and minty SACDs can fetch a higher price; again, not totally crazy prices for stuff like MoFi and Audio Fidelity:
And of course, who wouldn't want a Mötley Crüe lunchbox for school!? 😂
Seriously. Have fun!!!
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MUSINGS: Music or Hardware?
Finally, I saw this interesting forum thread: "What's more important to you in this hobby - the music or the gear?"
For me, it's neither, and both! The most important thing I like about this hobby is sound 😉. Both the sound of the music I listen to, and the sound the gear is capable of reproducing.
As discussed years ago, I think there are distinct "hobbies" out there under the audiophile umbrella comprising of members who are "music lovers" and "hardware audiophiles" with most of us embodying varying amounts of both passions. I obviously must be honest with myself after writing an article like this consisting of way more pictures about hardware, admitting that what I love is the science, the technology of the devices themselves in reproducing good sound whether it's music, soundtracks, dialogue, special effects, or realistic 3D imagery abilities.
As a consumer, in the early 21st Century, to be able to witness the evolution of hardware with improving high-fidelity playback capabilities at lower price points that open up access to a wider audience is exciting.
I find myself feeling at times at odds with other audiophile enthusiasts that I see writing articles and in YouTube videos when they're promoting more and more expensive stuff but without evidence to show benefits. Furthermore, I'm not interested in collecting more "stuff" in my house. I try to avoid neuroses and fantasies around this stuff. I also don't need to collect historical artifacts (like old tube amps and such) other than maybe a few albums I love (like some first-pressing Beatles that I know will maintain value); therefore vintage hardware doesn't particularly appeal to me. Given my eclectic musical tastes, I can't imagine owning racks and racks of LPs or other physical media which one day I think my family will have a hard time disposing! A digital library and streaming is my preferred system; and of superior sonic fidelity anyways IMO.
Since high-fidelity sound can be defined and objectively measured based on principles of physics and correlated to psychoacoustics, I don't believe there's a great need for luxury items typically "valued" based on high prices to accomplish this - that's the domain of the sales guys or worse, the snake oil purveyors who claim miraculous sound quality with no evidence beyond citing faith-based testimonials.
Ultimately, what works for me will obviously not work for all. The only thing I hope is that we all spend a moment to think about what we're doing in our corner of the audiophile hobby of whatever persuasion.
As per Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Is unexamined audiophilia worth the time, effort and expense of engagement? 🤔 (I see a forum thread related to this as well).
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Thanks to Air Canada's access to high speed Internet on this flight, I was able to edit and write most of this blog post in the air; how cool! Modern capabilities with lower price points for all - what technological advancement is supposed to do.
I hope you're enjoying your sound system and music, audiophiles.
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