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Remember your First Hi-Fi Store ??

I used to shop at Pacific Stereo, University Stereo, and Federated (remember Fred Rated???) back in the day but my favorite was Recycled Stereo in North Hollywood, CA. You never knew what you would see in there!
 
A&B Sound in Victoria B.C., Canada. It was 1978. My mother and I were in Vancouver for a weekend and we went to over to Victoria to see The Butchart Gardens. We went for a stroll after dinner and came across A&B Sound where I discovered Marantz. Thanks Mom!:angel:
 
Sure do.Laurel Electronics--Marantz-Pioneer & Yamaha 1973 ish. Got a part time job there...Spent most of my time replacing burnt up crossovers,drivers and replacing fuses.
 
Absolute Audio, used to be in Albuquerque, NM. I used to go in there as a young teen in the Summers and hang out for hours and just listen to the owner explaining to the customers about different pieces and the theories behind them. When there was no one around, he would give me lessons and let me listen to anything I wanted..What a guy!

At the end of the second summer, he sold me some NAD seperates and a pair of Vandersteen 2ce's...All at just above cost! I will never forget Wolfgang (the owner) as he is the one person that truly sparked my interest in Audio and took the time to educate me on it.

The discount was nice too...:D
 
Don't recall the name of my first (I take that to mean the first one I actually shopped at) which was at a mall in Mountain View, CA. It was 1970, I was 16 and thought I needed a stereo cassette deck more than anything in the world. Bought their price-reduced floor sample Denon TRC-162 top loader. Looked similar to this:
http://audio-database.com/DENON-COLUMBIA/player/trc-160-e.html

Pre Dolby, pre end-of-tape-auto-stop, pre "quality." Never did like it much, but at $69 including tax it was all I could afford. The sales person seemed to regard my meager purchase as an assault on his finer sensibilities. Though he did look pleased to see that deck, and me, leave his store after taking my money. It really soured me to the whole Hi-Fi shopping experience.

Fast forward to 1980. Had some disposable income and decided to brave audio system shopping. On a friend's advice I visited Bremerton Stereo in Bremerton, WA. What a revelation! Staff embraced me with the easy warmth of family. No pressure selling -- just an abundance of passion and enthusiasm for gear they also happened to sell: McIntosh, RTR, Phase Linear, early Carver, Nakamichi, Hafler, Advent etc. They expertly assessed my needs and guided me to the best bang for my limited budget. It became my favorite hangout.

The Denon deck is long gone. I don't miss it. Most of my Bremerton Stereo purchases are still here and serving me well. I sure miss that store.
 
The first HiFi store I ever went into was THE Hifi store. AudioClassics in Vestal NY, went in with my father about 5 years ago looking for an HDMI cable for his home theatre.

To say it sparked an interest would be an understatement. :music:
 
I sure do. Good Vibes in Bloomington, Indiana where I purchased my first system in 1977, as well as where I purchased my second receiver in 1978. There were a few in the area in those days. Now I have to drive 100 miles to find one, and it's only a fair hi-fi store....more of a hi-end video store with a smattering of audio components thrown in these days.
 
A couple of players from way back when. Custom Electroncs in Fairborn, Ohio.... they did have some fairly high end stuff.... and you could "trade up" to better components as you got more money. Also Lafayette in Dayton, Ohio. Perhaps one of the more unique shops in the Dayton area.... can't remember their name..... but it was a couple guys ran a shop in an old house. Handled high end equipment. The best part... they really enjoyed their music. As part of the purchasing experience you could sit in their "showroom" and listen to anything out of their extensive collection of vinyl..... for as long as you pleased. Bought my Thorens TD160c with AT14S cartridge and custom interconnects from them. Still have it...
 
My first was The Music Box in Oak Ridge, TN. They at one time sold McIntosh, Fisher, HH Scott, Ampex, Garrard, Dual, Rek-O-Kut, Pioneer, Sony, Nikko, AR, Advent, Electro-Voice, Jensen, and more. They cultivated a 7 year old kid's love of music and encouraged him into a lifelong audiophile.
 
Hate to admit it, but it was the Federated Group. Always went there after school to kill time till the bus came, and of course to drool over the toys. I collected a lot of glossy brochures back then. Looking back, I miss those times. Just walk into a best buy and you'll understand.
 
I was not really that familiar with any around where I grew up except a mass market store, Sun TV, where I bought my 1st component - marantz 2216b and a Centrex 8 track.
My 1st in your face wow what audio store was the 1st time I walked into the base exchange in Stuttgart Germany - 1978. Audio equipment was huge then and they had a really big area set up with most anything you could imagine. Pioneer dominated the scene, as they marketed the military big time, but also had a bunch of Crown, Phase Linear and pretty much any speaker made under 5k.
I spent quite a bit of time sitting in there as they had one area set aside with chairs strategically placed with their high end gear.
I was young and stupid though, I thought the rest of my life would be that way.
 
I had to drive from the Westside to the Eastside if Detroit in the early 70's to get to Pecars which carried McIntosh Nakamichi and Absolute Sound where I bought my Ampzilla and DQ-10's. These two stores were just down the street from each other and I bought a lot of stuff at both.
 
Back in 1974, my first was Tokyo Shapiro in North Royalton, Ohio. That particular store closed, the chain eventually devolved into junk stores and went out of business but it was pretty cool at the time. I bought my Marantz 1030 amp and Hitachi cassette deck there. After that was Audio Craft, still going there to this day.
 
Broadway Sound - downtown SLC - They moved then closed a few years back

Big Polks and Soundcraftsman amps were the two biggest impressions.
 
Back in the '60s it was High Fidelity Showroom at Clayton Road and DeMun Ave. in St. Louis, Mo. Great place to hang out as a teen. Back then they even treated kids as potential customers and I have literature from the time to prove it. Also Best Sound on Big Bend. I traded a Kenwood receiver on a used McIntosh C20 and Fisher SA1000 at Best Sound. Later traded the Fisher on a new Crown D150 at Hi-Fi Showroom. Used to go to Mac Clinics at both locations and still have those performance charts even for the Fisher! Bought a used JBL C37 030 system from Hi-Fi Showroom to give me a stereo pair with the one my Dad had bought from them in the '50s. That was around 1968 or so. There are few shops like them now though.

Today I'd have to nominate my local Mac dealer, StereoTypes in Charlottesville, VA. Nice guys who still offer a relaxed way of shopping coupled with good personal advice and no pressure. I can't afford to buy much from them these days, but they did sell me my original JBL L112 and Nakamichi Dragon three decades ago. :thmbsp:
 
1MOR said:
Stereo Emporium, Delaware Avenue, Buffalo NY. They opened around 1970 and I was one of their first customers. They started small with the usual Sherwood and other midfi stuff. Within a few years, they carried and demoed about every line except Mac. They also had a trade up program and store credit for regular customers. Great business while it lasted. Somebody else bought the business and it was closed within a short time, around 1985. I have visited many other high end stores since then in NY and Florida and none being as satisfying as Stereo Emporium.
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Also in the Buffalo area...Purchase Radio. If memory serves, they were the first to have the new quad systems. I remember the quad listening area set up in the middle of the store with comfy chairs and end tables. I was so amazed by four channels, I bought a " four channel adapter " to add to my existing system. The name escapes me. It had a amp for the two extra channels and produced synthesized quad sound.
 
my first trip was last week getting speaker cable. i forgot it even existed until the guy i bought my speakers from reminded me. Clark Music Company. while the guy was working on my wire, cutting to length, putting the ends on for me, i drolled in the Paradigm, Marantz, B&W, McIntosh display rooms. never saw any equipment of that level in person before. amazing stuff!!

then i took my 2 10' speaker wires home with me and wired them up to my mediocre receiver....

if only i had money. haha
 
In the 80's, Pacific Stereo, University Stereo, Federated, Highland were very popular in Dallas.
Pacific Stereo at Spring Valley and Plano in Richardson, stop there once a week to watch Blue Brother and Porky, only 2 movies the can play.
There were a Music store (Morgan Music) which they have sell everythings, from Albums, music intruments, very hi end stereo in the back room, that was the first time to see B&W 801 series 80. I was hook then.
Bought a first Norman satelite speakers at Hillcrest and 635 (Hillcrest HiFi ?).
Only took 1/2 yr to saved the fund for it. :thmbsp:
And Bose were not sell satelite speakers yet. :scratch2:
Good old days.
:D
 
Stillone said:
I had to drive from the Westside to the Eastside if Detroit in the early 70's to get to Pecars which carried McIntosh Nakamichi and Absolute Sound where I bought my Ampzilla and DQ-10's. These two stores were just down the street from each other and I bought a lot of stuff at both.
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Mmmmm...Pacars...a audio nut friend of mine took me there back in the seventies....But we lived near Audioland (Gratiot south of Metro Parkway) which was a big JBL dealer and they carried BIC stuff and Sherwood and other goodies I can't remember at the moment. Thanks for the memories!!
 
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