Audio Consultants - Evanston Illinois -rip

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Matt Richardson, Jan 22, 2020.

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  1. Matt Richardson

    Matt Richardson Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Suburban Chicago
    A part of the Chicago audio scene for the last 50+ years has come to an end. At its height, Audio Consultants had four or five stores, I believe, -all helmed by the knowledgeable and approachable owner, Simon Zreczny, who is now retiring.

    Chicago now has Music Direct, which is mostly an internet business and a few other places, but sadly these Ma & Pa owned stereo shops that cater to the city's audiophiles are becoming scarce.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Echo's Answer

    Echo's Answer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    I remember going to the Hinsdale store. What other stores do we have? I don't even count Music Direct, it's just a warehouse.

    O.T. Seeing your zip, we're neighbors
     
    Matt Richardson likes this.
  3. Matt Richardson

    Matt Richardson Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Suburban Chicago
    For family run shops, there's still Quintessence Audio in Morton Grove and Holm Audio in Westmont. I understand the Saturday Audio Exchange on the northside is still going, but I haven't been there in years.

    For the big guys, I still like ABT to hear B&W and McIntosh gear. Magnolia may not get much respect here, but I still like dropping in and hearing some of their stuff that you can't hear anywhere else locally (like KEF speakers).

    Music Direct does have a room in their Bryn Mawr facility where you're welcome to drop in and demo their higher-end gear. By the looks of their very overcrowded space, I'm hoping they'll eventually move to big warehouse and have a full retail-like experience (along with their internet business).
     
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  4. fritz7784

    fritz7784 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL.
    There's also Decibel Audio on Milwaukee Ave. in the city.
     
    mjcmt, JHC3, GuinnessDan and 3 others like this.
  5. 389 Tripower

    389 Tripower Just a little south of Moline

    Location:
    Moline, IL USA
    I think I remember hearing them on a radio talk show when I lived in Mt Prospect back in the 9o’s.
     
  6. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time...

    Location:
    Chicago
    Simon is done?????!!
     
  7. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time...

    Location:
    Chicago
    It's very incestuous in the city, and not in a bad way. Andy started Saturday Audio Exchange a long time ago - I remember going there when it really was Saturdays only, back in 1994 when I moved to chicago. The guys that own Decibel used to work or be part of Saturday Audio and Bes at Music Direct (the best guy ever!) used to work with Andy at Saturday Audio. Crazy connections. Simon does know his sh!t and it's sad he's retiring...great guy and more than very knowledgeable. Is he having someone take it over or just closing it altogether?
    EDIT: just heard from my buddy who's friends with Simon- closing it altogether...sad. They had one in Libertyville as well.
     
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  8. Keep Toska Audio on your radar. They moved from Mt Prospect to Highland Park a couple years back. Highly recommended.
     
  9. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time...

    Location:
    Chicago
    Funny you mentioned Toska. they are 5 minutes from my house in HP. They have some high end stuff but stuff I've never heard of honestly. Not that that's bad at all. nice selection of carts and used vinyl as well. nice people to talk to. Think they do have KEF though, great sale on them last year if I recall. In general, we need MORE of these places!
     
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  10. Ken Clark

    Ken Clark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago Suburbs
    I've been to their store in Libertyville a few times until it closed. I would cycle there with a backpack and buy records, have a coffee at Hansa then ride home.
     
    Trbnado, timind, longdist01 and 2 others like this.
  11. Bart

    Bart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    I know it's not Chicago, but Next Level in Wayne, IL, is pretty fabulous. I've been dealing with them long-distance for a few years and my interactions with the owner, Tyler Mueller, have been first rate.
     
  12. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
    RIP I bought two Naks from those guys in the early 2000s a DR-1 and a DR-10 both sadly gone now.
     
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  13. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    +1
    I bought my used Naim NAC-252 (Bart’s trade-in, actually) and three used Naim Powerline cables from Tyler. Good experiences on all counts.
     
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  14. Ken Clark

    Ken Clark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago Suburbs
    I stopped in Next Level once just to check ito Super nice folks, very easy to talk with.
     
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  15. Joe Spivey

    Joe Spivey Forum Resident

  16. Matt Richardson

    Matt Richardson Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Suburban Chicago
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  17. Matt Richardson

    Matt Richardson Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Suburban Chicago
    In the 80s and 90s, I remember Audio Consultants being big supporters of classical radio WFMT. Many of their programs were “brought to you by Audio Consultants”.
     
    wrat, longdist01 and 389 Tripower like this.
  18. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    been to each store a few times over the years. usually very friendly staff. the things that were off putting was a lack of new product to audition, much of it was demo or trade in. also a lack of willingness to deal and poor trade in credit compared to other dealers.
     
    olegrayman and Matt Richardson like this.
  19. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    FMT was their soundtrack at the Evanston store.
     
  20. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    never been to quintessance but they carry a great brand lineup. also there is PAV chicago which sells on audiogon, the little guys in mokena for home theater and also barretts out far west by me have some interesting stuff.
    abt is awesome because they have everything in stock. some jl subwoofers- no problem!
     
    Matt Richardson likes this.
  21. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    peter is a great guy and knows his way around state of the art audio. gold note, acoustic signature, eexa, very nice products. i heard the kef ref 1 there which were embarrassed by some legacy audio calibres which are the best kept secret in audio.
     
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  22. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    he was running a stunning deal on some dynaudio contours. a really good deal!
     
    Matt Richardson likes this.
  23. Josquin des Prez

    Josquin des Prez I have spoken!

    Location:
    U.S.
    He bought out the remaining US stock of Contours in white oak when Dynaudio discontinued the finish, but yes, there were some great deals on those great speakers. I almost bought a pair of Contour 60s (not his), but I landed on a really, really sweet deal for my Confidence C2 Platinum when they got discontinued. Even better.
     
  24. aphexacid

    aphexacid It’s not Hip Hop, it’s Electro.

    Location:
    Illinois
    Never been there, but it’s always sad to see a well established business close.

    Belmont and Clark was my stomping ground in the early 90’s. Been going to Saturday Audio Exchange since then.
     
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  25. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    What rock have I been living under that I had no idea that all these stores existed? My first foray into hifi were grado headphones of which audio consultants was my entry way :)
     
    longdist01 and Shawn like this.
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