moskowit@paul.rutgers.edu (Len Moskowitz) (02/25/91)
> I am going to be visiting the N.Y. area this summer. > 1) What are the good shops to visit There's Sound By Singer (165 E. 33rd St.), Stereo Exchange (Broadway, near 4th St., this is probably the biggest shop in NYC, if not the world -- lots of used gear too), and Lyric Hi-Fi (1221 Lexington Ave. and 2005 Broadway). Right across the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn you'll find Innovative Audio (77 Clinton St.). Len Moskowitz
gabe@sirius.ctr.columbia.edu (Gabe Wiener) (02/25/91)
In article <9708@uwm.edu> bms89@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Scally BM) writes: > > I am going to be visiting the N.Y. area this summer. > 1) What are the good shops to visit Okay. I'll try to give a good rundown of the notable high-end stereo dealers and other recording notables... My choice for the best high-end dealership in New York City is Lyric Hi-FI (1221 Lexington Avenue, Tel: 439-1900). Lyric carries such brands as Infinity, Mark Levinson, Well Tempered, Goldmund Reference, Mirage, Audio Research, Koetsu, Quad, B&W, Celestion, Proceed, Stax, Spectral, and A LOT more. Don't be fooled by the rather smallish looking interior and the generous supplies of relatively mid-fi NAD amps and Sony carousel players when you walk in. Once you have a salesman's attention and he takes you through the back, you'll discover four of five custom-built soundrooms where you can hear all the top hardware, including the $50,000 Infinity IRS V's. Be warned, though. Sound is serious business at Lyric. If you plan on paying this dealer a visit, make sure they think you're serious and not a weekend browser. Treat them right, and they'll spend hours with you in the sound room. Otherwise they'll spare no expense to get you out of the store! What Lyric doesn't carry can be found at Stereo Exchange (Broadway off Bleecker, I believe...walking distance from the big Tower Records), a relatively new store that claims to be the largest high-end dealership in the world. Stereo Exchange's stock ranges from the mid-fi up through high-end, and their sales staff is generally more courteous than that at Lyric. Of course, their stock isn't quite as high-end oriented as is Lyric's. Still, it's worth a visit. They also have a huge used equipment section. Yet another high-end dealer which I have not visited myself but which has a wonderful reputation is Sound by Singer. They just moved, and I don't have their address offhand, so I can't provide you with it. You'll be able to get it from the telephone book when you get here. Those are the three major high-end dealers in NYC. There are many others in New York (Grand Central Radio, Harvey Sound, Audio Breakthroughs, Audio/Video Exchange, Park Avenue Audio, and others). If there are specific brands you're looking for, the best thing to do is to get your hands on a yellow pages when you get here and look under "stereophonic." All the mid to high-end dealers have 1/4-page ads listing the brands that they carry. If you just want to visit some high-end shops w/o anything particular in mind, the three I mentioned are probably the top drawer. If you're after CD's, you'll probably find the largest selection at Tower Records. They have two stores, one on Broadway @ 4th St., and the other on Broadway at 66th St (one block from Lincoln Center). The 4th St. store is substantially larger, but the 66th St. store is no small potato. Classical section at 4th St. is the biggest in the city. J&R Music World, located ALL THE WAY downtown near City Hall probably has the best prices, though I still like Tower's stock better. Still, it may be worth a trip. If you're looking for generic electronics also, J&R will have what you want, and at probably the best prices in the city. New in New York is HMV...two stores now exist. One on 72nd & Broadway, and the other on 86th and Lexington (three blocks up from Lyric). The 86th St. store is the largest record store in the United States, though their stock is still somewhat limited. Classical section is rather small. If you're looking for rare Vinyl offerings, the place to go is G&A Rare Records, on 72nd St. between Broadway and CPW (Call for exact address). With over 100,000 discs in excellent condition, they fill a much-needed niche in New York City. Most of their selection is classical, but they do have a decent Jazz section and a few boxes of popular stuff also. If you like Vinyl, plan on spending A LOT of time there. G&A also happens to be very convenient to the 72nd St. Central Park entrance, so you might want to go for a stroll afterwards if the weather is nice. Other notable Vinyl dealers are Gryphon Records, and Music Masters. > 2) Can any one do a price comparison for me (U.K to America) of easy to > carry items such as interconnects and C.D.s CD's in the U.S. are an absolute BARGAIN compared to the prices in the U.K. Your average popular CD sells for about $11.99 at Tower. Classical CD's at Tower are generally $13.99, sometimes going up to $15 or even a little higher for imports. A good 3-disc opera with libretto runs about $40-$45. With the British pound being about $1.90-$1.95 these days, you basically can divide the dollar amount by 2 to get an approximate Sterling price. As you can see, the currency difference will work to your advantage. Hope this helped.... -- Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings gabe@ctr.columbia.edu to be seriously considered as a means of gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu communication. The device is inherently of 72355.1226@compuserve.com no value to us." -Western Union memo, 1877
wmagro@roma.physics.uiuc.edu (William Magro) (03/04/91)
In article <9708@uwm.edu>, bms89@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Scally BM) writes: |> |> I am going to be visiting the N.Y. area this summer. |> 1) What are the good shops to visit |> 2) Can any one do a price comparison for me (U.K to America) of easy to |> carry items such as interconnects and C.D.s |> |> Thanks in advance |> Ted |> |> (as a guide the system amp is a Counterpoint SA12) |> New York is cheap for imported electronics, but not all that cheap. Most of the stuff you buy will not be covered by manufacturer's warranty, because the dealers are not authorized. As for CDs and almost anything else, New York is considerably more expensive than most anywhere else in the US. Save your money until you get OUT of the city into more suburban america. If you pay more than $11 for a CD then you haven't done very well. As for interconnects and speaker wire, save your money. We all know that they don't make the least bit of difference... Bill Magro
sethb@Morgan.COM (Seth Breidbart) (03/05/91)
> I am going to be visiting the N.Y. area this summer. > 1) What are the good shops to visit Some comments on a couple of New York City high-end dealers. Several months ago, I bought a pair of Apogee Stage speakers from Sound by Singer. About a month ago, I wanted to get the Apogee stands for them. I called Sound by Singer and asked about price/availability. They said that the stands were $300, and they were in stock. I said fine, I'd be over later that day. When I arrived, I found the stands were not available (they hadn't been sold in between; when I called, someone had thought they were in stock and hadn't bothered to check). They said they could order them for me. They also said the price was $350. I said thanks but no thanks. Sound by Singer is also a great place to buy $200 interconnects and hear all sorts of reasons why they improve the music that would make an electrical engineer laugh or cry. I then went to Innovative Audio. They didn't have the stands in stock (but they knew it), but they could order them. I asked if they could have them drop-shipped; they couldn't, but they'd send them to me UPS when they arrived, for an additional $20. I agreed, and paid for them. Three weeks later, I still hadn't received the stands, so I phoned to ask what was happening. The stands were in their warehouse, they'd neglected to ship them; they said they'd ship them the next day (UPS had just left). That's today, so I don't know if they did. For some equipment, Uncle Steve's often has the best prices. They don't carry much high-end stuff, though (except for consumables such as blank tapes). They are purely "cash and carry", but they are legitimate, unlike some of their competitors (6th Ave Electronics comes to mind). Also, you should be aware that in the US sales tax is added to the sticker price, so something marked $100 will end up costing you $108.25 (in New York City; sales tax varies). I believe that in the UK, VAT is included in the sticker price. Seth sethb@fid.morgan.com