Sound By Singer

I’ve bought a great deal of high end audio over the years. Andy Singer is by far the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever met when it comes to high end audio. I have recently bought some equipment from him, and have found him to be very honest in his advice. His prices are fair, he is highly reputable, and he has been very easy to deal with. I highly recommend Sound by Singer.

I recently purchased a demo pair of Harbeth SHL5 speakers on Audiogon from Sound By Singer. They were double boxed in the original factory cartons plus an additional outer box for protection. This was done as an extra precaution by Singer and greatly appreciated. After receiving them, I discovered a small tear in the fabric of one of the grilles. Mr. Andrew Singer handled the issue personally and shipped me a new grille along with the tool for removing the grille — NO QUESTIONS ASKED. This kind of personal attention and customer service is as good as it gets.

I have been to every high-​end audio store in NYC, and have been an audio-​enthusiast for about 10 years now. Before I came to Sound By Singer, I was looking to upgrade my speakers for a long time but couldn’t find anything that seemed worthy of the price. Only Sound By Singer was able to offer me what I was looking for.
I called up and described the type of sound I liked to Andy, and made an appointment to come in. He picked out several pairs of speakers ahead of time and had them set up in the listening room. Upon listening, I could tell that these were truly excellent speakers. And the more I listened, the more I liked them. The first pair he recommended came closer to what I had in mind than anything else I’d heard. I wound up purchasing that first pair of speakers, and after several months of research and listening, I am confident that it was the best choice I could have made.
Andy was very straightforward with me, and I appreciated his honesty. As opposed to other audio dealers I’ve met, I could tell that Andy was genuine because my ears validated every claim he made. The quality of equipment that a dealer chooses to carry reflects a great deal about them. In this case, it was clear to me that by buying a pair of speakers from Andy, I would be obtaining the best possible sound quality for the money. And, something that would make me happy for years to come. For someone as picky as I am, this is no small feat. Never before has an audio dealer been able to instill this sort of confidence in me. I am extremely happy with my purchase.

I’ve been a customer of Sound by Singer for 15 years, and have appreciated the patient, attentive, expert service I’ve received. On one occasion, when a highly regarded company was spending an excessive amount of time addressing a warranty issue, I complained to Andy Singer who intervened on my behalf. He wasn’t satisfied with the response, and offered me a store credit, and I bought something better. He DIDN’T have to do this. I’m awaiting delivery of a line stage preamp, purchased from S. by S. When making a considerable investment, both as a consumer and as a music lover, it’s important to know you’ve a top-​notch dealership behind you.

This company is run by a man who is a money-​hungry jerk. While I would say his lineup is solid if you are into super hi-​fi (circa 2001), his business practices are shady at best. I was once in his showroom upstairs and there on the wall was a cartoon of him with a vacuum cleaner with the hose going into a guys pocket. That about sums it up. If you do business with this company, be prepared to overpay. Andy Singer does not care about your satisfaction. He cares about his bottom line.

I emailed Sound by Singer regarding some speakers I wanted to audition. The owner emailed that he had the speakers in stock and he suggested a time and date to hear them. I replied asking if I could make an appt. for the following Friday. My email bounced back to me, so I called and spoke to the owner. I made an appt. for 1:00 PM the following Friday. The owner asked me to send him a reminder email. I told him that my email to him had bounced back, so he gave me another email address to send the reminder. I sent the reminder to the new email, and it bounced back, so I sent it again to the first email. This time, it did not bounce back.
The owner did not show up for the appt. the following Friday. I was there from 12:50 to 1:15 PM. I rang the buzzer several times. I called the business phone and his personal cell, where I left voice mails saying I was there for my 1:00 PM appointment. I went up to the 2^nd floor, where the door to Sound by Singer was closed and locked, and rang the bell.
I understand that things happen and people sometimes cannot make their appointments, however, the owner never called or emailed to apologize or explain. I never heard from him again.
Update: three months after I wrote this review, the owner commented here, apologizing for missing our appointment. I appreciate that, and I’ve added one star to my rating. He wrote «i did attempt to get in touch with you to reschedule.» I left voice mails with my phone # on his business phone and his personal cell, and we had previously emailed. It doesn’t seem possible that he was unable to get in touch with me.

The place has great stuff at the highest prices on earth. (I once checked out a unit that they had priced at $ 17,000. I purchased that unit on line for $ 12,500)
It is the owner-​Andrew Singer– that is the real problem at Sound by Singer. He’s a boor, unfriendly and acts like he’s doing you a favor. It all comes from the top and the atmosphere there is permeated with his attitude.

This shop is excellent. Their sales staff is helpful, not pushy. I bought a complete audio system from their old Union Square shop in 2009 and couldn’t be happier (combination of Cambridge receiver and CD player, with Focal Chorus floor speakers and a Musical Fidelity V-​DAC). My system has held up well for years and I couldn’t recommend Sound by Singer more highly.

One of the worst Audio places I’ve ever been to. First off, my husband and I called to set up an appointment. We arrived on time. The owner or salesman had other clients there. He then told us to wait for half an hour. So we did. We drove here from rhode island and parked our car in the hotel parking garage. As a result we left our CDs in the car. We asked to listen to one of his CDs and he questioned us about our car and if we were trying to «scam him.» after assuring him we were looking for a piece of studio equipment (after having spoken to him on the phone) we listened to a piece of overpriced, esoteric equipment. We didn’t like it but had more questions for him about his other pieces of equipment. He literally told us to get out because thats all he had to sell. Wouldn’t go there again and will be posting on audio forums to steer anyone away from there. Not worth the time, headache, or money.