There are three reasons,whatever order you choose to put them in. 1.The economy. 2.On-line shopping. 3. Audiophiles dying.
What happened to all the highend stereo shops
What happened to high end stereo shops I mean real high-end stereo shops. I am 78, my father bought me my first stereo when I was 12, I have been hooked ever since. I remember the days when you can go to a nice audio store and not just audition what they had in the store but if you saw a couple of tuners, preamps or some cables that you liked, you could give them a blank check and take the equipment home to audition on your system. Bring one or both back Pay for what you want to keep or get your check back. I don’t understand how someone can buy an expensive piece of audio equipment and not audition it in their system first. Many places today, you buy it and your stuck with it. OH yes you can sell it on Audiogon or eBay. Reviewers are nice and give good reviews but the problem I have is the equipment they are auditioning is on their system in their treated music room which is going to be different than what you have.
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I used to live in Vancouver (I'm 67) and I remember Joe Weber very well! I bought several components from him including a pair of Mirage M3si speakers and a Tice power conditioner. He was sort of a curmudgeon but a great guy to deal with. During that period in Portland (late 90's, early ought's) there were several good stores in Portland and I got to know a few of them well enough so that they would call me when something interesting came in or when they had a great deal on a piece they wanted to move. I bought my Krell KSA 300S amplifier that way. Krell was coming out with a new model and the dealer wanted to get rid of their demo. The store called me up and offered me the amp at a great price and I said, "Sold!" The good old days..... |
To help bridge the generation and sales gap some, my local audiophile level dealer set up a small used vinyl section and started selling small quality tube headphone amplifiers. Also started with a small selection of affordable turntables to get them in the door. It worked. Now they come in and see other stuff, and start asking questions. They sit and listen some, in wonder. They look at used trade-in gear on the side shelves too. Now some are ready to save for that next piece of gear like all of us did as scrappers growing up. I still think there is some hope, we’ll see. |
@decooney I am fortunate to have an awesome high end dealer within an hour of me. I'm in NE Ohio, and he's in Western PA, very close to Pitt. Mark at Northern Audio. He has done something similar. On the ground floor of his building there is a top notch record store. Easily the best and biggest selection of vinyl around these parts. Within the record store are several set ups of entry level TT's and systems. All a curious customer needs to do is ask a few questions and they can be directed to the wonderland on the top floor. The place is a real gem. Mark is a great guy and I trust him totally. When I head that way it's like I am back in a warm sweatshirt, in my comfort zone, among my people. I feel the issue is that for the next two generations there is a great competition with other activities to engage in. Be it video games, sports worship, gambling etc.. (lets face it, it seems like according to ad's, all the next two generations want to do is drink, bet, play video games..) But I think Mark is on to something to attract folks who are looking for something more meaningful, more tactile and satisfying. When I worked at one of the two real HIFI shops in my town, The Speaker Shop, The winds of change were blowing us toward whole house systems, in wall speakers and surround sound A/V. We adapted and did very well. IMO the fads will come and go. We may not return to some of the "Golden Days" of HIF like the 50's and 60's, but I really do believe our lovely world is alive and well. IT may not be mainstream and super popular, but that's ok in my book. |
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