NY area audio stores

I've been to a few, here are my thoughts:

1. AC Gears (69 E 8th St). This feels very "lifestyle"-ey, and a bit less "audiophile" focused than others. They have a lot of headphones on the wall that are hooked up for easy demoing, which is nice. Their more expensive stuff, which is stuff like the HE-400i and HE-560, are under a glass display counter at the checkout counter and you have to ask to demo them, and then they'll set them up for you. I did this, and I had to stand there kind of awkwardly at the front counter while listening. They were friendly enough and turned down the music in the shop for my demo, but it was still hard to hear the headphones over the music even with it turned down. They have some IEMs too, including Shure IEMs, but the highest Shure you can demo is the SE535; you can't demo the SE846, which I found kind of annoying. They have a bunch of other stuff too, like spare tips, adapters and cables, bluetooth speakers, and other assorted accessories. You need to bring your own source here.
2. Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway). Call before coming, I've made my way out here when they've been closed early before. When you walk in, they have a bunch of headphones on display and you can pretty much just listen with their Sonos+iPad setup, which is convenient. However, for headphones at a higher price point, you'll have to ask and then you'll be shown into a separate room with stuff from Audeze, Audioquest Nighthawks, etc.; pretty much anything at a higher price point. They have a bunch of amps too, but you'd have to ask for them to hook them up. I wound up using a McIntosh amp since that's what they had hooked up. The rep was nice enough to me, but from what I read it widely depends on who you get. I made sure to show up wearing a collared shirt so I wouldn't be judged for wearing a t-shirt, but I've only been there once so I can't say if that actually helped. I haven't demoed any speakers here since from the reviews, it does seem like it would be a less than ideal experience, and I didn't feel like getting budget-shamed. From the photos on their site, it looks like they have more floorstanders anyway, which isn't something I have room for right now.
   
3. Bright Home Theater (202 Avenue A). This is a tiny place that I found when looking for places to demo the ELAC B6. The representative there was very friendly and helpful, and they conveniently already had the B6 set up. They only have about 3 listening positions, and a few pairs of speakers staggered at each to maximize space. There aren't any separations between them, so if someone else is demoing, you're SOL until they're done. They don't have a ton of options, and it's definitely going to be less "audiophile" and more mid-price oriented than other shops; the representative was referring to the Totem Rainmakers that another customer was listening to as expensive (they're $950/pair). They have a few headphones too, I believe I saw some Audezes and some Senns sitting around, but they don't have a lot and it's definitely a speaker focused shop. They have some turntables, but not many. They also have a Sonos+iPad setup, so you can play whatever you want. The positioning of the speakers wasn't optimal; the B6 I demoed were only a few feet apart, and were on stands that brought them about level with below my chest when I was sitting down.
4. B&H (420 9th Ave). They have a whole room dedicated to studio monitor demos, with the monitors all placed on shelves. They have music stored on their PC and then they have a panel where they can switch to any pair of monitors. However, you cannot operate this, only they can, so it's a bit of an awkward experience because you have to interact with them constantly. You also have to ask them to adjust the volume, too, since the monitors are all powered and have their own volume controls that they don't want being touched. I had a few gripes here. One is that the room is nicely acoustically separated from the rest of the store, but the rep didn't want to close the door when I was there, so I still heard quite a bit of background noise from the store. Another is that there was a loud HVAC system or fan creating a lot of background noise. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it made it a lot harder to listen well and meant the speakers had to be cranked more than they should have been in my opinion in order to be properly heard. Finally, the placement is lacking, since they're all directly They have a bunch of entry-level stuff, including KRK, Mackie, JBL LSR305 and LSR308, and then moving up to stuff from Focal, Adam, Eve, Genelec, and some others. It's definitely a more pro audio focused shop, so don't expect any passive monitors here. They have a bunch of headphones and IEMs in the main section of the store, but I don't think you'd have a good time demoing over-ear headphones, since the ambient noise level is very high and they seem to be crowded at all times.
5. Park Avenue Audio (440 Park Ave S). I went here to hear the KEF LS50, which I eventually wound up purchasing from them. I informed the rep of my rough budget and a few things I was interested in hearing, and he let me know what they had and what they didn't. He sat with me and hooked up a few different speakers, including the LS50, some B&W stuff, and one other pair of speakers that was in the room that was in the same price range which I don't remember. We sat and listened to stuff I chose off their Sonos+iPad setup, and I was free to get up and adjust the volume whenever possible. The room was nice and big and the speakers were properly placed on stands at around ear level. Even though they were closing soon by the time I was finishing up, the rep seemed happy to continue listening. All in all, I had a very pleasant experience here and he acknowledged my budget respectfully and didn't try to upsell anything or even discuss anything that was above the price point, which is nice, since apparently that's sometimes not the case if reviews for other places are to be believed - looking at you, Stereo Exchange. I only saw the one room here since I had a specific goal in mind, but they have other rooms too and they seem friendly enough where I'd definitely come back if I wanted to hear some other stuff. The rep I worked with was very friendly and we got along well, discussing music and gear a bit between listening (he was sitting next to me as we listened). Compared to Bright and B&H, it's definitely a more "audiophile" oriented shop, but as I mentioned, they seem respectful with the budget you're working with; I wouldn't come here with too low of a budget, though, since I don't think they'd have a lot.

 

I went into Lyric on the UES once years back and asked if they had any in-car monitors. The old guy there looked at me and asked in a condescending way if I meant ear buds. I left. Maybe they are good with speakers? Bring vanilla pudding for the old guy. He probably loves that.

This may be a little weird, but JFK airport has a portable audio store (I've been to the one in one of the international departures terminals, they have to be elsewhere as well). I forget the name, but it had the AKG k3003 and share 846, maybe the kse1500 is there now. You could demo them on your own dap, not a bad way to kill an hour before a flight.