Carlton Audio Visual

Knowledgeable and pleasant staff. Great place to buy hi-fi – I've now bought several items over the years [mainly speakers], and have always found the staff willing to discuss my needs, ask appropriate questions, make recommendations about compatibility and set up demos of the gear. A great advert for a bricks and mortar way of buying equipment which includes a large range of products to suit various tastes. A marked contrast to some other hi-fi retailers I've experienced. Show details

A very pleasant experience with this quality store – I went on a store hunt for a silver Yamaha A-S3200. I live in Adelaide so unfortunately the retail outlets here don't hold stock of the upper echelon electronics. I phoned the bricks and mortar stores around the country. From W.A.,QLD,NSW and Victoria. Sadly for me the holding stocks of the silver version of this superb integrated amplifier… Read more

were depleted. Black was in plentiful supply. The theme other than getting the desired colour was the interaction and service I received from the many stores I contacted around the country. I was treated with respect by many different electronic stores but to my surprise some of them couldn't be bothered. I was nearly going to "throw the towel" in and concede that I would need to wait until silver stocks arrived into the country next year. The ETA could not be confirmed even by Yamaha Australia. I was surfing the net and I noticed an advertisement by Carlton AV on an unrelated product. I hastily checked the Yamaha website and they were listed as Yamaha authorised sellers. I then called Carlton AV and was greeted by a softly spoke lady by the name of Reidun. At first I thought she was the receptionist but after querying her position she made it clear to me she was one of their experienced AV specialists. I asked her what I was looking for and we discussed price. She politely told me she will do her best to try and get me a silver one. On that note she hung up. I thought nothing of it. As what are the chances they have a silver one in stock. I was on the phone talking with my sister when I got an alert that Carlton AV have left a voice mail. To my disbelief Reidun told me that they have a silver one in storage and that she can do for the price we negotiated. The unit was delivered 48 hours after. Today I got a call from Reidun to ask me if everything was achieved and If I was happy with my purchase. I told her I am more than happy with her customer service however I haven't as yet powered up the unit as I am getting my new speakers tomorrow and look forward to listening to it.. She then told me if I have any issues or if I want to discuss how it sounds to give her a call. She even asked me what type of speakers have I bought. I told her that she is worthy of mentioning to the community of her professional customer service and that I will be reviewing her place of employment as well as her exceptional customer service. This is why I give Carlton AV 5 stars. A great experience for me and highly recommended for all your AV needs. Simply good old fashioned customer service.

Attention to Detail - Listening to Acquiring – A brilliant experience purchasing the new R10 Planar / Apheta 3 from Markus at an attractive price by Rab! Equally Nick the charmer with The Grail by van den Hul - ecstatic Show details

Very reputable, old, respected HiFi store - Fanatics Welcome! – I have been to Carlton Audio Visual (CAV) many times over the last 20 years and bought some of my equipments there and had great many discussions with the staffs over the years on streamers, amps, DACs, players, loudspeakers, subwoofers and cables. While old, it is by no means old-fashioned. On the contrary, it has a really great variety of… Read more

stock on the floor, from vinyl to streamers, from two channels stereo to cinema system. Its breath of brands is so impressive, few can beat it! I venture to say all audiophile in Melbourne know and have set foot in this shop and spoken to Rab the owner at least once. What a great guy!

One of the biggest challenges of this store is the amount of equipment it carries given real estate is scarce on Lygon Street, on the fringe of the CBD where it is located, despite it has not one but several nearby locations. In fact, its website claims, "our premises extend over five buildings on Lygon, Pelham, and Drummond Streets. To make an initial personal contact come to the original premises of 164 Lygon St (next to Vodka Temple) which is our "meet and greet" area." When you walk into 164 Lygon St, you are bombarded with huge array of equipments and it does feel somewhat cramped.

Staffs are keen audiophiles and boast a wealth of knowledge. If you are passionate about equipment, you would find a friend there who could talk at length and put on your fav tune for audition. But given its popular location, customers do compete somewhat for attention. Thankfully, Carlton Audio Visual is one of the very few audiophile shops that opens on Sunday and until 6pm on Sunday! They pretty much had to escort me out last time I was there.

Website published prices are not always the best you can find. But I have good experiences arriving at reasonable prices after a polite chat with keen interest. I definitely recommend this shop. CAV's pricing is competitive, don't get me wrong. But with audio, cheapest price is not everything. There are so many factors that contribute to the final result including such as best suited speaker, subwoofer for the room, matching between components, cables, sound treatment, source, etc. Good advice is an absolute must and you can get plenty at CAV.

On a personal note as a dog lover, Carlton Audio Visual has a strong family feel and their family pet dogs make frequent appearances at the store as well. You would find pics of their Papillons on the web site and social media. I plan to visit CAV soon and hopefully take a tour at their high-end show room.

As its sign on the window that says, “Fanatics Welcome”.

Great Speakers,great service – I found the staff to be friendly and helpful,making sure that l was satisfied. They even delivered my speakers to my house free of charge.Cannot speak more highly about Carlton Audio.Thanks guys. Show details

Over Priced & Very Angry at the Honest, Hard-working Shopper – Today I began my journey, in finding the best price for the Denon AV Receiver, Model X8500H. I have been looking at it continually over the past 12 months, after it was announced by Denon in January 2018. It has 13 channels and is future-proofed, with the ability to upgrade the electronics for future 8K TVs. This review is about my experience… Read more

via a telephone conversation with Carlton Audio Visual, 164 Lygon Street, Carlton, Ph: 1300 668 398:

I called several shops in Melbourne, Sydney and in Perth.

This unit has a RRP of $5,999.00.

I know from being an experienced shopper of electronic items that a high ticket item, released 12 months prior would be reduced more than $1,000.00, however this unit has only one almost identical 13 channel receiver, made by Marantz.

For each phone call, I gave my first name and was very honest with the staff member, telling them that I was starting my journey in obtaining quotes for this item. I have found being honest and direct is the best policy, as you often end up forming great relationships and obtaining fantastic deals with future purchases.

All bar one of these retailers were great in giving me their best quote. One seller didn't stock this item.

The last call I made this afternoon was to Carlton Audio Visual. A male answered the call and I introduced myself. I believe he was the owner.

When I explained that I was just ringing around, he said, he didn't usually play these games.

He said it was like a 'Dutch Auction' and that he was never going to give the best price or get the best deal.

I informed him that I had called six other stores around Australia and I asked him what his best price was.

He told me the item retailed at $6,999.00, which is $1,000.00 more than what their company website lists the item for so perhaps he was a bit flustered and meant $5,999.00.

He asked me what I had been quoted so I gave him the lowest price I had been quoted, which was the same for three of the retailers I had called.

He suddenly became very angry, shouting. He told me that was ridiculous and began verbalise.

I thanked him for his time and said goodbye.

It is clear from the Carlton Audio Visual website that have been in business for some time. However their website page, 'About Us' says a lot of interesting things:

'The company is deeply committed to offering a product quality/price ratio that is amongst the world's best.'

'Our knowledge and connections with the operational process of the consumer Audio Visual industry keeps our stock line costing on a par with international marketplace retail majors and thus ensures competitiveness in both pricing and service delivery.'

'The nearest intersection is Pelham St. Generous free parking is available on local one hour spaces and there are substantial metered and underground carparks around the Piazza in Argyle Square. Oddly enough this area is littered with Ducatis and Lamborginis, if you are on a motorcycle please park on the pavement outside the shop and be prepared to be collared by enthusiasts.'

I am an ordinary working class person, like most people. If I want to buy something of value; I shop around: like most people. I look after my stuff and am willing to pay the extra for good quality items: like most people.

Like most people, I am not a tyre-kicker; in that when I start researching an item I want to buy: I am really going to purchase that item because I have saved up really hard to make it happen.

The impression of Carlton Audio Visual I have gained from this experience is:

- They come across as elitist - with the Ducatis and Lamborginis mentioned as being parked in the street where their shop is.

- That the RRP is the only price.

- That the savvy detailed orientated shopper is someone to be scorned and abused just because we want to obtain the best value for our hard earned money.

- That a person calling shops/companies to obtain the best price for a specific item is playing a game and the retailer is always going to be the loser.

I am sure that soon, a retailer is going to give me a price I will settle on and I will part with my hard earned money; in the knowledge that I tried my best in getting the value for the money I earned hour-by-hour at my job.

Once in a while, if we can afford to: we work towards a goal and reward ourselves by a treating ourselves to something of value that is within our means. These are the things that make life worth living; why we get up in the morning and go to our jobs.

I am of the belief that experiences like these should be shared, like all the good experiences and that the savvy shopper, checking out Product Review should know what I have experienced - in this review.

My search for the best price for Denon X8500H continues, I have a few more places to call and then it will be the subject of a future review.

This is another Ant Review. I hope you have enjoyed reading it, as much as I have compiling it for you.

Fantastic staff, always ready to help – The knowledge that Carlton audio visual have to offer is priceless. They are the real deal , they don’t just sell you what they have as stock like every other Hi-Fi place, they cater to your needs And amazing , they listen when you talk. I have always brought all my Hi-Fi components From Carlton audio never had any trouble with any of the products I have brought. Very happy customer. Thanks guys. Chris

Very Dodgy Business – I am seriously upset! I bought an Actimate Mini ipod dock as a gift for my partner as it had great reviews. I paid over $500. It worked briefly and then the sound quality deteriorated enormously and sometimes it would not work at all. I returned it and had a part replaced under warranty. It worked briefly and an I returned it for service again.… Read more

The company claimed that we had damaged the connection where the device docked by not using the adaptor that was supposedly supplied with it. The quoted something like $250 for repair. I was loathe to pay this. When I went to pick up the dock, I was served by another staff member who tested it and found that it would also not work if he plugged a cd player into the back, bypassing the docking site. Therefore the fault had nothing to do with the docking site. I left the Acitmate Mini there and asked them to get the other staff member who i had been dealing with to call me. I was NEVER able to talk to him. He just kept leaving messages to ask me to pick it up. Subsequently I have found the instruction book that came with the Actimate Mini and there was no adapter provided with it. This place is seriously dodgy. It caused me great embarrassment since Actimate Mini was a gift. It also caused me a lot of hassle running back and forth and the issue was never resolved; I am still out of pocket for over $500.

Care competence and clarity..and excellent results from their advice and equipment then supplied, in – This av amplifer was the first to be delivered to a customer and had arrived only a couple of days before supply. the care in the installation and setup was notably well executed and explained, and the results integrated with my other equipment have been remarkable. it is quite clear that CAV know exactly what they are doing in this complex space of av equipment and services. I'll be back!