Do you miss a particular audio brick-and-mortar store?
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JesusChrysler
...drives a Dodge ; )
For some reason I find it odd the original poster was last seen 3 days after this thread started.
I know, who cares but my brain does that.
Personally the only store I went to (in high school) is still around.
AudioVision.
I bought some cables for my sub when I got it here recently.
Matt
I know, who cares but my brain does that.
Personally the only store I went to (in high school) is still around.
AudioVision.
I bought some cables for my sub when I got it here recently.
Matt
$100ea.pc.
New Member
Got my best deals ($99. each Pioneer SA-7100 & Philips GA-212 demo units) at the Broadway location of Pacific Stereo in Denver. They would throw what they called a "yard sale" in the back warehouse where they did car stereo installs. Don't remember shopping the showroom much as it was too far away. Did all our dreaming and brochure collecting at a local store (forget the name) way farther south at Bdwy. & Hampden. Went to a killer manufacturer's show at a hotel around I-25 and Colo. Blvd. with the high school bros. ('73?) where we scored shopping bags full of brochures and stickers walking from room to room with reps. representing all the brands. Still have some Cerwin-Vega stickers in electric fuchsia, "Loud is Beautiful (if its clean)". Ended up buying some 12" two way CV's that I still miss. And of course the Radio Shack was close to home but basically thought of as slumming a bit. Just found a brand I'd never heard of (impossible!) called "Concept" that Pacific sold as a house brand. Made by Tandy who used various Japanese mfgs. like Foster who actually made decent stuff even for the likes of McIntosh. Look like crappy Yamaha copies with their rectangular switch knobs and apparently highly regarded at their top end (11.0 to 16.5 receivers). I may have been driving a VW but I had good audio thanks to that dish washing job!
cant believe I never saw this before - used to hang out at the rat shack, program the computer, was enthralled by magictune and it was the first CD I ever heard (monroeville mall, on a 10w unit playing SRVs couldnt stand the weather....
miss service merch....used to go lick the windows and the beautiful silver power....but my fav..."the sound store" located inside 'the applicance store' all over W. Pa. they went belly up around 98 and abandoned the trademark 2004 so I now do biz (DBA) The sound store. draws in the baby boomers from around pitt...
almost all of my dads, brothers and my equipment came from there. dad knew the mgr and each sunday in the press, the sound store ran specials, generally half price on a unit or something insane like TOTL carts for $4 or so....but only 2 per store. Dad hooked the mgr up with the muscle car of his dreams so he paid it back by letting him know when a desired unit was next and set one at the price back. IIRC dad had a sony str45, brother and I both had sx3700s, I had HPM40s, bother some technics speakers, he had an M204 deck, dad some 901s and other stuff I cannot recall
miss service merch....used to go lick the windows and the beautiful silver power....but my fav..."the sound store" located inside 'the applicance store' all over W. Pa. they went belly up around 98 and abandoned the trademark 2004 so I now do biz (DBA) The sound store. draws in the baby boomers from around pitt...
almost all of my dads, brothers and my equipment came from there. dad knew the mgr and each sunday in the press, the sound store ran specials, generally half price on a unit or something insane like TOTL carts for $4 or so....but only 2 per store. Dad hooked the mgr up with the muscle car of his dreams so he paid it back by letting him know when a desired unit was next and set one at the price back. IIRC dad had a sony str45, brother and I both had sx3700s, I had HPM40s, bother some technics speakers, he had an M204 deck, dad some 901s and other stuff I cannot recall
denverfred
Member
Harvey Electronics at 45th & 5th Ave. in NYC--the best for lunch hour shopping.
rmoreau61
Well-Known Member
These names bear repeating. Especially since they were fondly remembered in posts three years ago 
. Tech HiFi with their speaker room with the switching unit. Natural Sound just down the street is still there but they've survived by becoming home theatre sales and installation. I bought my last new turntable from Natural Sound after playing their sales pitch off against the Tech HiFi offering driving back and forth between the stores. Of course there was Lechmere. Not a dedicated audio store, but their HiFi department was as big as some of the HiFi shops. Plus an awesome record department. Great blank cassette prices. An institution. I mean, they had a T Station! You knew where you were at the Fenway stop. Science Park - Museum of Science, of course. And Lechmere. The main store. Gone but not forgotten.
. Tech HiFi with their speaker room with the switching unit. Natural Sound just down the street is still there but they've survived by becoming home theatre sales and installation. I bought my last new turntable from Natural Sound after playing their sales pitch off against the Tech HiFi offering driving back and forth between the stores. Of course there was Lechmere. Not a dedicated audio store, but their HiFi department was as big as some of the HiFi shops. Plus an awesome record department. Great blank cassette prices. An institution. I mean, they had a T Station! You knew where you were at the Fenway stop. Science Park - Museum of Science, of course. And Lechmere. The main store. Gone but not forgotten.
Uncle Steve's & Crazy Eddie wasn't too bad either.
Had a friend who's father was a salespersion at Harvey's, but I didn't know squat about audio at the time and certainly couldn't afford the things that made me drool.
Just saw that Audio Consultants in Evanston, IL was closing. Enjoyed many hours in both there and their Hinsdale location.
S. Pupp
Active Member
I miss the Fairport NY Soundworks.
I do NOT miss the Lancaster PA Stereo Barn. I went in there in the early 1990’s to audition 5 speakers. After I gave the names of the speakers, the manager accused me of working for the competition and threw me out of the store. I’d previously seen him throw out an elderly man who’d come in to ask directions, so I know it wasn’t personal - he was just a putz by nature.
I do NOT miss the Lancaster PA Stereo Barn. I went in there in the early 1990’s to audition 5 speakers. After I gave the names of the speakers, the manager accused me of working for the competition and threw me out of the store. I’d previously seen him throw out an elderly man who’d come in to ask directions, so I know it wasn’t personal - he was just a putz by nature.
Adray Appliance in Dearborn, Michigan. They had a nice demo room for audio and carried a number of good component brands. I also miss the Almas Hi-Fi stores in Dearborn and Farmington Hills. Their flagship store in Royal Oak is the only one that's still open. I don't often get to that side of town, so I've never paid them a visit.
Several other posters have mentioned Tech Hi-Fi, so I'll add my name to the list of people who miss that chain. I bought a Kenwood integrated amp at the East Lansing store in 1977 and a pair of EPI 70 speakers at the Salem, NH store in 1979. I wish I still had those EPIs ...
Several other posters have mentioned Tech Hi-Fi, so I'll add my name to the list of people who miss that chain. I bought a Kenwood integrated amp at the East Lansing store in 1977 and a pair of EPI 70 speakers at the Salem, NH store in 1979. I wish I still had those EPIs ...
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We still have a decent one close buy but I actually prefer the interweb route. But I also get about half of my groceries and meat off the FedEx truck every month 
As a teenager and while in the Navy I was all about them, really could careless now, buy something and if it doesn’t work I send it back. Actually easier than doing the same with a B&M IMO.
As a teenager and while in the Navy I was all about them, really could careless now, buy something and if it doesn’t work I send it back. Actually easier than doing the same with a B&M IMO.
Sounder206
New Member
Magnolia Audio-Video, or Magnolia Hi-Fi as it was formerly called. That store was where the my passion for Hi-Fi gear started. I miss going to one of the several locations around the Seattle area including their former flagship store in the Roosevelt neighborhood (now occupied by a Guitar Center). My Dad bought his Carver amps and speakers from them, and he met Bob Carver himself after a demo of his then-new Sunfire power amp at the Everett location. The last item I bought from Magnolia was my Tivoli Model Two radio, before Best Buy bought and subsequently shut down the stand-alone stores and consolidated them into BB’s own stores.
Condorsat
Audio Enthusiast
Early in my USAF career .. there was an electronics stereo store on RAF Lakenheath (UK) .. it was called Electric Avenue that stocked everything stereo .. TT's, cassette decks, the "new" CD players (it was the 80's ), Amps, speakers .. etc. Included occasional vendor demonstrations, showrooms for demos .. even had a music store next door. Bought my first "real stereo" there and at the local Base Exchange which was a short distance away.
Hind site being 20/20 .. gear I bought was okay for it's time .. but there's nothing like that first stereo purchase.
The only B&M store that I can say I actually miss .. nostalgia.
), Amps, speakers .. etc. Included occasional vendor demonstrations, showrooms for demos .. even had a music store next door. Bought my first "real stereo" there and at the local Base Exchange which was a short distance away.Hind site being 20/20 .. gear I bought was okay for it's time .. but there's nothing like that first stereo purchase.
The only B&M store that I can say I actually miss .. nostalgia.
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just dave
vintage rules!
Back in the day around the southside 95th ST. was the hub of stereo shops.Starting out on 95th and Kedzie was Musicraft.Then heading west, across the street from Christ Hospital was Pacific Stereo and further west In Hickory Hills was Gills Custom House.Lots of high end gear Mac and Crown amps, Janzen and JBL speakers.You had to be buzzed in to enter.
