The best State or region for Audiophile

HA! Yeah well living in Redmond its hard to argue. Especially when those spacious listening rooms are so hard to move!

Property tax is high in Redmond!

Thus you have to pay for big listening space.

But if you move to suburb, it is much better.

I have to agree. Not to mention, for 8 months a year the weather is conducive to staying indoors and listening to music.

I lived in the Portland and Bellingham area for 30 years. There are, or there was 10+ years ago, some great retailers in Portland.

I moved to New Orleans 10 years ago and there are only a small number of retailers here. The weather keeps me outdoors more often so my listening time has decreased, electricity costs more and my tubes compete with my air conditioner.

One tradeoff is that there are a few great record stores in New Orleans and lots of great live music. Plus, gasoline and liquor is cheap here.

Whatta ya talkin’ bout?! Washington has state sales tax, it’s Oregon that doesn’t. I live just north of the Columbia River that is the border between the two states, so when I cross the bridge into Portland to buy LP’s and other stuff I don’t pay tax. I live in a purely suburban bedroom community, nice clean electricity from a substation only a half-mile from my house. No industry, big or small, and no construction, just houses. And no police sirens and helicopters, unlike what I had to live with in L.A. Nice, peaceful quiet!

I mean no stat Income tax, not sales tax.

I heard that Oregon is the only state with no sales tax in US.

Western Oregon is also pretty good for audiophile

@nolacap


I agree with your points in general.

If I live in New Orleans, I would attend live Jazz concert rather than listening to musics at home.

I have heard this before, not sure though sounds too good to be true, that in New Orleans they have the drive-thru daiquiri? 

True.

Yes, we have drive through daiquiris. Actually, drive through any drink you want, 24 hours a day. And live music everywhere.

It's funny, even my 10 year daughter's grade school events have live music, good food, and drinks. People in this city love life in a way that takes some time to really understand.

Hey bdp24, I lived in Vancouver Wa and took advantage of the pay no income tax in WA / cross the river to Oregon and pay no sales tax for years.That's a sweet situation.

In DC we have drive by shootings. 

Washington State got the honor of best state not just for audiophile but in general.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings

Olympia has one of the best record stores around (Rainy Day) and Desco Audio graciously hosts the Olympia Music Club. 

There was a time when you could drive to Seattle, park your car on Rooseveldt, and visit SpeakerLab, Hawthorne, Magnolia and Definitive all within about a one minute walk of each other. They covered the whole range from DIY to niche/boutique/budget (new and used) high end to mainstream audio/video to flashy statement high end. Now SpeakerLab is empty, Magnolia is CityMD, Hawthorne downgraded to more used/budget and Definitive is so whack I heard my first over a million system there- $1.3M I think it was- that sounded like crap. So in this area anyway the great middle is gone leaving us with budget buyers and Goolag and Microsoft millionaires throwing fiat at Definitive.

It all seems quite dismal until I walk into Easy Street Records and find it very busy with more than half the space devoted to records, new and used, young people listening with headphones on the turntables they have set up, boxes of entry level tables stacked by the cash register. 

Therefore, logically, you get more audiophiles legalizing pot than daiquiris.

No sales OR state income tax in Vermont, not sure that is enough to make me want to live there though..... lol.

Stuck in Florida for now where at least we do not have state income tax and cost of living is fair imho.

Even with the ac blasting away, my music room is just open doors to the main house so no actual ac unit making noise in here.

And it opens directly to my pool so there is that too......

For music lovers its the Twin Cities ,

In DC we have drive by shootings.

with excellent transient and overall dynamic range response, no doubt.

The closer they are to you... the more realistic they sound....

My community of 25 houses take more than 2 acres lot each.

Thus I can play music loud even during midnight as long as I close the windows.

I am happy about it.

Unless I develop serious health issues, I will stay put at my current house in Northwest of Washington State.

In addition, my house has a nice 180 degree view to Olympic mountains, Skagit Bay and Sound.

Many people complain that the housing price around Seattle had gone up too steep.

But if you go to suburb, then you can find nice houses under 1 M or even around half million.

Thomas

Maine...coast from Portland to Portsmouth...relatively inexpensive, great beaches (get a wetsuit), a foodie revolution, speed limit raised recently, buy stuff in NH with no tax, less people, great music scene, great arts scene, brew pubs galore, snowboard or ski. The west coast...nice to look at but...meh...

My 86 years old neighbor had moved from Maine to Washington State 15 years ago.

When I asked him about Maine, he talked about lot of good things but in the end he is happy here since he does not need to mow lot of snow in front of house during winter time.

nolacap
Agreed- Live music is everywhere in N.O. Besides Wilson Audio, which Audio dealers/retailers are left?  Happy Listening!

There's also Richie Savoie's in Elmwood. That's about it.

ordinarily audiophiles live in a perpetual state of confusion and or needless change.

yep. i'm guilty.

as for residency, the Sunburn State has to get my vote. at least for now.

Upsides:
no state income taxes.
right to work state.
housing is cheaper than most places.
weather is decent, but yes, it do get warm.
water sports cross every associated genre.
fishing and hunting nearly everything but Moose and Brown bear abounds.
new sporting interests - Python hunting!
every sport is played year round.
power is cheap.
Gas is as cheap as it is anywhere in the US which surprises me as I'd think the left coast would be far less expensive.
one can still buy whatever firearms they wish, within reason and there are no mag capacity restrictions.
roads due to little or no ice are usually in very good shape without potholes or patches every 30ft.
Highway speed limits were all raised.
loads of fresh produce and fruit abound year round.
numerous 'Theme Parks' open year round.
nature walks are short as nature is often very close by.
every retail outlet sells bug spray. I think you can buy it at McDonalds and Burger King.
AC units are priced competitively.

downsides;
the only cheaper places to live are Arkansas and Mexico and both require the need for a second language skill.
due to tourism the roadways are littered with folks with very questionable driving skills all winter long.
the blue and silver hair account for those with bad driving skills during the fair weather periods.
numerous 'Theme Parks' open year round.
instead of potholes we have sink holes which can at times, swallow whole houses or cars.
Bugs.
Pythons.
our Earthquakes are usually less than 3.7 on the Richter scale so houses are usually where you left them.
nature walks are shorter in most of the state as the critters come to your house instead of you going into their's.
occasionally during mating season, alligators & snakes may accessorize lawns and pools but this comes without charge for the home owner.
quiet quality AC is a must!

@ blindjim 

I agree with you on most points.

I had traveled to Florida, SC, NC last January.

I am tempted to live there after finding cheap gas prices.

But I do not like the possible evacuation due to strong Hurricanes.

Somebody asked me worst region for audiophile



It’s a fun thread.

What is the worst State or region for Audiophile? ...Hurricane Alley?


My take of worst region for audiophile is Southern California.

Electricity and housing costs are expensive over there.

Property tax and state income tax also make living there expensive.


There is also high danger of earthquake which can ruin your audio system.

It is also pretty hot during summertime not good for using Class A amplifiers.


The weather is so good to do outdoor activities and do surfing on the beaches.

Why you want to stay inside listening to music in Southern California.

As an avid audiophile, it is the last place to move to.

My son got master degree in Engineering from UCLA, I do not mind visiting there for few days from time to time but I will not take permanent residence there period.