My co-worker and friend, (who happens to be the biggest musichead I know) has been having troubles with his amplifier over the summer. I told him I'd love to go shopping with him for a new one, since I like to geek out over stereo equipment. He'd been to Hi-Fi Sound Electronics Incorporated in downtown Minneapolis before, and I'd always loved Stereoland in Uptown Minneapolis... but we ended up pulling our hair out trying to think of any others. You might suggest going online... but to me, that is out of the question. Buying stereo equipment "sound unheard" is tantamount to taking somebody up on helping them get their money out of that bank in Africa.
No, what we really wanted to find were nice pieces of stereo equipment that sounded good, and the only two requisites beyond that were a built-in phono pre-amp and a mono switch, (he's got a lot of old records, y'know, before left and right were invented). So we went back to Hi-Fi Sound in downtown, and had a genuinely nice guy show us their most modestly priced models. They sounded great, (what wouldn't on $10,000 speakers?) and he was not into high pressure sales tactics. Hell, he even offered us to take it for the night to test it out. The problem is, the music he used to demonstrate their capabilities was awful. Some overly xylophoney dixieland junk that no one I know would dream of listening to. Which brings me to my point, (finally!) err, rather one of my points (damn!). Why is it that the high-end audiophile crowd have such lousy taste in music?
One of my trips to Stereoland in Uptown left me with a similar weird feeling. My roommmate at the time had been sold about $1,000 of goods by listening to Ozzy Osbourne. Not Black Sabbath, but No More Tears by Ozzy Osbourne. Granted, I have a soft spot in my heart for "Mr. Tinkertrain" (don't ask me why) but still. Does that really show off the range of the speakers better than... well... anything else? From my experience, the Venn Diagram comparing hi-end audiophiles to musicheads must look something like this:
What's worse, is that after we checked HiFi, (we bypassed Stereoland--they're inexplicably closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) we thought we'd try some of the big box retailers. That was a mistake. Best Buy, Circuit City, Ultimate Electronics all have the high pressure sales tactics... we even overheard one of the salesman answer the question, what makes this better than the other one? with "Well, it's $4,000, whereas the other one is, like, $3,500, so..." Which reminds me of that scene in Boogie Nights where Buck Swope says "See this system here? This is Hi-Fi... high fidelity. What that means is that it's the highest quality fidelity." Someone who clearly has no idea what they're talking about.
Going back to Stereoland is definitely in the plan, (with our own selection of CDs) but I'm curious. Where in Minnesota do you shop for stereo equipment?
--
Brett Baldwin, Web Producer, Minnesota Public Radio
Talk more about the endless quest for Minnesota Music at mnmusic.gather.com
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Comments: 7
At any rate I don't shop for stereo equipment but if I did it wouldn't be at a big box. I have no idea what I'd be shopping for, just that I could hear the difference and would know it when I heard it. (Like the old saw about art - I don't know hi-fi but I know what I like...)
Which cds are you bringing for testing purposes?
p.s. Uhhh, I hate to admit it, but Buck could probably sell me a system especially if he's in a cowboy shirt.
Malachi Constant: Infinite Justice
Chico Hamilton: The Dealer
Animal Collective: Sung Tongs
The Danforths: Look Out for the Wolves
Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul
Nas: Illmatic
Thing is, after listening to all those, I'd have to buy just out of guilt. Fortunately for me, I found my amp at a thrift store. Had to test it out with a cassette of Green by R.E.M. which worked out just fine.
http://www.audioperfection.com/
They've got high end gear, and a reasonable selection of stuff that the rest of us can afford (under $1000). I've had nothing but good experiences there. The salespeople are friendly and give you plenty of time to try out the gear, even if you're not looking in the $5k-$10k range.
I've also noticed that some record stores, like Hymie's, have refurbished record players too.