Brooks Berdan says bye bye

tomic601: Ah, so you ended up with the SP-6, ay Jim? I sold it to Brooks, having got it myself from Steve McCormick when he was having a clearance sale at the closing of his retail store Music By The Sea.

I bought a number of classics from Brooks over the years: his personal pair of Infinity RS-Ib (which I sold back to him in ’08, during my "divorce sale" ;-), a set of Magneplanar Tympani T-ID, and a PS Audio 200C power amp (a massive beast!). Kept the 200C, and will use it to drive the bass panels of the Tympani T-IVa I bought a coupla years ago, if and when I ever have room for them (they require a fairly large one). They are currently sleeping in their shipping cartons. The Music Reference RM-200 Mk.2 will work nicely on the m/t panels.

Brooks Berdan, Ltd. was where Roger Modjeski always introduced a new model MR power amp, giving a talk in which he described in detail the genesis of the design. Thank God Roger did all those posts in his AudioCircle Forum threads, otherwise all his wisdom would have been lost forever. Roger's passing, another great loss.

Very sorry to hear this.  Great store, great people, class act.

They will be missed but as a Washington resident, welcome ! i do hope they have a storefront. Tom the tech is a true zen master. I bought a few bits out of Brooks private collection of gear, including his revered SP-6C, 
Eric thanks for the trip down memory lane…..

Cool story as always, bdp24.

Berdan was a place that was within a reasonable drive(45minutes, traffic permitting) for me.

From the messsage, it appears  being close to family is a big factor.  I can't imagine trying to keep an audio retail business successful here in SoCal. 

Great read Bdp24, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to their adventure in my neck of the woods.

In the email, Sheila said she was moving to Washington State (in the Northwest corner above Seattle) to be closer to her daughter Jen (I’ve known her and her older brother Brian---who owns Audio Element in Pasadena, an excellent shop---since they were little kids). Sheila and store manager Rick Vides (I believe they are a couple now) will be operating Brooks Berdan, Ltd. from there, but she didn’t state if it would be out of a storefront as the shop in Monrovia has been since Brooks opened there in the 80’s

Brooks Berdan, Ltd. was not just a great hi-fi shop, but for over thirty years the meeting place on Saturdays for a wonderful group of hi-fi and music fanatics. There was no pressure to buy anything, and Brooks was a great host, often buying lunch for everyone (he always had a nice roll in his pocket ;-) . He had a great crew, which included tech Tom Carione and tube expert Joe Knight. Brooks’ passing was a real loss to everyone who knew him.

I was a customer of Brooks' when he was the turntable set-up man and general tech at GNP in Pasadena, and followed him when he went out on his own. He and I became close, and I started accompanying him to the Winter CES every year. The first year I shared a room with Brooks and Sheila, and learned what serious snoring is ;-). My gawd what a racket! Sheila hired me to put a band together for Brooks' 50th birthday party, and that night he got up on my Gretsch drumset (he played drums in high school) and played "Wipeout" with the band. Happiest I ever saw him. A coupla years later he was gone.  

I remember Brooks Berdan when he was one more salesperson at GNP in Pasadena. Tons of respect for the now departed Brooks and those who carry on in his name.

No, maybe because Washington has no personal income tax?

...moving to WA state away from hungry and evil CA politicians!

This was on their FaceBook page.
" Additionally, for some clarification, Brooks Berdan Ltd is not closing, we are moving locations to WA State."