Shelley's Stereo & Video

To the management and staff of Shelley’s Stereo & Video:

I want to thank you for the incredible viewing and audio experience that you provided. The complete personal consulting that you provided after hearing my wants and needs and coming to the home to verify exactly what would work, went far beyond my expectations. The cabinets that were decided upon were a perfect fit. The HD Plasma flat screens are giving me sensational viewing enjoyment. The speakers you ordered for the TV’s produce such amazing sound quality. I’m also so very pleased with the blue-ray players that handle both CD’s and DVD’s. The universal remote controls that you suggested are worth the added expense as they make my viewing life so much easier.

The installation team that you sent out could not have done a better or more efficient job. They were just great and so accommodating to any adjustment. I am so completely satisfied and delighted with the equipment and so thankful that I chose your company.

Regards,

Bill Roulette
Senior V.P. Operations (Retired)
Gelson's Markets

Hi Alon,

Thanks for the awesome demonstration of the Magnepan 3.7's. I have always felt that each model in the Magnepan lineup represented one of the best bargains at their price points.

I think one of the reasons I enjoy doing business with Shelley's all of these years is the product selection you carry is identical to the products that sound great to me. This includes speakers that I currently own such as Alon(Nola) and Magnepan.

As a bonus, the products you carry have a reputation for being extremely reliable. It is amazing that every piece of equipment that I have bought from you over the past 18 years is still in operation. The preamp you sold to me back in 1993 has been playing as I write this email and still sounds wonderful.

I also appreciate your knowledge on a wide range of topics that have helped me including turntable set up; the proper way to hook up tubes amps; and product compatibility. It seems every time I need something you know what it is and you carry it.

It is no wonder you were able to survive this past recession when a number of upscale companies have folded. I plan on continuing to do business with you in the future.

Again Thanks

Byron

Dear Stan,

I wanted to take a minute to thank you for the generous amount of time you were able to take last week to demonstrate the ribbon speakers.

Believe me, were it not for the matter of additional amp power, I would have driven home that very day with the costlier pair strapped to the top of my car.  As it is, given the economy, I am not comfortable at present spending the money to upgrade, but the temptation remains a very strong one.

My friend Paul, who is more of an audiophile and videophile than I am, was MOST IMPRESSED by your knowledge and your selections, and he ranks you, I believe, the best speaker expert he has dealt with.

Best,

Fred
via Email

I'll have one of those and one of those and one of these and one of those... oh yeah, and one of those.

Last week I had to pick up a surround receiver for a client who was getting some work done by my small but somewhat prospering side business.  Since the closest source for the piece I was looking for was Shelley's I decided to take a trip to the other side of the valley and buy it from them.  To be honest, since I had not been to Shelley's in a few years I was kind of excited to get back there and see what kind of equipment they were currently carrying.  Yeah I know, getting excited over electronic equipment... it's a guy thing I guess.

So, I drove out there on a Friday morning.  Shelley's is located in a strip mall on Topanga Canyon Blvd. just north of the Honda dealership.  I found ample parking right out front.  I walked in and was met by a gentleman by the name of Bill Kivinski.  He later turned out to be the manager of Shelley's Stereo.  Anyways, I liked Bill right from the beginning.  Ya see high end audio stores or "specialized" stores of whatever type of product sometimes have a snob quotient.  Meaning, you walk into the store and the first thing the sales people do is look you up and down to see if you're "worthy" to shop in their store. Not here at Shelley's and definitely not with Bill.

I felt comfortable from the get go and Bill answered all my questions in friendly fashion... even the perfunctory ones.  After checking on stock and confirming that the receiver was in stock, we discussed price.  I told him that I had called a few days before and was quoted a specific price.  The price it turned out was $100 bucks less than the current retail price.  Since I didn't get the guys name that quoted me the price, I was expecting to get some static from Bill.  Nope.  He honored the price without so much as an attitude. Refreshing.

We completed the sale and he loaded the receiver onto a dolly and was ready to help me with the unit to my car... I saved him the trip and carried it out myself... it was the least I could do.

As far as product goes, they're a one stop shop.  Analog, digital, interconnects, furniture... you can find it all there at Shelley's.  I was even happy to find out that they carried the Rega line of turntables.

Once I get some other purchases out of the way, I'll definitely be back.

Richard C.
N. Hollywood

We are very happy with the picture.  I haven't messed with the defaults, and I'm still navigating the nuances of DirecTV, but all-in-all we are very happy with the Mitsubishi.

Thanks again to you and your staff for your guidance along the way.  I spent months trying to figure this out - visited Wilshire, Ken Cranes, Best Buy, Magnolia, you name it.  At the end of the day, I opted for you guys because you (with emphasis on YOU) seemed infinitely more professional and trustworthy.  Thanks for delivering!  (and I don't mean the TV)

Noah
via Email

Dear Alon,

I wrote previously to Bill Kivinski and told him what a pleasure it was dealing with Shelley's Stereo. I live in Texas and I ordered a system over the phone. I am not as trusting as I may sound, because I checked what Bill proposed with a company I have used here in Texas, and they said "Perfect and good prices, too."

Now I have the pleasure of writing to you. I bought this system for my sister and my sister told me how pleased she was with the professionalism and effort of the people you sent for the installation. She didn't know what to expect and was rather worried that you would tear up her house and leave her with a system that more-or-less worked. Instead, she had to call me and rave positively about the installers you sent.

...Meanwhile, if I can ever do anything by way of recommendation, write or email.

Best Wishes,

William G.

Hi Bill,

I hope your back has improved.

I have been meaning to drop you an email. Just want to let you know that for the past couple of weeks, the McIntosh CD player, Rel subwoofer, and FM antenna have been providing me with lots of listening pleasure.  Many thanks for your time and assistance; it is greatly appreciated. I have rejoined the ranks of my far too long neglected hobby (and passion).

Today, I got my old dual 1209 turntable in order. Still works well. However, I think I need a new stylus on the pearl cartridge that, and yes, I got them at Shelley's Stereo years ago in Santa Monica.  The sound is garbled, etc.  Do you have one?  The cartridge (I did not know it comes from Sumiko) is black and gold, so I am sure you will know which one. Please let me know when you have a moment; no rush.

Hope biz is doing ok now that the holidays are behind us. I just opened my own law office, so hopefully I will keep busy too.

Another Satisfied Customer
via Email

Shelley's:

We wanted to tell you how pleased we are with our new Home Theater System. The knowledgeable professionals at Shelley's combined with the outstanding selection of top quality professional audio video equipment are what made the difference between "just some more electronic gadgets" and a major enhancement to our home... Bill Kivinski's personal attention to fining tuning the installed equipment to its surroundings and his user tutorial were also most helpful. We greatly appreciated the many trips to our home and to our cabinetmaker during the planning and installation of our new system. Without this we could not have achieved the excellent results that we now enjoy.

We would be pleased to serve as a reference to you for other prospective customers. We will be back to Shelley's for our future equipment needs.

Sincerely,

Ed, JoAnn and Karen McSpedon

I have been a loyal customer of XXXXXXX's for many years. Virtually 90% of all the home electronics that I own has been purchased at XXXXXXXX's over the past 10 years. I developed this loyalty due to the excellent customer service I received at the XXXX location...

About a year and a half ago, I moved to Woodland Hills and shopped at the Canoga Park location several times. I have to say that I have been very disappointed. Literally, every single time I have come into the store, I have to stand around and wait for someone to help me. One time I walked into the store and two salespeople walked right by me without any acknowledgement and then went outside to smoke.

My most recent experience was yesterday when I went to the store to see if I could get some help with a Klipsch bookshelf speaker that had a hole in the woofer. I went to the home audio section of the store where I found a salesman on the phone. I waited for him for several minutes until he finally broke away. He then told me the store would not have a replacement speaker and sent me to the car audio section of the store to see if they had something that would work. I went to the car audio section and found it completely empty of sales personnel. I went to another department and asked for help and someone was paged to help me. The car audio sales person told me that car audio speakers are not the same as home audio and that he could not help me (shouldn't the guy in home audio know that a car audio speaker wouldn't work before sending me over there?). The car audio sales person paged someone and sent me to "concierge" to get help. I asked the lady who came to help me if the speaker could be repaired and she told me that it could, but it would cost as much as replacing the speaker with a new pair (about $200 she said it would cost between parts and labor). She took me over to the new speakers and did everything she could to convince me to buy a new set of speakers. I decided to think it over and see if there were any other options.

On my way home, I stopped at Shelley's Stereo, on Topanga Cyn. Blvd. and asked for assistance. They told me that they were not a Klipsch dealer but gave me the customer service number for Klipsch and advised that I call the manufacturer. I did that this morning and I was able to order a replacement woofer for my speaker for less than $40.00.

Now, I ask, why couldn't the XXXXXXXX's staff help me to get the speaker repaired without all the hassle and without pressuring me to replace my set of speakers? The customer service at your store is severely lacking! I can assure you that XXXXXXX's has lost a loyal customer...

DB