Pittsburgh, Pa. Audio Scene 1970's

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There IS all this great gear, but no where local to hear it unless you have a local trade show or can travel to one of the large ones. I will bet that there is more gear bought off reviews these days than one can imagine. I would have to bet that for our love of the internet and audio sales, I would not have bought my first system without listening to it. I even drove about 50 miles to audition my first cassette deck, a Teac 350 in 1972. I don't think I would do that today. To audition a Rega turntable I would have to drive further.

 

Hi, Jim, interesting point about the increased importance of reviews, given the lack of brick and mortar stores. Comparing today to the 'good old days,' I come up with a mixed result on whether the hi-fi consumer is better or worse off: on the one hand, there is a whole lot more analog gear than there ever was, even in the heyday of vinyl- more phono stages, cartridges, turntables and preamps than ever. So-called SOTA is WAY more expensive than it was in the early 70's, I think, even in adjusted dollars, but there's an awful lot of good stuff that doesn't cost kilobucks. And the used market definitely widened through places like the Gon, rather than relying on what one local dealer or another took in on trade.
As for places to listen, I don't know that i can listen critically to a component short of hearing in my system, which means you either buy it and dump it if you don't like it, or find a dealer willing to arrange in home trial. Not easy, but not impossible. Of course, at that stage, you are usually paying for that kind of accomodation, either because the equipment itself is pricey enough to justify a home trial, or the dealer is going to make a fair amount of money on a system sale. There are a few dealers that will arrange home trials for out of state buyers, where the line is not otherwised represented locally, but it's not common as far as I know.

 

Greetings Ron!

Welcome to the Forum! Nothing left in Pittsburgh as you noted. Butch has the McIntosh franchise and a few pieces of some other gear. For brick and mortar shopping, the DC/Virginia area is probably your best choice.

I think there may be a couple of places in Cleveland. Maybe some of our Cleveland area members can chime in.

There is an excellent Vintage HiFi shop that has vintage equipment and some of the brand new hi end Carver tube amps. They also have a very good repair service. Great place to visit!

Regards,

Carl

 

An individual component cannot be fairly auditioned unless it is swapped in one's own system. Period. There are FAR too many variables otherwise. The best alternative is to stick with the gear which has been universally praised and which has stood the test of time. Of course, there's a little more to it than that, but unless there are local B&Ms lending out gear then Audiogon and direct sales will continue to thrive. I blame the largest gear manufacturers for this problem first and the incompetence of the B&Ms next.

 

Does anybody here remember the audio store that was in Allegeny Center Mall. It was on the ground floor if I'm correct. I bought from them several times and cannot remember the name. It wasn't Sun, or The Appliance Store........ I am stumped!

jim

 

Hmmmm! I am guessing it was the Appliance Store. It's been so long since I was last in there. It's been an office complex for about 25 years.

Carl

 

We do have a great audio store here in Atlanta (Lilburn) Audio Alternative, but it is up I-85 NE of town and I am west of ATL by 25 miles. It is a good area to keep a business alive. I am surprised that there is market for $300 to $500 cd players given the seemingly small interest in 2 channel audio by the masses. They are still out there and keep coming. He has great lines: McIntosh, NAD, PSB, Rega VPI, Peechtree, Ayre, JL, Magnepan, Audio Research etc. Very knowledgeable staff. Stereophile's John Atkinson is going to be there on April 24, starting at 6pm, plus others from the industry. These kind of events seem to be gaining in popularity.

 

Thanks for the welcome, all. I'd been wondering if there was somewhere appropriate to post a for sale ad, but couldn't find it in the rules and all.

I know there's a couple tiny specialty places here for the older equipment services, but wanting to keep an eye (ear) out for good local options. Doesn't sound very promising, though...

 

There is even a market for $3,000 and $5,000 CD players. Heck, there is a market for $15,000 CD players too. The masses do not have a focused interest on our passion, but so what? There are billions of people in the world to support just about any niche.

 

One of the places I buy stuff from is seriously considering charging to demo equipment. They claim to get too many potential buyers demoing stuff at the store and then heading out to the interwebs to buy new or used equipment.

 

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Unfortunately the audio business has somewhat mirrored the auto industry. Waste someone's time on test drives and then just keep squeezing the price until the end.

 

But isn't that rational behavior on the part of a consumer?

I don't see where charging to demo is rational on the part of the dealer. Dealers are going to have to learn how to run a business in a competitive, somewhat global marketplace. They should be working with their sales reps in order to get more competitive pricing. Best Buy, for example, is price matching quite liberally. Well, dealers should be enabled to do that also and their partners (the manufacturers) should eat most of that.

The other option for dealers is to whine about the evils and unfairness of capitalism.

 

I totally agree. The last time I had a serious bout of upgrade-itis I tried to get an "appointment" to check out some gear at a (then) well known shop in the north hills area of our little burg. The guy spent so much time trying to "pre-qualify" me as worthy to spend his precious time on, and explaining the concept of "non-stocking dealer" (WTF!!?!) that I hung up on him, got in my car, drove the extra 30 minutes and dropped 20k at a shop where people love to see customers walk in the door (Butch's Sound Shack in Natrona Heights).

The first guy? He's out of business. Thank goodness.

 

No. It is deceitful behavior on the part of the consumer. If said consumer is going to go into an audio shop to audition a component--thus using the shop owner's time and facilities--then said consumer should act in good faith. There is a difference between being a frugal shopper and being a cheap S.O.B. who takes no consideration of the higher overhead of the shop keeper who's facilities/time they (the shopper) are using.

Hey, I like a bargain as much as the next guy, but as of now the playing field is not level. Not only are internet sales tax free (for the most part), but internet only companies don't have a physical storefront (and its attendant costs) to maintain. A shopper auditioning equipment in a high end store then expecting the shop keeper to match a price found on the internet is pretty crappy behavior in my view. I see no honor in it. I see no decency in it. However, I do see greed in it.

And I'm someone who has no problem with capitalism. Some capitalists on the other hand...

 

Greed? Since when is shopping for the best price greedy? LOL. Best Buy could run every small dealer out of business if they hired audiophiles to set up a proper demo room. BBY was getting smahed by Amazon and they are fighting back (to win sales). When will hi-end dealers realize that it is not 1985 anymore and do something about Audiogon?

 

Rational maybe but not very honest.

Would you walk into a store asking for a demo or ask to have a big demo set up for you with absolutely no intention of purchasing at the store because you plan to buy used for half price?

 

I would not manufacture interest at the cost of a dealers time and money, but I would also not pay $5,000 for a DAC that sells for $3,750. That said, it is in my rational self interest to pay a reasonable premium for the service and the benefit of having a place to demo gear. I would love to have a first class dealer in Pittsburgh and I'd make an effort to ensure that our relationship was mutually beneficial.

 

For Pittsburgh, I would suggest Northern Audio on Babcock Blvd. in the North Hills -- or Music To My Ear on Brilliant Ave. in Aspinwall.

 

Hi Bill,
My name is Mark Fallin and I worked at the Opus One branch up in Indiana, Pa where I was a college student in the early 70's. Tasso popped into my head recently and I googled him up and he's still his lively self at 80+. He and his son are helping people at their Center for Pain Management in Pittsburgh.
Your thread also appeared. Thanks for the memory jog. Things I remember most are the association Tasso had with Henry Kloss (AR, KLH, Advent, Novatron projection TV, Cambridge Soundworks). As a result we got to play with some of the early releases of his products. I have many a fond memory of watching the Steelers and Saturday Night Live in our private viewing room after hours and on Sundays on Henry's big screen TV invention.
My other big memories are the live music events Tasso would put on, most notably the Stan Kenton band show at a Unitarian church in the 'burg. He used a bank of Advent speakers for the PA to show how robust and accurate they were. I loved my audiophile education there.
cheers

 

Hey, Mark. Thanks for writing. I did speak to Tasso several months ago, i can fill you in if you PM me here. Do you remember Marc Finer? I worked with Marc at the old, original Audio Warehouse in the South Hills back in 1973- we were a 'low overhead' dealer for Advent, Phase Linear and the like, not really the same vibe as Opus One. Marc subsequently went to work for Tasso. I bought my first rig from Tasso as a high school student and admired him (even though he was the 'competition' when I was a hi-fi salesman. After a while, even returning to school was more fun than slinging gear ) But, i sort of lost touch with the Pgh. hi-fi scene, such as it was, after I moved to NY, thus my thread.
Tasso would have been a good mentor for hi-fi. He had good ears, and was an articulate, arty guy who didn't come off as a slick operator. I remember the old Keith Monks machine in the Smithfield St store, and the dude that ran his repair department- he looked like an old school Harley biker dude.

 

Hello Bill,

I worked at Audio Warehouse back then. Sq. Hill location most of the time. Worked with Marc Finer, Mike Curley, Billy Arnold, Garry Templin etc. Think I remember you from those days.

 

Yep remember you as well! It has been what- 40 some years!

 

Almost... left in '75... went to work for Warner Elektra Atlantic records. Been in aviation since '79. Living in upper st clair for past 30 yrs.

 

cool. I'll PM you when I get a minute. I grew up in Upper St. Clair. Haven't been back in a long time...