You're exactly right, Bifwynne. I live in Lafayette Hill. It's actually, Miquon, but no one's ever heard of that place. With the budget cuts of the USPS, they closed our Post Office, and we got absorbed by Lafayette Hill. I should say that some have heard of Miquon, as there's a train station on the Manyunk - Norristown line. What's nice is I can get to my job in Center City in 25 minutes.
Unless it was the place on Old York Road across from the Atrium Mall, which I thought was HiFi House back then, I don't remember Music & Sound in Jenkintown or Willow Grove. Interesting there was another high-audio shop you brought up in that area, as we also lost Soundex more than a decade ago.
I remember visiting the HiFi House location in Broomall when I was a teenager, and it was more or less a warehouse. They had a row of Paradigm speakers lined up in one giant room, from cheapest up through the most expensive in their midlevel (Studio?) line. Had some moderately priced Adcom and Bryston gear in the center of the speakers, and the guy told me to listen to whatever pairs of speakers I wanted, for as long as I wanted. I know in the past several years they tried to go WAY upmarket from those days, audiowise, after trying the HT route. It seemed one of the (the guy people got to see) owners had bet big money on things panning out. Obviously, they didn't.
You probably know my friend's store, TSTO (formerly, The Stereo Trading Outlet) in Jenkintown. To be honest, I have no idea how Mike stays above water. That store used to have so much life and excitement. Back in the 80s and 90s, when the store had a ton of used gear from all manner of manufacturers, you could literally get a PHD in high-end audio by simply visiting one or two times a month. Nothing like that exists today, and probably never will again. These days, it's difficult to walk in there to see a fraction of what he used to carry, no other customers around, and a silent phone. I made two great friends(Audiogoners Mechans and Sufentanil), and we used to visit a lot. Michael (Sufentanil) loved being around Dave and Carl and all of their banter. After Dave suddenly passed away several years ago, the place just isn't the same. But as you said, good (no, make that great) memories...
Unless it was the place on Old York Road across from the Atrium Mall, which I thought was HiFi House back then, I don't remember Music & Sound in Jenkintown or Willow Grove. Interesting there was another high-audio shop you brought up in that area, as we also lost Soundex more than a decade ago.
I remember visiting the HiFi House location in Broomall when I was a teenager, and it was more or less a warehouse. They had a row of Paradigm speakers lined up in one giant room, from cheapest up through the most expensive in their midlevel (Studio?) line. Had some moderately priced Adcom and Bryston gear in the center of the speakers, and the guy told me to listen to whatever pairs of speakers I wanted, for as long as I wanted. I know in the past several years they tried to go WAY upmarket from those days, audiowise, after trying the HT route. It seemed one of the (the guy people got to see) owners had bet big money on things panning out. Obviously, they didn't.
You probably know my friend's store, TSTO (formerly, The Stereo Trading Outlet) in Jenkintown. To be honest, I have no idea how Mike stays above water. That store used to have so much life and excitement. Back in the 80s and 90s, when the store had a ton of used gear from all manner of manufacturers, you could literally get a PHD in high-end audio by simply visiting one or two times a month. Nothing like that exists today, and probably never will again. These days, it's difficult to walk in there to see a fraction of what he used to carry, no other customers around, and a silent phone. I made two great friends(Audiogoners Mechans and Sufentanil), and we used to visit a lot. Michael (Sufentanil) loved being around Dave and Carl and all of their banter. After Dave suddenly passed away several years ago, the place just isn't the same. But as you said, good (no, make that great) memories...