Re-Tales

Re-Tales #48: Supreme Acoustic Systems, Distribution Done Differently

Julie Mullins | Nov 19, 2024 |

Traditionally in hi-fi, "distribution" refers to importing and warehousing audio equipment then delivering it as needed to a network of domestic dealers. In recent years, that model has evolved. Distributors have expanded the range of services they offer, and an increasing number of companies are skipping the distributor step altogether: dCS and T+A, among other companies, have established wholly owned subsidiaries in the US to handle importation, local warehousing, and other domestic duties. They and others have hired full-service sales and marketing agents, sometimes called "brand ambassadors." The goal, of course, is to make the practice of getting a product into the country and on the radar of dealers and customers as efficient and effective as possible.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #47: Welcoming New Customers

Julie Mullins | Oct 16, 2024 |

Since it started in late 2020, this column has emphasized the imperative for bricks-and-mortar hi-fi dealerships to evolve if they want to survive and thrive in the current era. They—indeed, the whole industry—need to attract new customers as they give existing customers reasons to keep coming back.

In its current form, Houston, Texas–based dealership 3mA arose from founder and majority owner Johnny Yip's connection with Luis Miranda, a customer. The two became partners when Miranda bought into the business in 2017.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #46: Audio Advice Opens New Brick'n'Mortar Stores

Julie Mullins | Sep 18, 2024 |

North Carolina hi-fi dealer Audio Advice has been busy lately. As I reported in last month's Industry Update, the company recently acquired The Audio Lab, a longtime dealership based in Wilmington. As this issue went to press, Audio Advice was getting ready for Audio Advice Live, the show they put on annually at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel. Just before showtime, Stereophile spoke with Audio Advice CEO Scott Newnam and COO Gregg Chopper via Zoom. We asked about the expansion and their approach.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #45: Riding the Common Wave

Julie Mullins | Sep 03, 2024 |

In the e-commerce era, brick-and-mortar dealerships must give customers compelling reasons to stop by. Los Angeles hi-fi dealership Common Wave's owner Wesley Katzir keeps customers coming through the door with a simple idea: that music matters in our everyday lives and that what he enjoys, other people will enjoy, too. That extends not just to music but also design, which is a particular preoccupation of Katzir and his business.

"I wanted to create a hi-fi space for people who were interested in the same sorts of musical and listening experiences as I am, which is much more communal," Katzir told me in a recent phone conversation. "We have enough screens in our face. I'm trying to get people away from that to a more meditative, peaceful experience with music."

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #44: Allies in the Vinyl Revival

Julie Mullins | Jul 23, 2024 |

Thomas Neuroth, a cofounder of the Vinyl Alliance, shows an eco LP at High End Munich.

Some 30 years ago, vinyl records seemed to be heading in the direction of the 8-track tape, toward becoming an obsolete format. As everyone knows, vinyl rebounded and has so far avoided that fate (but see this month's As We See It about the status of the Compact Disc). An international association aims to keep it that way.

The Vinyl Alliance was formed in 2019 "to strengthen awareness and the image of vinyl records worldwide," according to the organization's website. The VA is a membership organization with some 40 institutional members including vinyl producers, record companies (including all three major labels), music resellers, record-press makers, pressing plants, and turntable and cartridge manufacturers.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #43: Mark Mawhinney's Three Audio Retail Businesses

Julie Mullins | Jun 24, 2024 |

It's a truism in business—or if it isn't strictly true, it's at least a cliché—that you can't please everyone. But Mark Mawhinney sees everyone as a potential customer. He does his best to cover all customer bases, from old-school audiophiles to newcomers, from Boomers to Gen Z. "As long as they have two legs and two ears, they can be our customers," he told Stereophile in a recent phone interview.

Mawhinney owns and runs three businesses: Spin-Clean, the longstanding, inexpensive record-cleaning system; Northern Audio, a high-end audio dealership; and Music To My Ear, a record store that also sells some entry-level to mid-tier hi-fi equipment. The three businesses occupy the same building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Business, he says, is strong.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #42: Austin AudioWorks, "a Modestly Deep View of the Field"

Julie Mullins | May 17, 2024 |

Over a long career, thinker and audio designer Barry Thornton has carved his own paths and formed his own opinions, broad views about how the universe works and how one thing connects to another. He applies scientific principles broadly, too: From action comes reaction, though it may not always be predictable. "Do something, and everything else starts to occur," he said of his endeavors. Longtime readers and seasoned audiophiles will recognize Quintessence Audio Group, a maker of hi-fi electronics in the 1970s and '80s. Thornton founded the company and served as its main designer. He has worked with companies including SAE (where he became Chief Engineer), ESS, Parasound, and Monster Cable. His journey eventually led him to Austin, Texas, where he recently founded Austin AudioWorks.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #41: Vintage Hi-Fi, Old and New, a Visit to Aural HiFi

Julie Mullins | Apr 03, 2024 |

Many audiophiles and serious music lovers are passionate about vintage. Vintage has become a popular "way in" to the hobby, especially popular among younger folks. Reasons vary. Many—perhaps most—are seeking more bang for the buck than you can get buying new. Others prefer classic sound and aesthetics: that special vintage vibe. At least a few inherit or receive vintage pieces from audiophile parents; others come across a beautiful bargain they can't resist. An important niche in our hobby thinks vintage equipment simply sounds better than the new stuff.

Not every vintage piece sounds good, however, and not every piece is a bargain. Some can be quite expensive. And most that aren't are in need of expensive refurbishment to look and sound their best. Even once restored, they usually require more care, maintenance, and patience than a new piece would require. It's a lot to take in for those new to the hobby.

Jeremy Irwin, owner and "stereo archaeologist" at the vintage-focused dealer Aural HiFi in Denver, has been there himself.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #40: Showing Your Best

Jim Austin, Jason Victor Serinus | Feb 12, 2024 |

Dear audio show exhibitors: This one's for you. As members of the press who have spent decades covering audio shows, we've developed a clear sense of what works for us and—we think—for other show attendees. We ask your indulgence as we share our observations about how to mount a successful exhibit and get the best coverage possible from Stereophile and, presumably, other publications.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #39: Channel Separation

Julie Mullins | Jan 16, 2024 |

Before and since the pandemic, many traditional hi-fi dealerships evolved to expand the products and services they offer—into custom install and home integration, in particular. There has also been a bit of a multichannel/home theater resurgence.

Shifts in the market and personal interests led to changes at Adirondack Audio & Video, an established company with locations in upstate New York and—as HiFi Loft—in Manhattan. The company recently split into two separate entities. Under new ownership by a former partner/employee, just before Labor Day, 2023, HiFi Loft spun off from Adirondack and opened a new second location in Glens Falls, New York, about 45 minutes north of Albany. By all accounts, the separation was amicable, even favorable for each party.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #38: Supply Chains—Keeping It Local

Julie Mullins | Dec 27, 2023 |

McIntosh CEO Charlie Randall, pictured outside the company's Binghamton factory in 2006. (Photo: John Atkinson)

To remain profitable, many hi-fi companies have outsourced production to faraway countries with lower labor costs. That, certainly, is a legitimate way of doing business. Yet many other hi-fi makers have chosen to work with suppliers that are local, regional, or at least domestic. There are good reasons for doing so, those manufacturers maintain.

Some of the advantages are obvious. Local labor may cost more, but shipping what they make is much cheaper.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #37: A New Ojas Listening Space in SoHo

Julie Mullins | Nov 15, 2023 |

Photo by Lauren Coleman

New York City continues to have a rich hi-fi culture, but many of its fabled hi-fi shops have shuttered—think of Lyric Hi-Fi, which played a major role in the development of audio's high end before it closed in 2021. But recently NYC's hi-fi scene has experienced a bit of a renewal, with undertakings aimed at a wider, younger audience. One example is a new, niche audio showroom in SoHo, which opened in September, by former deejay and fashion designer, artist, and current audio craftsman Devon Turnbull.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #36: Two Dealerships Expanding

Julie Mullins | Oct 25, 2023 |

Often it seems we're living at a time of hi-fi–industry contraction—that expansion in retail, if it exists at all, is online, and the number of real-world dealerships is shrinking. But at least two California dealerships, San Diego's Alma Audio (top photo) and Pasadena's Audio Element (bottom photo), are expanding in the actual, offline world.

Why expand? For the reasons you'd expect. The two dealerships want to expand their reach and capitalize better on the advantages that brick-and-mortar retail affords, especially when it comes to selling more expensive goods. They are aiming to reach more people in new locations with a more personal, experiential approach—much different than reading specifications, looking at pictures, and clicking the "buy" button online. Both dealerships are aiming to sell higher-end stuff at their new locations—the kind of sales that don't work as well online—to new customers in new places.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #35: Hi-Fi by the Book

Julie Mullins | Sep 06, 2023 |

Phaenelagh "Nel" Lenard Burnett is an outlier in a most basic sense: She's a woman who works in hi-fi. For the past several decades—essentially all her adult life—she has immersed herself in running her father's audio business.

Her father is John Lenard Burnett of Lenard Audio, a veteran designer, researcher, and educator whose work has crossed over from recording studios, concert halls, and commercial spaces to hi-fi for the home. The Opal 4-way active loudspeaker system is the senior Burnett's signature product and serves as the foundation of Lenard Audio's hardware and strategic designs.

"When I was a baby, Lenard was the largest manufacturer and supplier of concert PA systems and guitar amps and so on in the Australian market," Nel told me. "Some of my very first memories are of me sitting on his workbench. That was one of my happiest places to be when I was a kid, literally sitting on his work."

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #34: Succession: VPI & Black Cat

Julie Mullins | Jun 18, 2023 |

Many family-owned hi-fi companies have experienced generational leadership transitions over the last few years: Wilson Audio, Von Schweikert Audio, PS Audio, and VPI Industries, to name a few. In two of those cases, the founding father is still around. One of those is VPI Industries.

Harry and Sheila Weisfeld founded VPI in 1978. A succession plan? "Initially there really was none," VPI President Mat Weisfeld (above), who took over for his father Harry, told me. "They'd hoped to work to the last of their days. Unfortunately, my mom's days were cut short."

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