-
April 2021 by Mike S
I had a great experience purchasing hifi gear from Peter at Toska. He is very easy to talk to and is attentive to customer needs. I would not hesitate to purchase from the folks at Toska again in the future.
-
September 2020 by Tony Kopera
Friendly and knowledgeable...I recommend Toska highly.
-
August 2020 by Phil Goldfeder
Peter could not possibly have been nicer or more helpful. He is a true mensch.
-
June 2019 by Jeff Dano
Great people and they are very passionate about audio!
-
April 2019 by Rob S.
BUYER BEWARE! As an avid audiophile I have been hesitant to write such a review of Toska Audio, as I care deeply about the hobby. But in good conscience I felt I must warn others of the possible perils of this retailer. If a zero star review was possible that would be my real rating. I purchased a turntable cartridge from them, and the owner went on and on about how he was an expert in setting up turntables and phono cartridges and he said he would install the cartridge that I purchased from them (Toska Audio). While my turntable is not a mega dollar turntable, it's still significantly more expensive than what most people own. He installed the cartridge, they called me to pick up my turntable. I picked it up and took it home all excited to listen to some vinyl.... hooked it back up into my system...but there was no sound. I called Toska to report the issue, and they had me come back in. Long story short, the OWNER could not figure out how to make my turntable produce sound again. Then the owner started arguing with me, and swearing at me (all the while, the owner's wife was trying to calm him down, he did not listen to her), and then the owner started accusing me that I must have brought in a broken turntable. This from my experience is the support and care they offer their customer. When things got huffy, I tried to even explain that I could take him to small claims court, and potentially cost him a lot of time, money, and effort... or he could remedy the situation. He did not care, he just kept screaming and yelling at me, the customer. Finally after at least 30 minutes of this his wife did reason with him to calm down. In the end it was his installer that did get the turntable to play, apparently the owner did not understand the ground wire needed to be properly hooked up. Unfortunately the turntable was never quite the same, fortunately the manufacturer of my turntable who I later contacted directly, values customers, and they made me happy again... at no cost to me. Moral of this story is, this is how Toska treated a customer of a $225 phono cartridge (inexpensive to some, expensive to others), I shudder to think what could happen when serious dollar amounts are involved. In audio I want a vendor who supports their work, products, and customers and in my experience,... well let's just say personally I will never return to this vendor for any reason or product.
-
February 2019 by Name W.
Yesterday I brought several of my best LPs to Toska Audio. I explained that I wished to play them on some of Toska's equipment in order to evaluate different cartridges and styli. The owner, Peter Mulligan, first ensured I understood that a great cartridge won't perform unless paired with an appropriate system (mainly a great phone preamp). After several minutes of discussion we got to the business of listening. I heard a few tracks from my LP (Solstice by Ralph Towner) on three of Toska's systems: one high-end (full Gold Note system, price in 5 figures), one mid-tier (Ortofon 2m blue cartridge, full system price mid-4 figures), and one economical (Thorens TD206 table, KEF bookshelf speakers; full system price low 4-figures). Fortunately no other customers were present at the time (between 4 and 6pm Friday), so I could listen without distraction. The differences between systems were significant: the high-end system had a definite sound stage within which various instruments were clearly fixed in 3-dimensional space. The economical system, while very pleasant to hear, lacked both soundstage and placement. The mid-tier system had soundstage but not the precise positioning of instruments of the high-end system. After listening to each system, I took a photo of the it and made some notes. By then playing the same LP on my current system at home I was able to assess its strengths and weaknesses in comparison to Toska's equipment. Grateful to Peter Mulligan for his time and careful attention, I vowed to return, in particular to browse a very promising collection of LPs for sale at the front of this Highland Park store.
-
September 2018 by Rod G.
Called ahead, then stopped in to see Toska Audio. Pete and Pat were extremely professional, yet friendly and down to earth. I didn't feel rushed or pressured. They were knowledgeable of their brands and equipment. Listened to some amazing loudspeakers and felt completely at home here. I highly recommend you visit this high end audio store, especially if you're into analog.
-
June 2018 by Kenneth Fils
Well chosen and beautiful selection of equipment and very informed owner. You will enjoy visiting.
-
December 2017 by Andrew T.
I've been passing this store on my way to work and finally dropped in. The owner is extremely knowledgeable and didn't try to push me to buy anything or up-sell me. I got to play around with a lot of the equipment and play different albums from the massive CD and record collection. I ended up buying a Parasound Halo integrated amp, and couldn't be happier. I had seen it online for $2,495, but they knocked it down to $2,000. I will certainly be back once I am ready to upgrade my speakers.
-
November 2017 by Eli L.
This was one of the nicest experience I have had in a High end audio store. I will first apologies as I forgot the man and women who were in the store and who were knowledgeable and helpful and very pleasant and friendly.I explained what my system was and that I wished to improve on it -- There first reponse was what I nice system I have. -- and were not pushy for a quick sale.. They spent as much time as I wanted demo-ing equipment and answered as many questions as the could and what they did not know emailed me later with the information. The store has some really nice equipment in all price ranges and especially the real world price range. They also have a number of brands I have never seen in chicago that were fantastic The gentlemen who demonstrated the home theater was also impressive with his knowledge and the room was amazing. I was very impressed --- They seem like a nice place to do business with --
-
August 2017 by sbrinck oo
Pete is Very knowledgeable an extremely helpful !
-
February 2017 by scott brinckman
Pete is Very knowledgeable an extremely helpful ! Has a great selection of audiophile equipment and vinyl . You need to check it out !
-
April 2015 by Joey Kollins
Being an audiophile as a young man with a limited budget is usually hard. Thanks to Peter, it was easy! I have assembled a system that continues to impress me every time I listen. Peter has always been kind, friendly, and most importantly knowledgeable and completely helpful every step of the way. I couldn't be more satisfied. I would recommend this store in general and Peter specifically to anyone who has an interest in high quality audio reproduction or music in general!
-
November 2014 by David P
Peter was very helpful and directed me to what I had already decided that I wanted (without any prompting other than knowing my application). Very flexible and easy to deal with and willing to listen to my nit pick with one minor equipment issue. Highly recommended.
-
August 2013 by Bill Delaney
Peter helped me pick out a DAC that would fit in with my audio equipment while also letting me experiment with the vacuum tube sound. So far I've been using it as a headphone amp (I'm only in town for the week) and it sounds fantastic. He gave me a moderate discount on the DAC and should I decide to buy another (one of the office one for home maybe) I'd certainly order from Toska again - even from out of town. A jewel of an audio store.
