Just wondering where my fellow Canadians order headphones? Local stores where I live have a terrible selection and though there are some larger stores in other cities, I prefer to order online and have been using Amazon. However Amazon often doesn't have what I want and/or the price is out of whack with what would be a reasonable price (ie too high). Is there a website inside Canada that is reputable that has a huge selection? Or, if not, is there one in the USA that has reasonable rates and allows me to pay in $CDN and will ship to Canada with no import fees?
Just wondering where my fellow Canadians order headphones? Local stores where I live have a terrible selection and though there are some larger stores in other cities, I prefer to order online and have been using Amazon. However Amazon often doesn't have what I want and/or the price is out of whack with what would be a reasonable price (ie too high). Is there a website inside Canada that is reputable that has a huge selection? Or, if not, is there one in the USA that has reasonable rates and allows me to pay in $CDN and will ship to Canada with no import fees?
The Headphone Bar in Vancouver is great. I have bought several sets of 'phones from them over the years. I think they are having a sale right now to try and compete with Prime Days.
They are more than 4,000Kms from me (Halifax), but are great to deal with.
Musictech is where I buy most of my gear from. Andrew is a great help. Although it's in US funds they will use other ways to help you save money when importing.
Otherwise classifieds here are also a great place to buy from.
I've never found anywhere local that carried most TOTL gear.
The Headphone Bar in Vancouver is great. I have bought several sets of 'phones from them over the years. I think they are having a sale right now to try and compete with Prime Days.
They are more than 4,000Kms from me (Halifax), but are great to deal with.
The Headphone Bar in Vancouver is great. I have bought several sets of 'phones from them over the years. I think they are having a sale right now to try and compete with Prime Days.
They are more than 4,000Kms from me (Halifax), but are great to deal with.
Checked the website. Small selection. Not much better than BBR in Toronto. There's no massive headphone warehouse in Canada? Seriously? Do we not have enough audiophiles up here?
Checked the website. Small selection. Not much better than BBR in Toronto. There's no massive headphone warehouse in Canada? Seriously? Do we not have enough audiophiles up here?
No, we do not. It is a Very small group. And it is super expensive up here. And it is really hard for any store to compete with online operations. I check out Headphone Bar regularly for open box specials. There are several good shops across the country, but no big specials, at least not online. And Amazon up here doesn't carry near what Amazon does in the US.
We pay more and have to work harder at getting stuff. But once you're rolling, it is awesome! It did take me years to put together a good collection of stuff though.
Checked the website. Small selection. Not much better than BBR in Toronto. There's no massive headphone warehouse in Canada? Seriously? Do we not have enough audiophiles up here?
Short answer, no. Canada's way too small
They haven't been mentioned yet, but I've had good luck with Headfoneshop in TO (https://www.headfoneshop.com) - but again, about the same size/selection as Headphone Bar
I live in AB, and I only know of 1 place in Edmonton that has any selection of headphones (https://gramophone.ca/) and none in Calgary (granted I haven't checked the Calgary market lately).
Like, @Shane D said, we're kind of stuck in a consumer wasteland up here, which is especially sucky when we get stuck having to pay ridiculously high duties on things that we can't even buy locally
Short answer, no. Canada's way too small
They haven't been mentioned yet, but I've had good luck with Headfoneshop in TO (https://www.headfoneshop.com) - but again, about the same size/selection as Headphone Bar
I live in AB, and I only know of 1 place in Edmonton that has any selection of headphones (https://gramophone.ca/) and none in Calgary (granted I haven't checked the Calgary market lately).
Like, @Shane D said, we're kind of stuck in a consumer wasteland up here, which is especially sucky when we get stuck having to pay ridiculously high duties on things that we can't even buy locally
Every time I pick a hobby I get screwed by living in Canada... (venting time, feel free not to read) I was into tropical fish breeding for 15 years. Very small scale. Just sold the offspring in exchange for supplies for the hobby to my friend who ran an aquarium store. Anyways Canada took the unique position of banning fish medications. Seasoned fishkeepers know how to diagnose and treat common fish illnesses and parasites which will eventually crop up for any fishkeeper. Because of the nature of fish living in water, if one fish gets something they likely all will. It used to be that if your fish got, for example, early stage dropsy, you could go to a good aquarium store with $15 and buy the meds you needed and solve the problem. NOW, Canada expects you to take your $6 fish to the vet, pay $300 for a consultation, and then $50 for medication. Meanwhile, moving a sick fish will almost 100% result in that fish's death, so the whole system was obviously concocted by imbeciles (of course it was. Go Canada.) This has ruined the hobby completely for most people and unless you know a crooked vet or pharmacist you're SOL in the fish hobby. People have lost their entire tanks in previously easily solved situations. I'm a computer enthusiast too and we've always paid higher prices than the USA even when you take exchange rates into account, added to the fact that any time a limited edition part comes out, we can't get it in Canada. Example: Ryzen 5600X3D CPU. I wanted one. Had it all planned out. Then they only released it in the USA with absolutely no way to get it anywhere else. Now I find out Canada's headphone selection sucks.
Every time I pick a hobby I get screwed by living in Canada... (venting time, feel free not to read) I was into tropical fish breeding for 15 years. Very small scale. Just sold the offspring in exchange for supplies for the hobby to my friend who ran an aquarium store. Anyways Canada took the unique position of banning fish medications. Seasoned fishkeepers know how to diagnose and treat common fish illnesses and parasites which will eventually crop up for any fishkeeper. Because of the nature of fish living in water, if one fish gets something they likely all will. It used to be that if your fish got, for example, early stage dropsy, you could go to a good aquarium store with $15 and buy the meds you needed and solve the problem. NOW, Canada expects you to take your $6 fish to the vet, pay $300 for a consultation, and then $50 for medication. Meanwhile, moving a sick fish will almost 100% result in that fish's death, so the whole system was obviously concocted by imbeciles (of course it was. Go Canada.) This has ruined the hobby completely for most people and unless you know a crooked vet or pharmacist you're SOL in the fish hobby. People have lost their entire tanks in previously easily solved situations. I'm a computer enthusiast too and we've always paid higher prices than the USA even when you take exchange rates into account, added to the fact that any time a limited edition part comes out, we can't get it in Canada. Example: Ryzen 5600X3D CPU. I wanted one. Had it all planned out. Then they only released it in the USA with absolutely no way to get it anywhere else. Now I find out Canada's headphone selection sucks.
I'm a computer enthusiast too and we've always paid higher prices than the USA even when you take exchange rates into account, added to the fact that any time a limited edition part comes out, we can't get it in Canada. Example: Ryzen 5600X3D CPU. I wanted one. Had it all planned out. Then they only released it in the USA with absolutely no way to get it anywhere else. Now I find out Canada's headphone selection sucks.
To be fair, the 5600X3D isn't even available in most of the USA. It's an in-store, exclusive Microcenter deal. Just need to cultivate a friend living near a MC... or pickup a used 5800X3D here for nearly the same cost.
Like most of my NOS tubes, I have purchased most of my phones used, either from EB or CanucklesAudioMart as mentioned above. My tube amps are custom built from the USA/Europe.
On the bright side, having a limited selection means not having as many purchasing regrets.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
