Magnolia Hi-Fi
Nov 23, 2002 at 1:08 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17

JMT

JMT Audio:PPA/META42 Amp Factory
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I just heard that two Magnolia Hi-Fi's are opening here in the Capital City. What can I expect? Will they be miles ahead of CC, Best Buy, and Good Guys in terms of audiophile type stuff? Or will they be offering the same type of consumer market audio?
 
Nov 23, 2002 at 6:28 PM Post #2 of 17
I haven't been in one for a year or so, but they do tend to have better gear then the mass market type stores. Although, last time I was in it was heavily oriented towards suround sound/ theater stuff.
 
Nov 23, 2002 at 9:08 PM Post #4 of 17
Th magnolia hi/fi by my house carries grado I believe, and the might have had some new senheiser bionetics in but I can't remember. I still think headroom is the best way to go.
 
Nov 23, 2002 at 9:47 PM Post #6 of 17
Magnolia has a nicer selection than your average chain store (i'm referring to the ones in Palo Alto, CA and San Jose, CA). The last time I was there, I saw -- among other things -- a Sony SCD-555ES (tempting...) and some Krell stuff. Their high-end room is pretty decent, and their home theater room is very nice.

I think their headphone prices are ridiculous though. They were trying to charge over $400 for a pair of HD-600s.
 
Nov 23, 2002 at 11:47 PM Post #7 of 17
For speakers and the such Magnolia Hi-Fi isn't bad. They don't have anything really high end but what they do have is very decent.

I'd avoid them for headphones though. They sell a lot of Senns but little else and they are overpriced. (THey might have Grados now... they used to only have Senns.)

The only thing that is good about them is that they are a good 'gateway' store for hi-fi n00bs.
 
Nov 24, 2002 at 1:09 AM Post #8 of 17
Quote:

Originally posted by JMT
I just heard that two Magnolia Hi-Fi's are opening here in the Capital City.


When did you move to LA?
tongue.gif
 
Nov 24, 2002 at 2:54 AM Post #10 of 17
Magnolia sells at full retail for headphones, I don't remember about other stuff.

They're sort of between Best Buy and Igor's Esoteric Audioland.

(the local Magnolia even had an Orpheus for a while!)
 
Nov 24, 2002 at 6:42 AM Post #11 of 17
A new store just opened up next to Ikea here in the bay area (Emeryville), and I checked it out yesterday and it is definitely a very noticeable step up from Good Guys/Best Buy, Etc. They had 3 different models of Martin Logans in the separate listening rooms, along with a few Sonus Faber and Vienna Acoustics models. I may have to go back later with some cds to audition. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed with their headphone selection - for Senns they had the HD202, 280, 477, 500, 570 and 590, and the rest were crappy Jensen wireless or Sony Vxxx series phones (on another note, I had no idea the 570 and 590 were so SMALL - they seem quite fragile!).

They do have an excellent selection of receivers and a pretty good selection of cd and dvd players. And they also have a few >$10k plasma displays to drool over.
biggrin.gif


But for all the great stuff they actually carry, their newspaper inserts make them look like they're just another good guys.
 
Nov 24, 2002 at 3:05 PM Post #12 of 17
I don't know about Magnolia Hi-Fi's elsewhere but the one in Spokane is chop full of Bose crap. Also there are low end Sennheisers, no high end headphones can be found. The only high end stuff in the Spokane store is a couple of Krell items and some Martin Logan Hybrid Electrostatics. The rest is Bose, Denon, Yamaha, and Sony. And their main speakers are Klipsch and Boston. Magnolia Hi-Fi might be nice elsewhere, but it is a joke in Spokane, a joke with overpriced crap. Just my little mini-rant about the lack of any decent electronics stores in my area
wink.gif
In California you'll probably find a plush showroom though, something we're lacking.
 
Nov 24, 2002 at 6:39 PM Post #13 of 17
There is a sale going on right now on Grados at my local Magnolia Hi-Fi. Maybe it's happening everywhere? The prices are quite good, from memory slightly cheaper than Decibel Audio. Not sure if they have RS-1's, but they do have SR-325s.
 
Nov 24, 2002 at 8:35 PM Post #14 of 17
In Spokane we have to order Grados and Senns above the 570. We have the ghetto of Magnolia Hi-Fi's.
 

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