Portland Maine

Stay away from Derry. 😄

Dodgealum I live 40 minutes outside Portland . I can give you some leads call me at 207 402 0806. Larry

Portland is in the midst of a foodie revival and there are no high end stereo shops (at least that I know of). Lots of music venues which I recommend you look up, and it's a really cool town that I visit often (my wife and I will be in Portland in a couple of weeks)...I lived in Kennebunk for a decade. "Local 188" is a fave restaurant...there are many others...Maine is "the way life should be"or so they say. So call Larry. 

Portland is a smartphone music place period .Maine is a great place but only if you never go into woods or walk in grass .
Unless you enjoy having Lyme Disease ruining your life that is .

We used to go at least once a year, sometimes more. The summers are pretty glorious- 
My wife has family near Portland, so that was a gathering place for her clan for many years.
I would definitely recommend taking up @lwin on his kind offer. I'm sure the city proper has changed a lot. I do remember a place, near Bath? called 5 Islands where the lobsters basically went from boat to tank to plate (with a steam) in short order. One time, a brass band, in classic regalia was playing. It was like Sousa or Sgt. Pepper's or something, DownEast style. 
The city itself has some great old buildings; at the time I was making those trips, it wasn't really gentrified in the way it probably is now. 

Not sure what Schubert was talking about, but Portland, ME has been a resource of great music for years...I’ve seen many amazing concerts at fine venues, it’s a state where the speed limit goes up and the population goes down, except for those moving there for far less expensive real estate (relative to places where you might want to actually live) and a hip little town like Portland. I taught surfing in the summers while surfing year round (various wet suits needed of course) in Kennebunk for a decade, and was involved in a great local music scene that if nothing else has gotten better over the years. Beautiful beaches, beautiful hiking, boating, and camping (look up how many summer camps for kids are in Maine...and for frightened people like Schubert, lots of bug repellant available everywhere), and simply an astonishingly beautiful state with far less "crowd based" stress.

Thanks, everyone for the tips so far. Larry--I'll reach out and appreciate your help.

You could check out Fidelus Audio in Nashua NH about 100 miles south. 

There are bluegrass festivals pretty much every w/e in the summer. Several within 100 miles of Portland. Lots of small live music venues in the downtown/Old Port area. Restaurants abound. Have a ball..

I just saw Umphrey's McGee at the State Theater. Incomprehensible jam band music with great lights, but still, it's great to see the State up and running!

In Norway ME (about 45 minutes away) is a used Hifi and record dealer Puckerbrush Audio. Dave Cox the proprietor (and a friend) is a radio engineer and Speaker collector. I know they are on Facebook. Dave might have his Acoustat Monitor 3 Speakers with direct drive amps going. He has some other nice stuff like Counterpoint SA 4 OTL’s etc.