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"Fallen Flags"- Audio store version

From southern California, here are the chains I remember who are long gone:tears:

-Leo's stereo
-Pacific Stereo (later, just Pacific)
-The Federated Group (anyone remember Fred Rated aka Shadow Stevens?) I worked for these guys for three years at a couple of stores until the end.
-Rogersound Labs. I moved over to these guys after Federated for a couple of years until I joined the Navy in 1992. They had a nice niche store in a few locations called "Upscale Audio". We sold Martin Logan, Audio Research, PS Audio, Sonus Faber, etc.

On a side note, there were record stores back then too. The Wherehouse, Licorice Pizza, Tower records...

Ah, the good old days...
 
On Long Island:
Crazy Eddie....Bought so much stuff there I cant remember it all.. My
Soundcraftsmens, Pioneers, Dynacos, Cerwin Vegas, Kenwoods, bought my first Pioneer there..SX-535
Battling Barry's...House Of Audio
Audio Exchange..Bought my Carver C-16 TFM-55 there
The Wiz
Rabson's
Newmark & Lewis....Big Pioneer dealer...always had every model in stock,
thats where I got my SA-8500II PL-510A TX-8500II
Lafayette
Mario's Sound Room....Hole in the wall
Designatrons.... Small McIntosh dealer..2 stores. The McIntosh reps were always there and always had Mac clinics.
Friendly Frost.....Another big Pioneer dealer
Hi Fi Fo Fum
Audio Den
 
Cccrrrrrrraaaaaaaazzzzzzyyy Eeeedddiiiiiieeeee!!!!

RT Fan said:
CALL CRAZY EDDIE 645-1196, 645-1196, OUR PRICES ARE INSAAAANE.

I don't think I'll ever forget that phone number. Eddie went away to the Big House for stock fraud. I guess he was insane.

I miss Continental Sound on Queens Blvd where I bought my Sony ES Int Amp and cd player. It's also where I also bought my Klipsch Chorus II's, all of this stuff still works. It pays to buy quality gear.
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Remember their Doo-Wop singing commercial with the acoustics in the men's room? When your good an' ready, come down to Crazy Eddie's...
In college, my girlfriend's cousin filmed that in the toilet at our school, at Pratt in Brooklyn.
What a 'p*sser' that was. It ran for years.
 
Designdweeb said:
Remember their Doo-Wop singing commercial with the acoustics in the men's room? When your good an' ready, come down to Crazy Eddie's...
In college, my girlfriend's cousin filmed that in the toilet at our school, at Pratt in Brooklyn.
What a 'p*sser' that was. It ran for years.
Click to expand...

Wow! That dusted off a few synapses!! My favorite was the one where the pitchman said nothing and looked around the set nonchalantly, until 5 seconds were left in the spot and he burst into the, :"CALL CRAZY EDDIE!!!" routine.
 
In Warwick, RI there was Tech HiFi. I bought my first real system there, back in 1978. I still use my OHM "l"s every day. There was also Brandsmart, where I got my car stereo equplment. Pioneer Supertuners and Mind Blower speakers. Both long gone.

Tech Hifi used to put out a catalog that in my opinion was like porn for audiophiles.
 
Audioporn!

eric0108 said:
In Warwick, RI there was Tech HiFi. I bought my first real system there, back in 1978. I still use my OHM "l"s every day. There was also Brandsmart, where I got my car stereo equplment. Pioneer Supertuners and Mind Blower speakers. Both long gone.

Tech Hifi used to put out a catalog that in my opinion was like porn for audiophiles.
Click to expand...
YEAH! When I was in high school one shared the stack under the bed with Penthouse magazines.
 
Greater Hartford Ct.
"The Stereo Shop"
"Fred Locke"
"Heathkit"
"Lafayette Radio Electronics"
"The Electronic Jungle"-with it's mono only demo area-too much-lol
"Tokyo Shapiro"-I love that name!
"Electronics World"
 
Rochester and Finger Lakes hi-fi...

I think that I purchased my Dual 1237 from a Sounds Great store that was on Jefferson Road out in Henrietta, NY, a Rochester suburb. Cleve, do you remember a stereo place on Park Avenue in the city? I remember they did a lot of repair work as well, and one could purchase trade-ins and unclaimed units there. I bought an "Elk Grove Village" Ampex there that I think I kept for an entire day. Those autoload, dual-capstan machines could turn a 1200' reel into a mass of spaghetti in no time!

In Ithaca, NY, I fondly remember Stellar Stereo. It was great to hear high-end McIntosh units during my college days.

Best wishes,
Keith Madden
 
JosephH said:
In Syracuse, on Erie Blvd, Sounds Great was across the street from Gordon's which was our main competitor at all price points across the board. Also, 2 blocks down was Clark Music, the grand piano, McIntosh and B&O dealer. All are now gone.
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Clark Music is still here and still selling McIntosh. Sadly, it is the only store selling anything approaching quality gear in the area and, alas, most of their business has gone the way of home theater:tears:.

My ultimate audio store experience was Transcendental Audio in Buffalo. The very first high end store I ever visited. Used to make the 160 mile trip about once a month to drool over gear I couldn't possibly afford. I clearly remember listening to a HUGE pair of custom built Tannoys that had been salvaged from the Queen Elizabeth liner when it was taken out of service... at least 9-10' high and four feet across.

There was another store, in the heart of downtown Rochester, whose name I forget:headscrat. It was just a hole in the wall, but I'll never forget standing in the doorway (it was the only place the size of the store allowed) and listening to the first pair of Magneplanars I ever heard.

I miss Gordon's most of all, they would do just about anything to make a deal. Picked up a pair of Mirage 1's there, back in the day, on clearance sale for $50, best sounding little speakers I ever had til I lent them to a friend...should have known better as he needed speakers due to blowing up his last pair:no:
 
Sansui Louie said:
TEAM Electronics
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We had a TEAM Electronics here in my hometown as well. Pretty good gear and a friend's brother worked there so
we got some pretty good deals on equipment.

World Radio - another store with the Pioneers, Kenwoods, Marantz, & etc.
Their flagship gear was SAE

Electronics Center - Yet another store with the basics, don't remember what their flagship was.

Scott
 
The Stereo Shop in Hartford. CT is still in existence.

I also loved the name "Tokyo Shapiro".
 
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DB Audio on Shattuck in Berkeley 1979-1999?

The Sounding Board - Berkeley
SF Stereo - 4th Street Berkeley
PUD's - Albany, CA "What good is money if it can't buy music?"
Uncle Ralph's Stereo - Berkeley

Music by Design - Sausalito
Access to Music - Larkspur, then San Rafael

St. Cecilia Sound Gallery - Hayward
 
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On the southside we had Pacific stereo,Musicraft,United Audio and Playback"The electronic playground"And then the best highend place in town was Gill's custom House,you couldn't just walk in you rang the doorbell and they looked you over and then buzzed you in!
 
Not too many here but I remember Casper Sound Studio owned by Brad Washenfelder. Got my first real stereo there, NAD 3020a, a pair of Magnaplaner SMG's and a Dynavector 10 x 4 for my Pioneer PL-516 I bought from a co-worker. I was very happy for a long time with that system. Sweet, sweet music.
 
Schaak. I did a live remote from their Fargo store nearly every Saturday morning for a couple of years. Bought my Pioneer SE-305s there...still have 'em. Moved to Duluth...ended up doing the same thing at the Schaak store there. Always remember the times that a whole bunch of foreign sailors would head to the store and blow a large amount of $$$. The sales guys were in heaven...loading 2-wheel cart after cart of gear into waiting taxis.

TEAM's been mentioned already...almost as ubiquitous as Schaak stores here in the midwest...slightly different mix of gear but still great stores.

And, of course...one that's still around...but under a different name: Sound Of Music...AKA Best Buy.
 
I can add a couple from my area.

High Point NC : Sound Source. They were dealers for Carver and this was the coolest most layed back place ever and I spent a pile of money in there before they closed up shop in the 1990's. You could stop by sit down on a sofa, talk about audio, look at and play with anything in there without being talked down to. They were the most awesome people ever. Man I miss that place.

Winston Salem NC : Before Tweeter ruined what was once called "stereo sound" they had some decent stuff, but were always snobby. That is until I started writing checks. Then I got invited to those special after hours by invite only sales. Do any of you remember those? They would send you a card in the mail and you would come by at night after normal business hours for some drinks and snacks to get lower than normal prices. Ah those were the days.

Ed Kelly's Winston-Salem NC : A local chain store usually low to mid fi stuff but always willing to wheel and deal. They always had a ton of car audio too, and that kept me busy for years!

Greensboro NC : Worlds Of Panasonic. They were dealers for anything Panasonic, but also Norman Labs speakers, and the first place I listen to them. I fell in love, and I still have a pair today. They also carried other brands.

Circuit City : I cant help but mention this place as it has a much deserved place in history. Most of my 80's system back in the day came from their scratch and dent sales. Who did not like walking into the "City Sound" high end room and seeing the warm green glow of the Onkyo Integra's power meters?? One of their stores is now a thrift store and still has some of their old signage in it. Every time I go in there I say D$#@ I miss that place. The thrift shop rarely has anything worth buying, but sometimes I find a piece and have to wonder if it came from there in a former life. Not super high end but super cool and their price was always flexible.

There are more, but thats all I can remember for now. This thread was a great idea, thanks for posting it!
 
Ecological Ear in the Sherwood Plaza, West Des Moines during the late 70's. Used to drive from ISU in Ames one weekend a month or so just to hang out.

So much nicer than the Team Electronics, Soundworlds, etc. Bought an NAD TT and my Sony Vfet from them (still in use as my main system amp). Many friends bought Genesis II speakers from them.

I was disappointed when years later it was gone.
 
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