@upshift and @szeidman2002 My shop was in Boca. As for Sound Advice, the guys who started it came into my shop one day--4 of them. They proceeded to laugh at me and my shop and told me that "they will run me out of business" in a month or two.
Well, MR X put his profits up his nose, they were so in debt to Sony that they took over the company, and eventually:
The company later went public until being acquired by Tweeter for around $150-million in 2001. After two filings for bankruptcy in less than one year, all 94 Tweeter / Sound Advice stores have officially closed down as of today.Dec 3, 2008
They were from Detriot and had been somewhat successful up there. If you lived there in the early ’70’s you might remember them. I don’t.
They were "big time" for a while, but they never sold what I did. You may have also visited Sound Components in Miami, started by a man I know who’s father owned a mint in South America. He was better capitalized that I was by a mile! He started recording live music with a Stellavox and achieved some notariety in the "big boy" Audio world. He is now working at some big company--I don’t remember which one. The store is still in Miami, but I have no idea where or who owns it. It used to be in Coral Gables. Hi-Fi Associates was owned by a man who’s dad started a large rental trucking company and he was VERY well capitalized for a while. As I remember, he opened a few more shops and his dad eventually pulled the plug.
I could tell many stories of those days down here, but will not. Suffice it to say, it was a VERY small group of us and we all knew each other pretty well, for better or worse.
And yes, it was an interesting time in SO FL in those days...we will leave it at that.
Oh, for those who wonder, I still listen to my Tympani I-C speakers/ARC gear from the late 1970’s and they are still the most accurate speakers made--the newer ones obvioulsy improved. Put them next to any other speaker and YOU choose. Many don’t care for them, but if they are set up properly with excellent tube gear, well, if you hear them, you will understand. Not for everyone, but for me, as good as it gets.
Cheers