I had forgotten Audio King, they we're good. Sony Sound Centers were OK too, back when the Sony name was tops. Schaak Electronics was huge, they sold some of their own stuff like DLK and the like. Do you remember Midwest Stereo? I think they were a local rip-off.Sound of Music;
Used to get my Mobile Fidelity half speeds there, also got a Concord car stereo and EPI car speaks, a Precept 440 cart and Cannon speakers plus a bunch of small stuff. They handled a variety of products from Advent, AR, JBL, Ohm, Phase Linear, Philips, Technics and much more.
After a tornado damaged the Har Mar shopping center store they had a sale named the "best buy sale" to sell/liquidate merch not damaged by the storm but could not be sold for new. That was successful enough to usher in a new business model which became the "Best Buy" as we know it today and was never the same audio wise until "Magnolia" showed up.
Audio King;
Boy, spent some money there. Alpine car system with ADS speaks, Carver C-4000 pre, m400t cube and dtl-100 cd player plus a Nak Dragon, and again all the small stuff. These guys sold items from ADS, Carver, Nakamichi, Yamaha and others.
Eventually it was acquired by Ultimate Electronics and we know what happened there, thanks Mark!
Schaak Electronics;
Never bought much there other than Nautilus half speed recordings. They did offer a wide variety of audio stuff including dlk speakers and dbx sound processing gear.
Filed for bankruptcy and liquidated inventory at the MN State Fairgrounds. Dick Schaak's kids attempted another start-up, "The Right Stuff" which closed within 6 months of opening
Team Electronics;
Bought way too much stuff there! Got all my CB goodies there, which was way before the whole uuh 10-4 good buddy, oh my yeeeugh cotton-picker, what's your 20, got a copy on me, bullsh!#. I actually applied and received an FCC license to operate...sorry I digress. You could get everything there from big quad receivers by marantz, Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony elcasets, Teac reel to reel and cassette decks from every maker to Altec VOTTs in stock.
Sadly, they turned into an apple retailer exclusively and never recovered.
Sony Sound Centers;
I know they sold Sony equipment but they also had Carver and another couple brands I can't remember.
I didn't pay much attention to this place but like the others they eventually went away.
There are a couple of audio shops still around selling upper tier equipment but nothing like it used to be.
Jeez I miss the mid 70s to mid 80s for audio.
I sure do. I used to love going to Pacific Stereo. As I remember, the stores had listening rooms for three tiers of equipment; cheap, middle of the road, and very expensive. Our local PS let customers hang out as long as they liked as long as you didn't cause trouble, and didn't waste the time of the sales staff. (who I think were on commission.) My buddies and I were musicians, had a band, and lived for music and electronic gadgets. So PS was a gas to go to burn a couple of hours.
Hometown stores = Radio Shack and Team. Team locally sold mass-market stuff. For a very short time, they had an occasional piece of Sony ES (mostly had to be "ordered") There was a "Mister Music Man"; they were primarily records but had some equipment in later years. There was a now-forgotten store crammed into a mall, I picked-up a closeout JVC receiver when they lost their JVC franchise.it's an audio desert where I live.
Several around here are missed........Tweeter, Etc......Tech HiFi......the Cambridge Soundworks stores.......Cuomos in Salem, NH..........and most especially, Radio Shack the way it was in its glory days.
Good Guys and CompUSA were owned by the same parent. Both pretty good in their respective markets. I bought plenty of stuff from both of them.Pacific Stereo was a little before my time, but where I resided, I believe a chain called The Good Guys took over from Pacific Stereo. While it also sell computers, car stereos, TVs/VCRs, cell phones, and portable music players, the stereo components that the Good Guys sold excellent stuff. Boston Acoustics, Energy, Mirage, Kenwood, Denon, Yamaha, Polk Audio.....and towards the end, Pioneer Elite, Sony ES, and Parasound. The store that I went to in Dublin, CA had 3 separate listening rooms, one for each price range of components/speakers, and if it was a slow day, one can literally spend hours auditioning different combinations of components/speakers. The Good Guys used to have an outlet store in Hayward, CA. I can still remember they were displaying this big, chunky JVC turntable that had my mind blown.
I'm pretty sure that 'Stereo Haven' was where I bought a pair of Boston Acoustics A150 II's in 1987. The high end stuff was towards the back of the store, wasn't it?The coolest by far was the original University Stereo in Long Beach, CA. Actually it was their second location, the first being the founder’s garage. It was very apropos for its time which was the early 70’s when AOR FM was brand new, just barely becoming a thing for the emerging counter culture. There were just 2 low power AOR stations in LA - the Donahue’s KPPC broadcasting from the basement of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church (Birthplace of Dr. Demento) and KNAC in Long Beach where Jim Ladd got started. Well before we Angelinos had the big boomers like KMET and KLOS to listen to. What little advertising there was, was just ad copy read by the DJ for local head shops like B&M Toy’s, University Stereo and ACT Electronics. University Stereo was an unmarked old house on Pacific Coast Highway that lay in the shadows of the Signal Hill oil fields. The windows were blacked out and door was locked. You knocked on the front door and the little peep hole door opened while you stood inspection. If you looked cool (non-narc) enough they let you in. Once inside you browsed and auditioned systems setup in the various rooms of the old house complete with black light posters and long hairs enjoying doobies while shopping. A singular experience with zero sales pressure to say the least.
A few years later when I had some money to spend there were a few high-end boutique shops in my area where I got my first taste for the good stuff. Paris Electronics in Tustin carried Tannoy, Well-Tempered, Braun, Tandberg … Stereo Haven in Huntington Beach carried Audio Research, G.A.S., Dayton Wright, Linn, Beveridge, Dahquist, B&O, Nakamichi, NAD and the then new to the US market Yamaha line. Stereo Haven was cool, no ‘attitude’ so I bought my first system there.
Below is a link to a TV commercial for a store I remember well. It, and the owner's commercials, became a cult favorite in the Bay Area.
The store was famous for giving away bikes with a purchase. The bikes are now somewhat valuable. The store is long gone. As I understand there is a dollar store there now. They don't give away bikes.
Speaking of CBs...remember CW McCall? "Convoy" and "Black Bear Road" are two of his I remember from the CB days. Good memories.
I had forgotten Audio King, they we're good. Sony Sound Centers were OK too, back when the Sony name was tops. Schaak Electronics was huge, they sold some of their own stuff like DLK and the like. Do you remember Midwest Stereo? I think they were a local rip-off.
Yes the good stuff was towards the back. It was small. I'm not sure if they were still there in '87. Was it across the street from Goldenwest College? I remember the owner took on a partner and it changed to Havens and Hardesty and they got a bigger space on Bolsa Chica.I'm pretty sure that 'Stereo Haven' was where I bought a pair of Boston Acoustics A150 II's in 1987. The high end stuff was towards the back of the store, wasn't it?