AlphaEcho35
Super Member
Down in the New Orleans area, we had Sound Trek Audio - complete with the Starship Enterprise on the logo.
Audio Stores in the 70's
- Thread starter jlovda
- Start date
1tumbleweed
Kozmik Kowboy
Great place, situated in an old brownstone. I bought my first good TT there - a Garrard RC-80 so old it had been re-wired from mono to stereo. Brown flocked stuff on the platter. Rumble out the wazoo, of course. Traded it for a Lenco.
I did occasionally venture into - and even, less occasionally, buy stuff, from the local Stereo Discounters storefronts around the city (more often at their big annual hifi "show and sale" at the Timonium fairgrounds) -- but I am not necessarily proud of that
I'm even less proud than you are - I worked for those jerks. I started in the store on Route 40 West, near Westview, and managed the store on Security Boulevard.
Stansbury Stereo; their mail order division was International HiFi. Not very nice people either.
I remember Gordon Miller's too. Two others to throw into the mix: High Fidelity House in Roland Park, on Deepdene Road - I heard my first pair of Quad electrostatics there. There was also a small shop on Reisterstown Rd. just north of RRP called Sirkis Music - GREAT guy.
Anybody in the DC area remember Custom HiFi/Dixie HiFi? They were the nucleus of what became Circuit City!
Naptown Rob
Ponographer
For me, as a teenager in the mid-late '70's, it was Tech Hifi & Tweeter Etc., within 2 blocks of each other on Rte.9's "Golden Mile" right on the Framingham/Natick, Mass. line.
Ogled at Tweeter, purchased at Tech Hifi, as I recall. There was also a Lafayette nearby & a fully equipped Radio Shack across the way in Shopper's World, but Radio Shack wasn't cool.
I would love to have that Radio Shack near me - or you - today!
Nice to see that there is still a proper stereo shop on Rte.9 in Framingham.
Ogled at Tweeter, purchased at Tech Hifi, as I recall. There was also a Lafayette nearby & a fully equipped Radio Shack across the way in Shopper's World, but Radio Shack wasn't cool.
I would love to have that Radio Shack near me - or you - today!
Nice to see that there is still a proper stereo shop on Rte.9 in Framingham.
SFBayArch
Super Member
spartanmanor
Lunatic Member
Myer Emco here outside of DC
I remember Stereo Discounters but we didn't get one up here until the early '80s. Bought a lot of stuff there. Another good place was Service Merchandise which carried all the great Pioneer silver and HPMs, Technics, and even Altec. They'd have an SX-1280 running through a pair of Santanas- what a great sound. I bought an SX-780, SX-3700 and SX-3800 there.
RandyFloyd76
Well-Known Member
In Portland, Oregon I used to hit Fred's Sound of Music, Hawthorne Stereo and Stereo Super Stores...........
squirrelnest
Lunatic Member
Dixie HiFi located in Washington DC
In Chicago we had Victor's (Quad, Decca, Fulton, Transcriptors, Audio Research, Paoli), MusicCraft (AR, JBL, Sansui, Altec, ESS, Marantz, Dynaco, Jensen) Paul Heath (Maggies, IMF, Levinson, Acoustat, Dahlquist, Audio Research) Hi-Fi Hutch (Klipsch, JBL, Crown, Mac, KLH, GAS, Dynaco), Gill's Custom House (EV, Altec, Janszen, Crown, Mac, Gale, RTR) and others. And of course Playbacks and Pacific Stereos. There was a place around 55th and the Belt Line that sold McIntosh and Bozak, I forget the name. And that Martroy guy at 63rd and Kedzie who has a pile of old JBL compression drivers and lenses about 5' tall; it's like the elephant's graveyard for JBLs.
Stickman mentioned appliance stores; Polk Brothers was a huge appliance place that sold lots of hi-fi gear. And of course every Chicago old timer remembers those Polk Brothers Santa Clauses that were all over the city.
Is that 48 E. Oak Street? I grew up in Chicago and purchased a pair of AR-4x's, a JBL SA-600 and a Dual 1019 from that store (late 60's). There was an Allied Radio audio store about a block west of there. I would visit the Musicraft in Evergreen Park on 95th St. once a year because that was the store that held the Mcintosh Clinics. I purchased a pair of JBL L-99s from Pacific Stereo down on 95th street when they first came to town in the early 70's. Most of my build it yourself stuff came from Allied Radio on Western Ave. I practically lived there. Don't forget Olsen for junk either. The only "high end" dealer I visited often was Audio Consultants in Evanston. Shure Bros, where I worked, was not far from there.
Kahoona
Super Member
We had absolutely nothing in the beginning. If Sears did not sell it then you were SOL. You saw and heard things at friends houses and parties and read Stereo Revue. You heard rumors of ungodly good stuff but couldn't see it. You had to buy the good stuff by mail order after doing the research. We learned a lot. Then there was Bryn Mawr Audio who, if I remember ,sold goosebumps. There you could find someone who actually knew what they were talking about and as a rule, they only carried things that sounded good. The fact that they carried it was an indicator of quality. Later that changed. Then there was Black Moon Audio which was in the hills of PA and belonged to a friend. You still had to order it but he got better prices than you could and knew what was good. If he called and said "you have to see these ESS speakers" You really did have to go see them. I never heard of them but never regretted getting them.
SFBayArch
Super Member
Hawthorne Stereo is still around, no?
I remember a few years ago (2007) poking around at a very cool shop in SE PDX that had a great number of headphones to audition....
He was also a Miracord dealer, and from what I've been told by another AK'er who remembers him he could be very opinionated about audio gear (hey, can't we all?). Unfortunately he and his wife died in a plane crash (I believe he was the pilot) but he was an audio legend on LI.
Lafayette's main store was in Syosset, that was the one that had the huge president's day sales and carried everything that a lot of the other little branches didn't have.
bakes
Super Member
Grew up in the Binghamton area, so our late-70s, early-80s haunts were:
Gordon Electronics on Vestal Parkway: Got to know the guys who worked there pretty well, still remember Bruce and Randy as being good honest salesmen. Bought a LOT of used equipment at their annual Used Electronics Sale. I still have two pair of KLH3s, an thin-line Onkyo amp which surprisingly had sufficient current to drive those power hungry little buggers, and an Onkyo turntable from those days (had the choice between an Onkyo and a Micro-Seiki; what was I thinking???). They sold Onkyo, Mitsubishi, and a vast array of interesting speakers (the KLH computer controlled line, KEF, M&K, forget what else offhand). Went out of business in the early 1990s; last I saw the building housed a mattress store.
Hart Electronics, further west on Vestal Parkway: Lasted a lot longer than Gordons did, they were the local Polk and Pioneer place. They had great sales as well; think I bought two of the $18 Technics audio racks there.
Audio Service Company, on Water Street in Binghamton: A venerable institution that was selling audio waaaay before stereo ever came about, and the long-time Yamaha and McIntosh dealer, we went there to drool. Definitely not as laid back as Hart or the even more relaxed Gordons. They lasted until the mid 1990s or so; a month ago a brewpub opened in the building, so now I can enjoy my other passion in the same location.
Sugerman's Department store, Vestal Parkway across the street from Gordon's: One of the good old fashioned department stores in the late 1970s that sold audio gear; they used to have the entire lineup of Pioneer receivers on one long shelf, Technics on the next shelf, and Marantz around the corner. Yes, even the big ones. They had a clear HPM-100 demo speaker that I wish I had. They also sold Bose and BIC-Venturi. I blame them for starting my audio addiction as I used to immediately make a beeline for the stereo gear while the rest of the family did their shopping elsewhere in the store. My first receiver (Technics SA-202, was a tank until something flamed out) and turntable (BIC 914, Mom still used it in one of those $18 Technics racks until the floods last year ruined it and everything else in her house) came from there. The small chain of big stores closed up shop once Wal-Mart moved in across the street from the main store in Eynon PA. I still will not spend a dime in Wal-Mart for that reason alone (and I have plenty of others).
Harvey Electronics/Lafayette: Also on Vestal Parkway. More of an old-school electronics hobbyist store that sold some stereo equipment. Primarily Lafayette (duh!) and Garrard turntables, think they may have also sold Kenwood. Bought the woofers for my first homebuilt speakers there - Herald 6" with a butyl rubber surround and a Muscle Magnet. Still have them somewhere.
and finally to the north, there was (and thankfully still is!)
Stellar Stereo, rt 13, Ithaca - Great store that sells vintage gear as well as NAD and (in the day) Electro-Voice, Klipsch, and other components. I still remember the day that AKer Analog Addict and I went up there when he got his monster NAD 7080; the salesman put "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" on that and (I think) a set of Klipschorns or maybe it was EV Interface Cs; the dynamics sold him instantly. In my shop I have a pair of Interface As that a work friend of mine bought there back in the day; and more than one speaker has been revived by a spool of flexlead that I bought there a couple of years back. Highly recommended. :thmbsp:
Gordon Electronics on Vestal Parkway: Got to know the guys who worked there pretty well, still remember Bruce and Randy as being good honest salesmen. Bought a LOT of used equipment at their annual Used Electronics Sale. I still have two pair of KLH3s, an thin-line Onkyo amp which surprisingly had sufficient current to drive those power hungry little buggers, and an Onkyo turntable from those days (had the choice between an Onkyo and a Micro-Seiki; what was I thinking???). They sold Onkyo, Mitsubishi, and a vast array of interesting speakers (the KLH computer controlled line, KEF, M&K, forget what else offhand). Went out of business in the early 1990s; last I saw the building housed a mattress store.
Hart Electronics, further west on Vestal Parkway: Lasted a lot longer than Gordons did, they were the local Polk and Pioneer place. They had great sales as well; think I bought two of the $18 Technics audio racks there.
Audio Service Company, on Water Street in Binghamton: A venerable institution that was selling audio waaaay before stereo ever came about, and the long-time Yamaha and McIntosh dealer, we went there to drool. Definitely not as laid back as Hart or the even more relaxed Gordons. They lasted until the mid 1990s or so; a month ago a brewpub opened in the building, so now I can enjoy my other passion in the same location.
Sugerman's Department store, Vestal Parkway across the street from Gordon's: One of the good old fashioned department stores in the late 1970s that sold audio gear; they used to have the entire lineup of Pioneer receivers on one long shelf, Technics on the next shelf, and Marantz around the corner. Yes, even the big ones. They had a clear HPM-100 demo speaker that I wish I had. They also sold Bose and BIC-Venturi. I blame them for starting my audio addiction as I used to immediately make a beeline for the stereo gear while the rest of the family did their shopping elsewhere in the store. My first receiver (Technics SA-202, was a tank until something flamed out) and turntable (BIC 914, Mom still used it in one of those $18 Technics racks until the floods last year ruined it and everything else in her house) came from there. The small chain of big stores closed up shop once Wal-Mart moved in across the street from the main store in Eynon PA. I still will not spend a dime in Wal-Mart for that reason alone (and I have plenty of others).
Harvey Electronics/Lafayette: Also on Vestal Parkway. More of an old-school electronics hobbyist store that sold some stereo equipment. Primarily Lafayette (duh!) and Garrard turntables, think they may have also sold Kenwood. Bought the woofers for my first homebuilt speakers there - Herald 6" with a butyl rubber surround and a Muscle Magnet. Still have them somewhere.
and finally to the north, there was (and thankfully still is!)
Stellar Stereo, rt 13, Ithaca - Great store that sells vintage gear as well as NAD and (in the day) Electro-Voice, Klipsch, and other components. I still remember the day that AKer Analog Addict and I went up there when he got his monster NAD 7080; the salesman put "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" on that and (I think) a set of Klipschorns or maybe it was EV Interface Cs; the dynamics sold him instantly. In my shop I have a pair of Interface As that a work friend of mine bought there back in the day; and more than one speaker has been revived by a spool of flexlead that I bought there a couple of years back. Highly recommended. :thmbsp:
