The disappearance of retail stores has been supplemented with the emergence of a vibrant online used market. Do your research and buy used smartly, and if it doesn’t work out turn around and sell it for little/no loss. In some ways it’s almost better because you get to hear a piece of equipment in your own room/system that’s often not possible through a traditional dealer, and you often get a 50% discount for your trouble. I’ve had much success doing this, but it obviously works less well with things like large/heavy speakers.
Nowhere to hear speakers and amps anymore!
When I started buying stereo equipment in the 1970’s (yes, I’m old) in Seattle, there were many retail stores where I could hear and compare equipment. I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1982 and found the same number of great stores until 2000 when they started disappearing and now there are none! There are plenty of Home Theater contractors, but I can’t find an audiophile store anywhere short of going to LA or back to Seattle! Is there an “audio desert” in my area? Seems like an opportunity for someone! Am I missing something?
Showing 4 responses by soix
Hey listen, if you live out in the hinterlands or the way outer burbs Goodonya! There are huge benefits to that. But then don’t complain that you have no high-end audio stores. You chose that life/location and as a result you don’t have the best restaurants, audio stores, etc. Deal with it, take the benefits you have, and just stop complaining that the world doesn’t cater to you because you chose to live where you live (and yeah, I realize the OP is in SF but apparently hasn’t done the least bit of research to find audio shops that are in his area — duh). Or go live in a city where they still have some good audio stores and pay the taxes that allow the places in the hinterlands to even exist because they suck much more from the government than what they pay (can u say Wyoming?). Either way, stop complaining. We all know brick n mortar stores are struggling and declining, so just stop stating the painfully obvious. I know, here come the flames, but that’s ok. |
@bob70 ”metropolitanism” as you call it is what allows “ruralism” to even exist, because rural areas can’t support themselves, period. The great irony is that the great rural areas that pride themselves on “independence” completely rely on the federal government and the big cities to exist whereas the larger metropolitan areas pay more into the government than they take. Use your stupid little 😁 emoji all you want, but it doesn’t hide nor negate that absolute financial and mathematical fact. |
@bob70 Sorry you wasted your time cherry-picking a few of my prior posts to suit your narrow and shallow needs. Fact is, I’ve done a lot here to help many people make more informed purchase decisions over many years, which you’ve conveniently ignored here, so I don’t give one damn about what you and your 16 posts think of me. But glad you’re departing, and good riddance. |