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Remember your First Hi-Fi Store ??

richh

richh

Active Member
My brother dragged me into a small store located in New Haven, Connecticut called David Dean Smith that specialized in high fidelity equipment. They carried Mcintosh and most of the big names of that time. They where right on Whalley Avenue across the street from Yale University.They had some great things to look at for a kid. Sad to say they are no longer in business.
 
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We had several where I grew up..As a teenager there was a chain in the Washington DC area, Audio Associates and they were at the mall..just like in the movie -Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a high end audio store in the mall....everytime I went to the mall I walked in there..they sold Yamaha, Nakamichi, Klipsch...it was an awesome store....I think they either got bought out or went out of business but what a great place to hang out...
 
Mine was Sight N' Sound where I lived. It is where my parents bought a really nice stereo system. Sadly there are no longer open either.
 
Brock Audio in Beaumont where my dad got his McIntosh gear and Bozak speakers. Still in the biz (Brock Audio & Video), but not a Mac dealer for about the last 15 years. Bob Brock retired 2 years ago. Goodyear Custom AV is the Mac dealer there now, and it dominates their sales. They now have the reference system there and I can't wait to get back over there... woops... off topic.
 
there was only one hifi store for the longest time in my town. it is still here. called the Sound Center, they carried Panasonic and Technics only (i don't care for either to this day because of this). there was another music place that carried zenith and magnavox (no real hifi), as well as musical instruments, but it is long gone. another store opened for a short time that carried pioneer and sansui, but didn't keep a lot of stock. my first real hifi store was Hooper's Electronics in Jackson, MS. i didn't get to go often, but did manage to leave quite a bit of drool on the floors there. Hooper's is still in business, but is more like a Circuit City now.
 
You may not believe this, but it's true, the Rogers factory at Catford South London England. My first speaker units came from there. EMI 13"x8" Celestion HF1300 and Coles (STC) 4001G. That was in about 1968.
 
First place I ever went and was exposed to hi-end audio was a used store where gear goes to die called "Play it again Sam" in Lakewood Oh, it is still there (well moved 2 miles down Madison Ave)
I saw Mac, NAD, AR, Vandersteen, along with some really esoteric stuff thats simply hypnotized me. My father had NAD and ADS at home but to see all the black, silver and tubes was something I was instantly drawn to.
You can still buy alot of old gear from Bernie but at many times around 75% of past retail its too pricy for me.
 
Sound World in Appleton. Still in business but they mainly do home theater installations now. I remember buying a cart for my turntable in the late 70's. They must have had 50 to 100 carts on display. I miss that...
 
David Dean Smith in New Haven was the site of the first in store Mcintosh clinic where Dave Obrien or Gordon Gow would check all gear for customers Mc or not to see if it was up to specs then replace tubes make adjustments to bring it into line for free to demonstrate the quality of mcintosh equipment and the inferiority of the competions equipment as few actually met their stated specs.
 
I remember Pacific Stereo and United Audio (later bought by Tweeter). Bought my Polk RTA11t's at United Audio in 1990, still have them.
 
Mine was Hi Fi Fo Fom in Clearwater and the Managers name was Rod. Great little place that made me a hell of a deal on L100's and a set of Cerwin Vega Gas filled S-2's. Our other option was Sound Advice and they recently went belly up. Before all of those my sources for speakers and gadgets was Olson Electronics and I still miss that store more of a Radio Shack than Radio SLack ever was!

-Mike
 
Shaak electronics in Greenfield WI. HI FI FO FUM at 27th and Wisconsinum in Milwaukee Wi. then Sundown and Kings stereo in Springpatch IL.
 
I live in Northern Maine, and when I was quite young The Loring Air Force Base was our economy, so when the base closed in the early 90's so did all the non necessity stores. But I can still remember walking into the huge Electronic store my father managed, and just walking around in wonder looking at all the speakers and vinyl, and some new fangled Cdps. It closed when I was 8 or 9 so I don't really remember much, just that on the rare occasion I went there I got quite excited and would get to listen to some "heavy" music my Mom didn't want me listening to. Good memories:D
 
Years ago I bought a Mac C 22 and whatever was the lowest power amp Mac made at same time at an estate sale in the early 90s. They came with all their literature including the David Dean Smith reciepts. I had three offers on the equipment by the time I made it out of the house. But I was in New Haven too late for the actual store -- I think it closed weeks before I moved there in 1979.
My memories of stores include Tech HiFi in Bryn Mawr PA and the Sam Goodies in Ardmore PA, both surprisingly good stores where I spent lots of time, and then also the wonderful Soundex also in Ardmore, just down the block from Sam Goodies, where they had Quad tube equipment in the window and Voigt Corner horns, Thorens TD 124s and Janszen/AR combos -- my enthusiasm for vintage equipment is a result of going there. Barclay's further down the Main Line was also fun -- Transcriptors, RTRs and so on. Soundex is still in business and full to the brim of old stuff. But most of their business is repairs, and, if the reviews posted on the net are an indication, they may be off their game.
Audio was a lot more fun back in the early 70s.
Incidentally -- does anyone have a copy of Audio Alternative by Marc Toback (if memory serves) -- a coffee table book about vintage equipment that went in and out of print in the mid 70s?
 
Mine was the Audio Center in Toledo, OH. It was this big house and the business was in the basement of the house. Purchased some JBL speakers that I still have to this day. They had all the big names and were super knowledgeable... Their main business was nightclub sound systems and this was a side business...
 
New London CT. Robert's Electronics. I bought a lot of stuff there and Stereo Lab on State St. 1970-1978 my stereo quest and upgrades. Robert's is still there I should vist next time down. Yes, they set me up well. Robert's I still think well of. Stereo Lab, long gone.
 
When I was maybe 12 years old a Lafayette Radio and Electronics store opened within walking distance of my home. It was a fairly big store with a separate listening room where all of the equipment was set up. That was it for me. It's why I'm involved in this hobby to this day. I now have a collection of Lafayette gear from that era that I really enjoy even though most of it never makes it into rotation.
 
richh said:
My brother dragged me into a small store located in New Haven, Connecticut called David Dean Smith that specialized in high fidelity equipment. They carried Mcintosh and most of the big names of that time. They where right on Whalley Avenue across the street from Yale University.They had some great things to look at for a kid. Sad to say they are no longer in business.
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I used To go to a place called Sticky Fingers on Whalley Avenue for concert tickets. I might have gone into that store also if it was in business at that time.
 
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