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?
Last time I was in San Francisco (about 4.5 years ago), visiting my fellow audiophile cousin, we spent a day going to several audiophile stores in the bay area. And it looks like they are still there. I see: Tone of Audio Music Lovers AudioVision Future Sound House of Music Elite Audio Audio Federation While I am sure that list pales by comparison to the 70’s or 80’s, it is still pretty reasonable. |
Thank you, @ellajeanelle. I’ll go in to Best Buy! |
Thanks again, @simonmoon! You guys will have me driving everywhere this month! |
I used to live in Boston, and there was ONE high end audio store downtown, and a few in the suburbs. Lechmere, CircuitCity, BestBuy were selling some high end stuff as well and as we know they are all gone. (BestBuy is hanging on by a thread) I think today's landscape is similar, very few high end shops. Yes, if you live in a city of over 2 million, you will find probably 5-10 stores. But it will exponentially diminish with size. |
@simonmoon - House of Music, on Harriet St, is gone... Not sure about Elite Audio, but says Appt Only on their website. By far the biggest in San Francisco are Music Lovers and Audio Vision (they have a pretty huge selection of all kinds of high-end gear). |
