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Leo's Professional Audio
Rating Details »
Categories: Electronics, Arts & Entertainment
Neighborhood: North Oakland5447 Telegraph Ave
(at 55th St)
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 652-1553
New Zoom Q3 in stock now at Leo's!
Be among the first to own the new Zoom Q3 at only $249!
Announced 1 week ago- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
19 reviews for Leo's Professional Audio
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
1/3/2008
Updated - 10/30/2009
10/28/2009
10/9/2009
9/24/2009
7/23/2009
5/30/2009
7/17/2009
5/1/2009
7/5/2009
4/12/2008
12/26/2008
5/21/2008
5/9/2007
5/20/2009
3/11/2008
9/11/2008
7/2/2006
3/14/2006
One of the Business' Favorite Reviews What's This?
There's no Guitar Center in Oakland, and any East Bay musician will tell you that's not necessarily a bad thing. Musicians and pro audio folks on this side of the bridge know that Leo's Pro Audio is the spot for all things pro-audio-related.
A knowledgeable and friendly staff, a deep stock, solid services and fair prices make Leo's an East Bay music maker's staple.
I've been going to Leo's Pro Audio for years. Almost 15 of them. I've made purchases as large as an entire PA system and as small as a 2-foot quarter-inch cable. My experiences at Leo's have been consistently positive. It's, hands down, my top choice for sound equipment
Leo's salespeople have given me a great education on every piece of equipment I've bought there, not only when I'm spending a lot of money, but also when I'm there to buy something in the $20-$50 price range.
The person I've worked with most at Leo's is John Sergeant. He's super knowledgeable and a very fun person to work with. I've referred many friends and colleagues to Leo's and to John specifically.
Leo's is always willing to match prices, despite the fact that the service you get there is far beyond what you can get at a place like Guitar Center.
I happen to live in Oakland now, but Leo's was my audio store of choice even when I lived on the Peninsula. Well worth the trek.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/27/2009
I've been going to Leo's Pro Audio for years. Almost 15 of them. I've made purchases as large as… Read more »
I'm an Artist & a Voice-Over Talent, but not the most technologically oriented person on Earth. I was able to get a Sound Reflector from "Leo's Audio" (which really helped remove the room noise from my recordings). Unfortunately, one of my brain synapses mis-fired as I was putting it together & I really needed help figuring it out. Franklin (who works at Leo's Audio) spent all kinds of patient time with me on the phone (to help me figure it out).
When I bought the Sound Reflector, he told me that he knew a lot about ProTools (the recording system I use). I have a ProTools geek friend who helps me regularly (since ProTools seems to do lots of mysterious dysfunctional things). Anyway, my ProTools geek friend was injured with a bad break to his tibia & I just couldn't figure out how to use my "Fade Tool" for editing my audio.
I know it wasn't Franklin's job to help me, but I just decided to call him to see if he could. He got his ProTools system up & running & talked me through exactly how to work with my questions.
It really changed my recording experience & I have been so thankful that he took the time to help me. He's super clear & patient. Now, I'm producing audio that is helping me make my living. Most of all, I'm no longer frustrated with basic things.
Anyway... Leo's Audio (& Franklin) totally rock!!
Update 10/10/09:
Had a very nice email from the owner apologizing about my experience. Bumping them up another star because I really appreciate the time she took to respond to my concerns.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God knows that I hate any type of professional music store, but occasionally I reluctantly agree to accompany my husband when he needs new gear - or thinks he does.
Leo's is a big step above those numb nuts at Guitar Center, but not as good as Bananas at Large in San Rafael, nor Sweetwater Music (mail order). One of my issues with Leo is that their customer service is almost nonexistent, and it's difficult to get someone to wait on you, 'cause they're too busy shredding some guitar to pay attention to *gasp* someone who wants to BUY something.
as someone who has worked in radio and music for the better part of 30 years(if you count high school), i expect to get good customer service when i am potentially spending a lot of got-damm money up in a store. i don't get that at leo's.
i wasted my time explaining to the sales guy what i wanted, what kind of equiment i thought i might need, the music i was looking to make, and the guy talked down to me, ignored me and was downright rude. i needed someone to work with me and from this guy, i got NOTHING but grief.
when i got up to walk away, he came around and said" what was that? i wasn't rude. why are you walking away?" the vibe was getting very weird. i told him i wouldn't talk to his supervisor so he really shouldn't worry about it. but he insisted on an explanation, all the while insisting he didn't suck as a sales assistant.
his behavior was smug defensive, and oddly inappropriate. leo's may have the best pro gear, but i won't go back.
at least, not without a man.
I went to Leo's to check out the Gen 5. The salesperson took the time to answer all my questions and allowed me to try it out at my own pace. I've gone to chain-type music stores in the past and felt the pressure that I had to purchase something quickly to get their attention. That was not my experience at Leo's. I did end up buying the Gen 5 and it's Rad!
Leo's You Rock!
I've been buying, and occasionally renting gear, from Leo's for over 20 years,
and while some of their sales people can be rude, the guys in their Roadie
Center, (parts department), especially Mark Kane, and Franklin in Rentals,
are great to work with. They almost always have what I need, and if they
don't, they're happy to order it for me, or tell me where else to find it. I'd rate them higher, but for the occasional rude sales people. The guys I usually
deal with are great, though, and know what they're doing.
Sure beats trying to deal with Guitar Center...
I needed a PA system for a party I am throwing, and I called a couple times to try to get some help. I left my name and number and no one called me back. When I called again, the guy in the rental department was rude. It's true that I didn't really know what I needed, but what I needed was a customer service guy who was willing to be nice and spend some time working with me. At that point I decided I didn't want to work with them--when I am spending my money somewhere, I like it to go to people with the courtesy to treat their customers kindly. I asked around and tried to borrow a PA system from the bands I am working with or friends. When that didn't work out, I knew I had to bite the bullet and go to Leo's. I called them again, and AGAIN they were rude--and I hadn't even betrayed the fact that I didn't know anything in this phone call. At this point I remembered I have worked in the past with Eddie and Event Magic--I have worked with him before and I know he's always nice and willing to talk about my needs. They have a PA and that's where I'm getting it.
I think Leo's Pro Audio is perhaps good for pros, but never for me.
You know once again I was reminded why I'd shop at any other place than Leo's. I am a professional recording artist and producer. Over the years I have spent tens of thousands of dollars here mostly against my instinct but they are very close to my house and Guitar Center is unbearable.. these days i go to Starving musician or I'll drive all the way to San Rafael to Bannana's for real customer service and good prices or as a last resort I'll go online for pro Audio.
Too many of the guys at Leo's always had a stuck up attitude until they smell money.. and to be fair there are still a few good guys there but the overall general vibe is archaic and irritating. I want to support my local business, I really do but forget these guys. I'm done.
Just this morning I called to see if they have a new drum machine in.. this old fart could barely hide contain his sneer when i said Drum Machine and condescendingly told me, slowly like I was a retarded child " we haven't carried drum machines for years" . if he'd bothered to stay current and put away his grateful dead jam tapes for 5 minutes he may have discovered that Drum machines are back with full force.. Alesis just released an updated version of their classic Sr-16.. It's all good.. guys get over yourselves you work in a shop! Sorry that was a low blow but.. well you had it comin!
and this is just one of the many times I have come away from Leo's in disgust.
I know for a fact that this is not the first time you've heard this.
Change or vanish..
I think it can really depend on chance what happens at Leo's. I used them all the time in the 90's spending thousands with little or no problem with anything or anyone. But they had Rick Baretta then who was a genius and super nice. Now i went in to find Franklin instead, and he was quite patronizing and redundant. When i wanted to look at headphones, instead of being straightforward and letting me look, he started 'testing' me by handing me various ones and saying challengingly - how about these? I guess I passed the test because I told him a few pairs were tight, heavy etc, and then liked (somewhat) a lighter pair he then told me were the most popular. I did not enjoy his attitude, but he wasn't super awful, just pompous (the dreaded word in music places) and not fun. I also asked the 'software' guy about Garageband just out of curiosity because it's always there, and he gave me the biggest load of bilge you ever heard - didn't know a thing but talked for half an hour. I later figured out the answers myself and called him back, to find he was defensive and uninterested. But my guess is Leo's can be great one day for one thing - and not so great on another day for another thing.
Leos has been solid over the years.
they've always been helpful and worked with me on getting the right pieces together.
head and shoulders above Guitar Center and the like, as far as retail pro audio in the bay area, it's Leo's in the east bay and Robotspeak in SF.
I really do hate to diss on local business.
I went here trying to buy monitors for my home ProTools setup. I told the salesperson what I was looking for, he brought me into the (really nice)back room with tons of monitors to A/B. I told him what Guitar Center was selling the monitors for and he said that he would match their price. I was glad to not be supporting a huge conglomerate like Guitar Center and instead supporting a local business. Unfortunately, I got a cell phone call, and when I came back, he had changed his mind!
He told me he would no longer sell me the new monitors at that price, and would only sell me a pair of used ones for the price I was quoted, and tried to make me feel guilty, acting like he was cutting me some HUGE deal by even doing that!
Though I didn't want to, I left and bought my monitors at Guitar Center instead.
Customer Service, with a capital "Fuck You."
I'm sorry you didn't make it as a musician, or a sound engineer, or whatever it is that led you to ostensibly have a familiarity with av equipment, but it didn't work out. You are working at Leo's Pro Audio. Fine. This is a perfectly respectable option choice for earning income. God knows we all need it. I was an av tech for a while. Not glamorous, but we all need to pay bills.
However dissapointed you are with your life, for whatever reason, this is no reason to treat your customers like shit. It just isn't. I don't know if it's mysogony. Why do you need to argue with me about what set-up will work for me at home. If I only want a small, $40 midi to USB converter, guess what? I DON'T want something else. I don't even know what they literally were so rude to me about, but I vowed not to go back there. Fast forward three years. I'm under deadline, and I need a power supply for my M-Audio Firewire 410. These things are super janky with computer supplied power, and did I listen to the big red card, supplied by M-Audio,warning me of this? No, and most likely I had a huge hard-drive melt down because of that. Now I really want the specific power supply they asked me to get. I REALLY need it, so I call Leo's. So friendly on the phone! This is going great. Until the "expert" gets on the phone and asks me which power supply I need. Like, the model number. The device model is not enough. Well, guess what, I just moved and I don't know. The friendly "expert" then provides me with this pearl of wisdom: "You can look that up on the internet."
WHAT CAN'T YOU LOOK UP ON THE INTERNET? Is there something left that's NOT on the internet? I can find out what color socks Brian Eno was wearing when he recorded "Taking Tiger Mountain," but a paid customer service rep is having a problem finding out what the fuck he sells at his store? Well, there is something else that is not on the internet. That would be the reason the staff at Leo's is unwilling to look it up something, and sell me the goddamn part.
You know what I'm going to do as soon as I look that part on the internet? I am going to order it from someone else, dipshits.
I came in to buy studio monitors. Everyone BUT the guy who helped me seemed wonderful. The guy who helped me, however, started by telling me that they don't have absolutely everything hooked up, nor would they do so. I wanted passive monitors, which they didn't have, but I wasn't completely sold on the idea so I wanted to hear some active ones. I brought a friend who masters albums to help me listen to them.
The guy was rude, talked endless smack about all kinds of monitors because they were made in China, and basically refused to let me listen to any of them. We put in a CD anyway and listened to about 10 secs of a song on two sets of monitors.
He also just gave me inaccurate advice. He said that the Tannoy actives wouldn't sound anything like the Tannoy passives, but the only difference between them is where they get their power (which may create slight differences) so basically they should sound very similar (I was willing to order the passive Tannoys through them if the active ones sounded good but the guy was too acerbic). Also he said that no normal receiver could power passive monitors, you need a power amp. But any receiver that pumps out 100 watts/channel should do the trick. He was just unwilling to help and wanted to talk smack since he's probably an unfulfilled musician or engineer.
I'm sure that the rest of the people were great, they seemed like it, and their selection was very thorough. But it looks like I have to head to Guitar Center to spend the $1000 I have set aside for some new monitors.
So, I was having problem with the sound that I was getting from my shotgun mic into my DVcamera. It was a very slight hum and I wasn't sure where the source of the problem was, I wasn't even positive that I was actually hearing it. I needed a second set of experienced ears. I took my set up in here and the folks immediately made time for me. Franklin took me in back, had me explain my problem, then spent some time troubleshooting with me (he did hear what I heard... I wasn't crazy!). Not only did he help determine that there was nothing wrong with my mic, he helped me figure out what setting it was on my camera that was creating the source of the problem. He definitely spent some time with me and everything was free of charge! Thank you Franklin & thank you Leo's!
I have a ton of records that I refuse to give up...the old record player that I have - which will be thrown out - is huge, bulky, and outdated. I needed something to keep on playing the vinyl and take up less space, so I was told to call these guys. They were very helpful on the phone - ordered the lil' portable player that I wanted, and was told that it would be in by the end of the week - sweet! Well...after 2 - 3 calls to them, it actually took two weeks. I picked up my player, got it home...and it ain't loud enough for my taste. I'll end up hooking it up to my other stuff to get a better, LOUDER sound.
Other than my lil' tinny-sounding record player - which I got for @ $140.00 (with tax) - they sell all sorts of music-related stuff, mainly recording equipment. I think I saw some musical instruments too. The place is big and cave-like - I asked if they had an actual recording studio there, but they didn't. Could've fooled me.
Update 4-23-08: It's been over a month and I'm still waiting for a stylus replacement since the one that came with the record player was damaged...I've called 3 -4 times and they are as slow as molasses in getting shit done. I would really be raising hell if I didn't happen to have my old stylus, which works. Down-graded to 2 stars!
Update 5-14-08: Two months have gone by folks. Still no replacement stylus after 2 -3 more calls. I was promised that it would be sent out today - the excuse this time was that the warehouse guy forgot. One star.
This place is great. They can answer all your questions. Sell you what you need and nothing more or less. And they don't make you feel uncomfortable about asking questions. You might be surprised at first cause they actually know what they are talking about. They helped me build a PA. I would go here before any where else in the all the bay.
So far, so good. All I've purchased from them at this point is a pair of drumsticks, but this is one of the best pro-audio selections I've ever seen. These guys carry Presonus, Mackie/Tapco and tons of other stuff. They seem to be willing to beat any Internet vendors' pricing as well, which is pretty dope for a neighborhood place. And not that you need it in TTT (Telegraph/Temescal Triangle) anymore, but they have off-street parking.
Excellent selection of professional recording and sound equipment at competitive prices. Untypically helpful service, without pressure to buy unnecessary and high-profit margin items. I would return again
