In praise of the Brick 'n Mortar shops here in the Pacific Northwest.

It's said that as a general rule, people are much more likely to post about negative experiences than they are about positive experiences. I just thought that I'd do my part to reverse that behavior, if only just a bit. Until just recently, I had owned most of my gear for a decade or more. I'd reached a point where I needed to change a few things out. Some of this was brought on by equipment problems and some by the desire to maintain a good system synergy. I've felt okay with making these updates as some health issues have resulted in my spending far more time indoors at home. As a result, l've been spending more time listening to music than usual.

I definitely feel fortunate to have so many great shops focused primarily on two-channel audio here in the Pacific Northwest. Within the past few months I've spent a fair bit of my time and money at a few of these shops in particular. I've learned a few new things in the process. (For example, I had absolutely no idea how mainstream streaming music had become amongst audiophiles.) But one thing that hasn't changed is the value in being able to hear a variety of gear for yourself, in-person with your own ears. Even better, being able to drop by a shop late on a Saturday afternoon to borrow gear for a demo at your home for the next few days so you can hear how it works within the context of your own system and room. To me, such opportunities are priceless.

I've also had the pleasure of meeting some new people that I would not have otherwise met as well a catching up with a few familiar folks. With all that said, based on my experiences I'd like to share my appreciation for Hawthorne Stereo in Seattle, as well as Echo Audio and Stereotypes Audio here in Portland. These stores have been incredibly helpful and great to deal with. Visiting Hawthorne Stereo was a new experience for me (I believe that they left Portland before I moved here) while both Echo Audio and Stereotypes a very familiar to me. I feel good about being able to support these shops as they've treated me very well and I highly recommend them. I realize that we're fortunate to have more shops other than those I've noted and I'm sure that many of them are great. I just wanted to post with regards to those shops I've recently dealt with personally.

(Note to mods: hopefully I've posted this in the correct section. My apologies if that's not the case.)