I recently went in to Barrett's to check on their selection of B&W loudspeakers, basically attempting to convince myself that I really did want to spend the money for a new stereo. I was pretty happy with my experience. The specific speakers I was looking for were not on display in a listening room, but rather kind of on a display intended to showcase the entire line of B&W gear. Rather than make me stand awkwardly and listen to them, the sales person (Dave) moved them in to a listening room for me. Much better experience, and something he definitely wouldn't have had to do. Even though I hadn't brought my music that day, Dave ran me through a couple of his recommended demo discs, things that highlighted capabilities, etc. Very enjoyable. When I came back, he basically left me alone for almost two hours while I listened to some of my own CDs. No qualms about just giving me the remotes, and letting me go to town. He checked in periodically to make sure I didn't have questions, but didn't hover and make me feel uncomfortable. Dave was pretty upfront about being new to the store, having come from a different hi-fi retailer (I think Tweeter, may they rest in peace), so he wasn't bashful about saying "I don't know - let me get you an answer" when confronted with a question he couldn't answer. Much more satisfying that trying to BS me. And overall, he was very knowledgeable, and not snobbish audiophile about the specific music I listened to. No, not all of it is perfect...but it is what's gonna get played. So it's important that it at least sound decent. Additionally, I'm upgrading from a pretty Best Buy class stereo, and I told him I was just looking for speakers. He respected that, and made some recommendations as far as "here's what I would do as my next upgrade" but didn't insist that buying speakers was pointless without a couple thousand dollars worth of new amplifiers to go along with it, which was nice. I mean, maybe it is pointless, but he at least respected that I wasn't going to buy 500W monoblock amps that very instant. And when it came time to finally plunk down that cash, he didn't try to up-sell me on stuff I didn't want. I'm on the fence about your expensive interconnect and speaker cables. So yes, I'll probably buy some, someday. What I have now is decent, and when I said, "For right now I'll just use what I have," he accepted that without trying to pressure me. I did end up picking up a used amplifier that had been used as an in store demo piece - and that's where the star got lost. Another sales person tried to convince me to buy two identical amplifiers, and bi-amp/bi-wire my speakers. Yeah, that would have been super sweet, but I wasn't intending to spend the money on an amp that day anyway (only did it because of the amazing price) so I felt that might have been a bit of a money grab..."maybe we can get him to buy *two* amplifiers!!" But, all in all, I would recommend this as a place to listen. Kind of a limited brand range - I saw B&W and Klipsch speakers only, Marantz, Rotel, Sony, and McIntosh source/amplifiers only. So great for me, since I was pretty limited to B&W and Rotel or Marantz as far as brands I was interested in, but if you're walking in with a blank slate, your options might be a bit limited. Maybe it'd be best to say, Barrett's carries only your popular premium brands, and not the less common boutique brands. read more

Company is terrible and the owner is weirdly aggressive. They sell systems they cant maintain and have no real understanding in my opinion another dealer in chicago is a better option. Tech was here and used the bathroom i listed as do not use left gate open and left tvs on all around the house also ate food in our house read more

I had an excellent experience with them and this is not a planted review. Samsung has a contract w/ them so I had no choice. I saw poor reviews and was not excited they were my vendor. Contrary to what I read, and in a big way, they were very professional, good communication, and timing of service. The 2 techs that came to my house were very respectful and well mannered. The senior tech was prepared and smart. I heard his conversations with Samsung and this tech was fully aligned and even was proactively ahead of the Samsung tech a couple of times. My experience was absolutely fantastic and I'd recommend them. read more

This company is great at selling you technology that goes obsolete and cannot be repaired. Then they suggest your only option is to update your entire system to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars. Stay away! read more

Don't plan to step into this store if you don't plan to spend big bucks on a home theater room because it feels like that's the only type of customer they care about. I did my homework on my home theater project and researched what I was looking for within my rough budget of $7,000 (projector, mounting, screen and furniture... already have surround sound system). Originally, like many, I went to Best Buy in search of my home theater "partner" and realized that I needed to go to a store where they were truly passionate and knowledgeable about home theaters. I was certain Barrett's would be that store and was willing to pay a little extra. It was a Sunday and my family and I walked into Barretts to discover about 4 associates sitting at their desks. Given there were only two other people in the store, I figured one of the associates would get up and walk over to us in no time at all. Wrong, after a couple of minutes I walked over to one the associate's desks and had to ask for help. When I told him what I was looking for and shared my budget, he seemed even less interested. While they carried the brand of the $1,300 projector I was looking for, they didn't keep it in stock and said the cheapest they had was the higher-end $3,000 model. Nonetheless, he unenthusiastically fired up one of their theater rooms. At this point, I will say he politely answered the questions I asked him but made me feel a bit as though I wasn't "in his league" when it came to home theaters. After the brief demo, I asked to see if we could price out the projector, screen, mounting bracket, HDMI wiring, A/V hub and installation I was looking for. He looked up pricing for the projector but said he couldn't give me full pricing on the spot for the package. He took my contact information and said that he was off the next day but could contact me with pricing the day after. I felt it a bit strange that I was standing there ready to buy, yet it wasn't important enough to him to give me a price quote until the day after his day off... again, as three other associates were sitting there. I'm generally not a big complainer; however, this particular experience drove me to open a Yelp account to share this story. read more

Needed some help getting the new Roku to talk to the home theater. Joe came out and did an awesome job! He also cleaned up some connections, tweaked my subwoofer, and helped with some cable management. John W. and his crew are the best! This is from a customer that has spent thousands with them and have always been very satisfied. Highly recommended! read more

Who installs a faulty part and includes that as part of the settlement? It was hard enough to get the attention of the staff. You would've thought withholding half the final payment would've said "hey, there's something wrong here." But apparently the C.O.O. feels customer satisfaction and completion of a job are not part of the contract. They got their other half payment. And the enticement of a second job is not enough to finish the first. I still have a non functioning dimmer. And they don't have a second job. I'd be exceptionally cautious about promises from this vendor. Contract or not. read more

Kevin @Barrett's helped us immensely. He helped us troubleshoot a rather complicated system, answered all of our questions, and spent the time with us to ensure that we understood how to work everything. Kevin went beyond the call of duty, and was extremely patient with everything we asked. I highly recommend Barrett's for all of your technology needs! read more

I had the pleasure of working with Dave on a recent project. He was extremely responsive and easy to work with. Barrett's is a great company and I highly recommend. read more

I can't say enough great things about Barretts. Ok so maybe you can find some of the stuff they sell online for cheaper but these guys are going to take care of you after you buy as well. I have bought a few items here and haven't ever been disappointed. I also bought a set of speakers that were damaged in shipping (from someone else not here) and they fixed them as good as new. Another stereo store in the area wouldn't even look at them sense I didn't buy them there. It is the service here that keeps me coming back. Also unlike store like best buy these guys know what they are talking about and sell top quality gear. If you are serious about your home theater be sure to stop in... You will not be disappointed. read more

High end products with competitive pricing. Dealt with Dave and he was very knowledgeable and not pushy at all. I will be finishing up my home theater with them for sure. The install team did a great retro-fit that was less than easy. Thanks Barretts! read more

I highly recommend this company for any tv repairs. Very professional customer service and my tv was fixed in no time!

Barrett's Technology Solutions is the best at customizing your needed home project. The team working with you is professional, courteous, and very informative of "how to" complete the task. It was a pleasure working with Ross, Bill, Justin, and Ben on my home wifi, tv, and phone project. This group is outstanding in every way at what they do! read more

Spent a lot of money to have them program my universal remote with multiple devices. Didn't do what was needed and charged a $350 fee to come and fix the mistake. Now I figure out they also didn't program the audio for either Netflix or Blu-ray. Not paying another $350 fee to correct their mistake! I'm finding someone who knows what they are doing! Last time they charged me $350 they completely messed up my passwords and tried to charge me 6 hours for their mistake! Run away quickly from this company! read more

When my wife and I moved to Naperville, we went here to get some home theater info. The help was passive and unenthusiastic. It's hard to believe that selling multi-thousand dollar equipment necessarily prompts this type of attitude. I own a business and would compel my associates to pay attention to needs. And, there is a theme on Yelp...DO NOT IGNORE YOUR CUSTOMERS. This is the number one complaint on this site. read more

They tell u they have what ur looking for then they blame wrong inventory amounts on old computer system and installers not logging used supplies. Then they try to sell u a item that cost about 7 times more last visit for me and all that for speaker wire and the 45 min trip just to be disappointed. read more

We were looking for a full service tech provider for our home. We wanted to work with a company with a great service support model post sales process. They sold us a bill of goods. We spent big bucks and the service process post installation has been horrific. They interfaced with Comcast on our behalf and unbeknownst to us changed the email Comcast had on file for us. Made it a nightmare when we had a Comcast email issue. They set up our system so that people in other units in our building were set-up on the same frequency so our neighbors could change the channel on our TV while we were watching and they could turn our tvs on. Our tower was set-up with the equipment we use on the bottom shelf so we have to sit on the floor with a flashlight. The equipment the the tower that Barrett's uses is at the top-eye level. The Sonos system they installed turns on by itself. They don't know why. Needed a service call, Barrett's contacted Comcast, after fighting with me about being willing to do it, to set up an appointment for Comcast to make a service call at my home without asking me for my availability first. Naturally I wasn't available at the time Barrett's scheduled. Duh! We get an HDMI error message on the family room tv all the time. Barrett's doesn't know why. They tell me to simply turn the tv off and on until it stops. If you want good service, stay away from Barrett's. read more

When I first moved into my home in 2002 in Downers Grove, IL, I searched for knowledgeable people for each part of my home. Since it was my first significant purchase I wanted to install the correct TV & stereo components. The search paid off then by hiring Barrett's to install a great surround sound system with a 42" flat panel TV. Well, now that's 8 years later, I wanted to get a bigger TV and went back to Barrett's for a 54" TV and Blue Ray DVD player. Wow, have things changed in those 8 years. The TV & DVD player that the Barrett's people suggested was totally right on track. It was both the terrific service and attention that I liked about Barrett's in the first time around and they are still up to providing the same quality today. Also, I'm very happy to buy from a local company too. By the way, I worked with John 8 years ago and Dave this time. Kudos to Barrett's people and keep up the great work. read more

I had a great experience working with David Kochanowski at Barretts. We recently purchased a home theatre for our home and spent around $40,000 all in on seating, custom casework and the system. I had gone to ABT and another store trying to feel comfortable with the information I was hearing. The other sales people talked down to me and did not have much on display. I did not want to shop but I was forced to because I felt over whelmed!! I am so happy that I made the choice to go with Barrett's. At the end of the day you have to trust your salesperson when you are purchasing this kind of system. There is just too much to know. David listened to my concerns and set us up with a quality home theatre system. They had a great display and he was able to demo the equipment. The service was fabulous, I loved the installation crew as well as David. You will need to get questions answered and small technical issues handled after it is installed in your home. I cannot imagine how frustrating this would have been if they had not been responsive. They even coordinated with Romar Cabinets to make sure all of my custom cabinets were the right size and dimensions to accommodate the equipment. I highly recommend Barrett's for your home theatre experience!! read more