The most honest audio company I ever dealt with and I have a working relationship with them for a dozen years or so. What sets this place apart from pretty much any company I ever dealt with is that they NEVER EVER coerce you or pressure you to make a $1 purchase. All their staff listen to your questions and give their expert advice. Due to this, this is the only company I will ever deal with in regards to audio merch. Every question I ever asked was answered truthfully and NEVER even a word from anyone to make a purchase. I've been dealing with Nate........ASK FOR NATE!!!!!! All future major purchases I will make will go through him. 100% honest 100% of the time. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION read more

I bought my Wharfedale speakers and Bryston Pre from Music Direct and couldn't be happier. Excellent purchases and service.

I purchased a Rotel amplifier at 20% off list price on Monday morning and it was delivered to my house on Wednesday before noon. I needed some tech support for a problem I was having when I connected it to my current system. Robert was very helpful (thanks Robert!). I wish all of my online purchases could be this good. read more

Bought some speakers through them and wanted to return them because I ended up going with a different set that I liked the sound of more. Be aware that when returning items that you aren't happy with you will be on the hook for the entirety of shipping costs. They don't offer return labels or any help getting the items you aren't happy with back to them. So I'm paying $85 shipping (about 1/6th of the total for the speakers). Never run in to this with any other company. Sweetwater, WharfedaleUSA, others all offer UPS return labels that usually run $15-$25. Won't be using Music Direct again. read more

I was looking for a specific Klipsch speaker and I found it here. I ordered online and received my item in Las Vegas within 6 days. It was nice that I was able to track my package through FedEx. The delivery required a signature which gave me peace of mind that my package wouldn't get lost. I am very happy with my purchase and will definitely check them out first when I look for my next purchase. read more

Exchange fraud! They sent me a defective network player and defrauded me $1049.10 on the simple exchange by deducting a huge restocking fee, which makes no sense for an exchange, and paying only a penny for return shipping. Do not do business with this company! read more

Purchased an Arcam AVR21 OPEN BOX from them a few months ago. The receiver brand new is nearly $5000, but the open box was $3750, which is a great price for the receiver. Unfortunately, I started having some issues with the unit and even after trying to troubleshoot the issues with the manufacturer, it was still not working properly. Music Direct took care of me by allowing me to return the receiver for an exchange. And despite having no open-box units in stock, they ended up sending me a brand-new unit instead, which has worked great since I got it. I'd definitely consider this going above-and-beyond and I'm thankful for the great customer service. read more

Went here to look for a new turntable and almost walked right by the place, didn't see a sign anywhere. But I'm glad I figured out where it was. It's mainly the warehouse for their website, you walk through a couple offices first before you get to a room with used LPs and a wall of used audio equipment. Everyone there seemed pretty busy but I was persistent, eventually I was told to wait for "the guy who knows everything" to get back from lunch. Turned out it was worth the short wait. I let him know my price range and what I was looking for, and he spent a half hour talking me through every feature of every available turntable that fit the bill. Everything they sell through their website is available at the physical location, and they'll show you something if they have it in an open box. After I made my decision came the best part: he took the turntable out of the box, set it up while explaining what he was doing, and tested it (with a Brian Ferry LP, nice choice:) ) For somebody who's a little intimidated by the art of turntable setup, this was a huge bonus. Then he carried it to my car for me and made me promise not to go offroading on the way home. All I had to do when I got home was plug it in. I can understand people being put off by the appearance and vibe of the place, it's certainly not a typical store or a place you'd go to browse stuff. But the guys there really know the equipment and I never got that "hard sell" thing I've gotten from some retail audio stores. If you already kind of know what you're looking for this is definitely a great place to check out. read more

I live in NYC and in Spring 2021, I wanted to buy some new stereo equipment, but the pandemic restrictions against local businesses made this nearly impossible to do in person, so I placed an order online with Music Direct, which is in Chicago. I purchased a preamp and amp, which arrived quickly. A little over two years later, In the summer of 2023, the amplifier developed a problem. The warranty was still in effect and Music Direct took care of it. The unit was returned to me in perfect working order, and I'm very satisfied. I would purchase from Music Direct again, as the experience was very positive. read more

Just went to buy something in my cart.... they raised prices almost 25% to nail Christmas shoppers. Old price was on my screen from yesterday and went to purchase, BOOM up $50.... I took everything on my XMas list from them off.... This includes clearance items they jacked up pricing. LOL Buyer beware!!! Sad.... I liked them... read more

I have purchase many things from Music Direct from Vinyl, to expensive Cartridge for my TT. And lately I have called there and get very bad service and 90% of them seem like they just do not want to be there. I was asking about the new JBL L100 Speakers coming out which are $4,000 dollars and it felt like it was worth the person time to talk about it with me because it was enough of a purchase. So a little advise below. If I was the MANAGER or OWNER of Music Direct you need a system to RECORD the conversations with your workers. Because you will be amazed on how bad they are with your customers. And how rude they can be just like what many other customers have said giving reviews for your store on yelp. read more

i've been burned by this company before and against my better judgement, tried to order from them online and have once again had a terrible experience. Their customer service person was extremely rude when i asked a simple question, and have not shipped the items in a timely fashion as they described. They also take orders for items they know are not in stock, and have no re-release date, telling you "that you'll just have to wait". I would encourage you to avoid this business and spend your money elsewhere. Saying things like "Well, we've never lost a package, and you should get it eventually" is not the kind of response you get from a company that cares about their customers. Bad operations, for sure. They also take orders for items they know are not in stock, and have no re-release date, telling you "that you'll just have to wait". read more

I am a customer since 2005 but had twice interaction with a salesperson named Bess, he was rude condescending and arrogant to the point I had to stop my conversation with him. My fault, I asked him suggestions for tube amps. Before that, I had nother incidence, with the same person accusing me having a salesperson fired because he gave me 10% discount on a purchase of speakers. They do have some other sales persons who are nicer but they certainly need to counsel this one rude person. read more

Very hard to tell them what you need and urgency. I kept saying please bump up my Delivery to Saturday and I will pay. They took 74 dollars and still could not give me a Saturday delivery. This was was high value order. Not going to them again ever. read more

What a shame that Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs was swallowed up by this behemoth. Music Direct just sent me their new 301 page catalog ,( pulp trees ,beware ). On the back cover are several albums that are not presently produced. The description in the catalog makes no mention of the fact that these albums are not produced yet. Deception by omission. Poor Mofi. Poor, poor Mofi. Giving vinyl a bad name. read more

Music Direct's new cartridge setup service After I purchased a Pro-Ject RPM 10 Carbon turntable with Super Pak which includes a Sumiko Blackbird High Output cartridge from Magnolia Audio Design Center (inside Best Buy), I learned from them that staff did not have the training/skills to set up the turntable! I contacted other authorized Pro-Ject dealers who would not set the table up because it was not purchased from them. Nigel Bousfield, a dealer in Northern Wisconsin, wrote that he sets up turntables by ear. I don't use a microscope or the Fozgometer and I don't intend to change how I set up cartridges after 43 years of doing it the same way. If you'd like someone to set up your cartridge in those methods, which by the way would not be audible unless you had a tonearm costing $7000 or so, and a moving coil cartridge in the excess of $7,000, you won't hear the difference, plus your system would have to be extremely revealing to hear any differences, well, if that's the case I recommend someone else do the setup. I have a $75,000 turntable here that I set up my way and its ability to reproduce music is second to none. That reply was very dispiriting and insulting. This is my personal experience and opinion; your mileage may vary. As for setting up by ear, this excerpt from the Absolute Sound is informative: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/setting-up-a-phono-cartridge/ I was considering doing the set up myself and contacted Bill Rudolph, the technical support person for Sumiko for help. At the very least, one needs a stylus force gauge and protractor. The instruction manual for the Blackbird recommends the Dennesen protractor as a necessary tool. Mr. Rudolph was kind enough to recommend those made by Clearaudio. Mr. Rudolph was very helpful; suggesting possible dealers to try, as well as a record cleaning machine and his preferred cleaning solution all to help me get "up and running." Having never set up a turntable and cartridge before, I recognized this was not the time to start. I sent a Hail Mary email to the North East Wisconsin Audio Society. Carl Hruza replied recommending Brian Walsh, the owner of Essential Audio, a high end store outside of Chicago which is no more. The site was still up and running and on it I found that Mr. Walsh uses the Dr. Feickert set up tools and software; exactly what I was looking for: http://www.essentialaudio.com/products/analog/cartridge-alignment-service Mr. Walsh drove to our home in Madison, set up the table, installed the cartridge, then optimized the cartridge and showed me what he achieved with the software set up tools and his expertise; 35db separation almost exact in both channels; SRA of 92.4 degrees. He showed me the arm tube resonance and frequency response of the cartridge as well as the speed of the turntable. From the moment the stylus touched down in the groove it was instantly apparent how alive and real was the sound. Mr. Walsh's business card says "Analog Expert" and this is not hyperbole. If you have invested $2,000 or more in a turntable and cartridge and want to have music extracted from your LPs in the most optimal way, go see Mr. Walsh. I believe if you purchase a turntable from Music Direct he can set up the table in your home regardless of where you are, otherwise your table must be transported to their showroom for set up. The $400 "Ultimate Setup" service was the best upgrade to our system with tangible results that your ears will easily discern. Finding Mr. Walsh from Wisconsin was finding a needle in a haystack; a Miracle; we are so grateful to him. read more

The bad reviews of Music Direct are nonsense. I've bought a turntable, a preamp, a platter mat, and records, and I could not be more pleased by the experience. The people that work there are experts who know audio equipment. Their stock of high end audio equipment is amazing. And just getting their opinions is a treasure by itself. The people who work there will go above and beyond to help you find solutions that work for you, and they do their best to talk you out of buying BS you don't need. Music Direct is amazing. If you love music, this is the place you want to go. Five stars. read more

Music Direct - My wife's beautiful turntable that I bought at Music Direct. - Vinyl Records Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Just tried to buy a cartridge for my turntable. Their website is very clumsy - even on the home page, searching without specifying the correct category from twenty or so choices comes up empty, even when they have the exact product for which you are searching. Delivery options are limited unless you want to pay through the nose. I have purchased from them many times in the past, but was unimpressed today - I ended up buying the product direct from the manufacturer. Unfortunately, they seem to have rested on their position as a mega-retailer... read more

I received my box of records today, check the Friday Music record which was an open one. When I pulled the record out I could not believe how bad the record looked, it had pressed distortions all over... Honestly hard to believe that no one will check the record before shipping to avoid problems since it was open. I called for exchange the attitude I got was very upsetting. No care and they will not reship the same way either. Plus they have to receive it first and ship it out so 2.5 weeks by the time I have a new one... read more

I've been buying from Music Direct for several years (electronics, vinyl, etc) and have always appreciated their knowledgeable staff and competitive prices. read more

Music Direct - Music Direct - Chicago, Illinois - Vinyl Records Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Excellent store for high quality music and audio gear. Have been purchasing vinyl LPs here and am very satisfied with their products and service. Only had an issue with 1 defective LP so far and Rodrigo in customer service handled the situation promptly and effectively. Would recommend buying music from them. read more

Customer Service at Music Direct is aimed at making the most money possible at the expense of the customers. Especially the Customer Service Manager (?) The CSR are good but they just follow rules. Rules that change on every order. read more

This place is horrible. They place moronic restrictions on the delivery of their packages and don't tell you about them. if you think you will get your package when they say think again. Terrible customer service and bad customer experience. If you are spending thousands on equipment take my advice and don't be tempted by their "bargains". Order from somewhere reputable read more

Music Direct is awesome! They are super friendly, knowledgeable and the shipping is FAST. I've been a very satisfied customer for 4 years. I highly recommend Music Direct! read more

Just wow! It's saturday afternoon and i looked on their website looking for an Audioquest Carbon digital coax. It says they have one and they are open until 3. I'm psyched because i can't stand AudioInsultants and thought maybe i found great new spot for audio "stuff." I drive over there 10 minutes away, pull up and there a couple or few guys hanging out in front smoking. They go back inside as i park. Walk up to the door and it's locked. Sign on the door says they are not open for walk in business because of Covid but masks are required. The sign reads that you can call to make an appointment to visit but they are available for online orders and curb side pick up. Well damn that sucks. So i call them he's like not really sure what to tell me because they're really short staffed due to covid, i explain i'm literally out front and ask if i can purchase the cable (like 250.00) he puts me on hold for about 5 minutes and comes back to tell me there is really like no one there that can ring it up... WTF?!? GREAT BUSINESS MODEL. Change the sign on your door to read, we're stupid and sorry can't help you. Change the hours on your website and specifically state you're not open for walk-in business. Totally disappointed, all the reviews i read say how cool everyone is and i thought maybe this is my new high end audio loc to buy from... NOPE! not going back ever! You're open and you can't sell a 250.00 cable. wow. Best of luck. PS 'm in chicago not wherever it says i am...lol read more

I ordered an item for my fiancé to arrive in time for his birthday. The company called the next day and left a message saying they wanted to confirm information. I called them back and they wanted to confirm the shipping and billing address (they are the same)--then they would ship it out. Shipping is delayed due to the company wanting to confirm addresses that do not look obscure. The item was only around $3k. The company said they confirm information before shipping due to the high value item to prevent fraud. This is ridiculous as I have ordered much higher value items online before from other companies. Nothing on my order looks fraudulent. There should be some sort of warning to look out for a call from the company if they will not ship until they speak with you directly on the phone. This company might as well not take online orders if you will not ship the items until speaking on the phone with customers. Now my item is arriving two days late. Very disappointed. read more

Music Direct is a Hi-Fi equipment and record shop with a particular focus on turntables, accessories and vinyl. They carry an amazing amount of vinyl. Newbies to vinyl will probably be blown away that so much new music is available on wax. Bear in mind that Music Direct is 99.9999% an online and mail-order business. Yes, you can stop by the store but, it is not really a showroom. It is, much as it's name suggests, a warehouse. There is no sign out front or any indication that the business is there, so be sure to bring the address, you will need it. I would suggest visiting the store in person to browse the latest vinyl and cd's, get a turntable set up, or to pick up an order. I would recommend calling them up if you want to get advice and recommendations in picking products for your system. read more

Ordered a Teac headphone amp and some record cleaning supplies...they didn't bill my Pay Pal until a few hours before the package arrived via Fed Ex. Fast shipping and excellent service. Will be a regular customer if they keep this up. read more

So amazing. I called about a kind of weird adapter. I needed an adapter that went from an xlr 3 pin to 1/8" and converted from mono to stereo, which is something they would not typically carry. However, the man I talked to was super helpful, and even brought up the user manual for the recorder I own and talked me through exactly what I need to get, great advice! read more

their 2020 black nov. sale is cheating nothing is cheaper than 2 years before. the wharfedale dimond 225 is ask for 300 dollars not a penny is reduced last year it is about 230 dollars read more

Took weeks to ship my product, then they recalled it back because I wasn't able to pick it up for a few days, so I ordered another one that they took another week to ship, but when I FINALLY got it, they sent me the wrong product. I mailed it back and they took ANOTHER week and THEY STILL HAVEN'T GIVEN ME WHAT I ORDERED!! It's been over a month since I ordered it the first time and I'm about out of patience with these people. By far the WORST customer service I've ever seen. read more

Good outfit. Responsive to your needs and if you have any issues with equipment ordered.

Disappointing. I want to like them but I had better experience ordering records from other resources. Based upon the negative feedback from customers, I suggest Music Direct wold consider revising their ordering/return policy on music titles. Usually, online retailers provide a 24-hour window to address any errors in the order. It would be helpful if they implement this process to avoid future complaints. Keep in mind that their customer service hours are 10am-6pm (CT). There is no way to reach customer service representative to correct an order after this time period. It's not very convenient for customers who work 9-5. read more

I second Linda M's review. I have purchased nearly $1k of Vinyl from this company and I was very frustrated to find out that a great number of them were damaged in some way. Some were visually obvious, others you wouldn't know until you actually spun the record. I was forced to return them for exchange, which by the way YOU the CUSTOMER has to pay for! OOPS, your records just went up in price since you have to pay return shipping. What was even more frustrating is that the replacements they sent were even DAMAGED!! WHAT?!? How could this be I ask myself?!?! The icing on the cake is that I had the exchanges inspected by a Customer Service Representative, and they STILL arrived with defects. I still wanted to give them a chance since I am a reasonable guy, and I know Vinyl can be a hit or miss from time to time. However, after receiving this email from their Customer Service Department "Unfortunately, in the future, I will not be able to inspect large orders like this one before shipping. I don't mind inspecting one or two items, but as you've experienced, it is a very time-consuming process that takes away from my duties here. Vinyl is an imperfect medium,. Therefore, minor flaws occur on occasion. In addition, please keep in mind that we do not cater to collector standards, and therefore cannot guarantee that each LP that we ship does not include such flaws". So I think I'll spend my hard earned dollars with SoundStageDirect.com, or ACOUSTICSOUNDS.COM. MusicDirect did offer me a 10% discount on a future order, but that discount was nothing compared to what I had to spend in return shipments. We all make our own decisions, and I'm not here to tell you not to do business with them. However, I'm merely sharing my latest experience and will let you decide on your own if you want to risk purchasing Vinyl from this company. Good Luck!! Hopefully your experience will be much better than mine. read more

I have only done online sales with music direct. I have spent thousands of dollars over the past few years. No problem in the beginning but recently the merchandise has been "defective" and they have not shipped nor bothered to contact me as promised. Although they are congenial on the phone.....they do not stand behind their products. I personally am taking my business elsewhere..... read more

Shipping dates as stated on the website are fictional and extend daily. They hold your shipment until they get a full truck load and then ship. That can take days or if you're lucky yours was the last one on the truck. Mine was the first one, so it sucks. It seems they cut a lot of corners with their overhead for not a lot of savings as compared to other web order places. Maybe a great place if you shop in person, but I DO NOT recommend web ordering form here. read more

Do not buy vinyl from them! I know they are sometimes "cheaper" but I have gotten defective vinyl from them twice and they won't pay for returns or replace it it for free like Popmarket. read more

We ordered their wharfdale 220 off of amazon and received them the next day! When they arrived two of the grills weremissing. We gave them a call and the costumer service was amazing! Not only was it easy to get ahold of them, but they a new one immediately. read more

I can't say enough good things about this place. The staff is so informative and helpful and you can definitely tell they love their jobs. They have great deals and awesome selections. amazing, amazing, amazing. Need a record player cleaned?... ask for Bess he's the best! read more

This place is one of those hidden Chicago gems. I wanted to upgrade my office entertainment system from an old GE clock radio to something 2013. I called and Roger was extremely helpful in dialing me in to equipment options. I showed up at their not store front and everyone was super helpful and friendly. I ended up with a Marantz M-CR610 Receiver, a set of Focal Dome 2.0 speakers (these are so cool in person) and some Audioquest bulk cable. After an easy set up process, the Marantz fired up and quickly linked to our home network and one two three I have real hi fi at my desk. Did I mention the pricing was great too? read more