 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
64.130.242.146
Does anyone remember MusiCraft in the Chicago suburb of Lombard? I used to hang out there with older friends in the early 70s before I could afford to buy new and would up buying quite a bit of used gear there. Later I bought seom new Pioneer Spec gear from them from a guy named George. He was an older gentleman who drove a Lincoln town car and occasionally showed up with a few pieces of choice gear that he sold out of his trunk. In later years I used to bring in my gear for the McIntosh clinic that was held there. The Mac guy was very nice, he never said a bad word about the horrible test results he got from my handbuilt Heathkit integrated amp.
There was a second MusiCraft location in Buffalo Grove that I used to visit in the late 80’s when home theater was starting to come in. Bought a new Kenwood tuner and a couple of new tape decks from them from some annoying sales guy who would follow up each question with his brilliant closing line, to wit:
Me: Is this the amp you advertised on closeout?
Annoying Sales Guy: Yes. Would you like to take it home today?
Me: Is it tube or solid state?
Annoying Sales Guy: I’m not sure. Would you like to take it home today?
Me: How can you not know whether it’s tube or solid state?
Annoying Sales Guy: It sounds great. Would you like to take it home today?
Me: Actually, I’d like to shove it sideways up your ass.
Annoying Sales Guy: If I bend over, would you take it home today?
Back to the 80s. Right up the street was Pacific Stereo. I drove there in a blinding snowstorm one Saturday to buy a used Fischer tube receiver that went up in smoke as soon as I plugged it in. I also bought a new Benjamin Miracord turntable from them that served me well for many years.
A bit further up the street was Stereo Studio. Bought some nice Nakamichi and AKG headphones there.
Heading toward the North suburbs was Simply Stereo in Hoffman Estates (which I think is still in business). Bought some nice ne Klipch speakers and NAD gear there from a friend named Neil Walker who I have long lost touch with. If anyone knows if/where he’s still in the biz let me know.
Right around that time I left for my freshman year at Southern Illinois University. Bought a fine set of Heil speakers with the air motion transformers from a shop (can’t remember the name) in downtown Carbondale not far from the school. I can’t remember the sales guy’s name or face, but I remember him fondly for “lecturing” me on how to set up the speakers and ancillary equipment and insisting I call him if I had any problems.
Those were some great days and a blessed relief from the many uptight, snobby, “if you’re not here to buy something don’t waste my time” dealers that basically forced me out of the new retail channel and back to used gear on Audiogon.
Follow Ups:
I worked at the Pacific Stereo (Oak Street)back in 1983 and loved every minute of it! Matter of fact I saw my first CD player come in there. It was a Phillips and also Pioneer Laser disc were big then too! Also the Sony Beta Hi-Fis were big as well!
I first worked at the original main store at 48 E Oak in Chitcago and then later at the Mortgage Grove store on Dumpster Ave. Ted Schwartz was the owner and founder and that store had been there since about '49. I had also worked a Playback Electronics on Golf Rd in Glenview for a while.. There was also United Audio In Evanstein and in the Old Orchard Mall back then.
I loved working at Musicraft because of the generous employee discounts on new equipment and I got first dibs on used equipment coming in on trade. I must have auditioned 100's of items at home courtesy of Muscraft.
Dave
Edits: 02/21/10 02/21/10
Hello Dave, Dependent upon the time you worked at the Oak St Store, then you might have known Perry, and Kevin. Kevin was a zany guy, but fun, and Perry sold me literal $1,000's of equipment. I loved MusiCraft's Speaker Upgrade Policy, keeping the speakers for up yo a year, keep the boxes-manuals, and get full trade in value for a better pair of speakers.I used that option twice.
The second floor was a real candy shop, McIntosh, JBL Paragons, etc. mark
I knew them both. Kevin and I were drinking buddies. Parking was at a premium there for employees and he used to park his Porsche 914 behind a furniture store nearby. Once we went to go to lunch and they had lifted it with a forklift and put it on top of a garbage dumpster. Was a fun place to work...I was down in the cellar with Larry but they would make me play salesman sometimes when it got real busy.
Dave
During your tenure at Musicraft, did you work with Victor Palulis, later of Victor's fame? (Speaking loosely here)
I vaguely remember Victor but don't remember much about him.
Dave
while I was in High School in the early 70's. High end there was Marantz and Pioneer. Also carried HK, JVC, Teac, and other stuff. Unfortunately they also carried all kinds of low end stuff and switchcraft stuff, TV's, records and tapes, etc. Kind of an early Best Buy.
It was a fun time but didn't pay well.
They've only been around since '92 but I've been in there a few times and it's a really big store. They've got a lot of high end stuff with several rooms. I don't think I've ever seen them mentioned on this board. Do they do too much HT or something?
I went into Paul Heath only one time, when I was visiting Chicago. The salesman decided that the best demo he had on hand for some speakers I was interested in was a SCRATCHED UP mono LP of some lute music. Completely useless. He refused to put on anything else.
This is the only snobby, unhelpful audio salesperson I have ever run into.
Hi Fi Hutch on Route 14, but I don't remember the town. I went to both Musicrafts and bought my Dual 506 there, the Morton Grove Store didn't have it so they sent me to Paletine. Midwest HiFi, Pacific Stereo weren't they both in Skokie by Golf Mill, I . I do remember a store in Arlington Heights on Rt 12 (Rand) I used to get my Advent parts there. Playback in Waukegan, E.J. Korvettes near Randhurst on Rand bought my AR table with Grado cart F2 I think it was. Somewhere I seem to remember a Schaack, and Team Electronics. Plus Lafayette, Olson, E.D.I. in Waukegan. Plus Audio Consultants in Libertyville which I think was there around 77 or so Bought my Maggies there in 81. Does anyone around here remember Sound Lab in Paletine?
DagW00d
in the Chicagoland area. They still owe people on this board money.
"E pur si muove...And yet it moves"
"They still owe people on this board money."
Yep. And not just consumers. :(
Best regards,
Jim Smith
Hmm. Ricardo is still around under a different business name.
Brian Walsh
Every room had components with price tags on them.
I lived a block from Stereo Studio on Palatine Rd, when I was in high school, and worked at Rosati's Pizza in that same strip mall. My buddies and I used to hang in Stereo Studio and dream of owning the giant EPI's (1000's???) they carried. I really wanted to buy at least a pair of the 100's, but they were out of my budget. A cool little store, though. We would also go about every afternoon to EJ Korvettes up the road and buy albums for $2.39-$5. I still have all those...
yes yes, after languishing in such stores as radio shack, shaack electronics and even Turnstile ( although I did buy a pair of pro 4 aa'S there) , I found Billy and his kickass EPI's. First high end system for me, 4 202's stacked (emulating the 1000'S and I still have them!) with a 60 w JVC integrated amp later going to Accuphase, I was smitten for good! So I worked for him a couple years with linda and marty and gerry and vinyl man kenny and service guy john...damn, that wasn't work was it?
Simply Stereo is still there. I've been in there a few times. It seems like a good store. They focus on value for money stuff, I think the highest end speakers they had in there were the revel F52s the last time I was in there but they had a good selection of high value brands. They also sell the big, high efficiency Klipsch stuff that you won't find anywhere else. I'd like to think that they'll do a little better now that Tweeter and 2 Circuit City's in the area are gone. The only competition is from Best Buy's Magnolia.
I've bought several things there...Adcom amp, Paradigm HT speakers for my in-laws, Meadowlark speakers for me...always a no-pressure take as long as you need experience. We gotta keep places like that in business!
Baba-Booey to you all!
1976 - run by Jerry Bennett.
ARC, Levinson, Magnepan, etc.
And Viktor's Stereo (already mentioned) - Linn, Naim, etc.
Pro Musica - big FMI dealers.
Best regards,
Jim Smith
That's a blast from the past. I remember going into Paul Heath one Saturday in the summer of '77 and feeling like a kid in a candy store but being very turned off by the obnoxious salesman, presumably Jerry, wearing a white suit.
Alas, Paul Heath, Victor's, and others including IO Systems and Rosine Audio are long gone...
Brian Walsh
Ah, yes, Rosine Audio. I dropped a lot of money there over the years Larry was in business. He was everything a high end dealer should be and I always felt a lot better about doing business with him than with Pro Musica, Victor's or Paul Heath Audio. After I had moved away from Chicago, I decided to drop in while I was there on a business trip and was shocked to find out the store was gone. Any idea where Larry ended up after the store closed?
I never knew Larry but heard from others that he went back to building custom staircases for homes.
If you're ever back this way, come by for a listen.
Brian Walsh
It was the spring of '76.
I had accepted the job at ARC. I was driving across the country from Norfolk, VA.
They asked me to drop in on some of their dealers on the way - essentially unannounced and them with no idea who I was.
With one exception, it was my first experience hearing the sound other dealers made (other than our demos in Norfolk). In previous years, I had visited The Stereo Set in Washington, DC. They always had great demos, Infinity SS-1s, KLH-9s, Quad 57s, T-1s, IMF Monitors, ARC electronics, etc.
My biggest and most surprising issue was that most of the shops that I visited on that trip had nice facilities, nice lines, but their sound was disappointing. In those days, everybody advertised in the back of Audio, so they were all well-known. Guess I expected more from the "famous" (at the time) shops.
Sadly, with a few exceptions, some things haven't changed...
Best regards,
Jim Smith
I remember walking past that store around 1981 or so. They had a gorgeous Nak 1000 tape deck in the window that was gold plated. My dad glanced at it and asked me "I suppose that's going to be the next item of lust?"
Ah, those were the days. Toys in the window for audiophiles.
I was a West Sider, bought my first gear at Allied Radio at Western and Washington. I also bought gear at the Musicraft in Oak Park and the Hi-Fi Hutch in Villa Park.
There was a small shop on the South Side, around 55th and the Belt Line, that carried Mac and Bozak. And Gill's Custom House on 95th St. had lots of nice stuff; Mac and Crown electronics, Crown electrostat speakers, Janzsen stats, Gales and the EV Sentry III.
There was a place on the near North Side called Victor's; he had Quad and Transcriptors, also sold Audio Research and Fulton. And Decca cartridges. I remember how impressed I was with those little Fulton 80s.
I bought a Sunsui 7070 amp and JBL L26 speakers from them in the 70's.
I was there in I think 1979. I didn't like what I heard and went across the street to Victor's and bought a pair of KEF 105's. I still have them but I think the tweeters or the crossover are f***ed up. Since then Pro Musica had a store there. I bought a pair of ProAc Tablette Signature's in 1997. I still have those and they work well. Quintessence is there now. I bought some ARC stuff there of which I still have the PH7 phono preamp I still. The listening rooms in these stores were always top notch.
My favorite Musicraft story: Walked into their North Avenue store one day back in 1988 to see what they had on their trade-in shelf. It was my lucky day - Marantz 8B. $275. With 30 day parts and labor warranty yet! Almost dislocated my wrist whipping out my Visa card. Ah, I miss those days...
Still use the ADS L 710's my wife bought me at Musicraft back in the early 80's(?).
I'm not from Chicago but I loved going to CES in the late 70s and early 80s(I still gush at the thought of the Golden OX German restaurant, our favorite haunt). I recall meeting a man named Basil Gouletas who sold high end out of an apartment. He was about the most impressive salesman I met. I emember how much Bud Fried. a friend, of IMF and Fried speakers was impressed by him and that wasn't easy with BUD. Bud told me he sold half of the IMF Monitor speakers imported into the U.S. and still was 6 months back ordered, a hell of a job for any salesman.
Hi
I bought a graphic equalizer from MusiCraft in Buffalo Grove back then, long enough ago that i can't remember the brand name.
I might have bought a Perpetuum Ebner turntable there or maybe hifi hutch.
It turned out later i would work with Billy R, the guy who owned the "stereo studios" at a small speaker company in Northbrook in the 90's.
He was the salesman at our little venture.
If your still in town, look into Saturday audio exchange, back when i was into hifi gear, you could occasionally get a great deal on something exotic a couple years old.
Their business is buying trade-ins, checking them out and if there ok, selling them.
In 1968 i got a part time job at a small TV and hifi store after school.
Our main competitor was Columbia TV, that had a store with real hifi equipment in it.
One of the salesman happened to live behind the TV store so he would walk past occasionally. When i was installing an 8 Track player in a car, he probably recognized me as the kid drooling over the Macintosh glass.
Anyway, at one point he invited me to hear his stereo.
He had a pair of Altec A-7's and a big Mac tube amp in a tiny living room and man, compared to the Panasonic Speakers we had, sounded and actually were gigantic and captivating..
Anyway, it was a long time before i could buy any of that stuff which forced me to build things so maybe that wasn't bad.
Still deep down inside, even though i don't listen to records that often, part of me still wants that gold colored Empire turntable in the Columbia window, back then. That silly or what sheesh.
Tom Danley
I used to work for Billy at the Dundee Rd location in '87. Not sure if that's Palatine or Arlington Hts right there. Back in the '70s, I hung out so much at Victors Stereo that a friend and I were invited to a party the salespeople were having. I think it was Ben's place. I even brought my brother to Victors when he needed to replace an integrated to drive Klipsch Heresy's. He bought an Onkyo- entry level there- and he still has that setup today. I guess he didn't catch the bug...lol.
Maggie MMG's bring me back to my beloved BES dipole sound
That Musicraft location was in Palatine, on the very edge of Arlington Heights. I used to live behind it. It is now a Woodcraft store.
Regards,
Karl
"'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice./And when justice is gone, there's always force./And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom!" Laurie Anderson, "O Superman (For Massenet)"
Was that on Palatine Rd a mile or two past Rt 53?
Maggie MMG's bring me back to my beloved BES dipole sound
It's on Dundee Rd. just west of Rt. 53, not far from here (Barrington).
Brian Walsh
I worked for Columbia in Highland Park back in 76. Also sold equipment for them when I was in school. Seems like another lifetime.
Mercman,
Was Sy Rubinstein (sp?) working there back then? A friend who worked at Sound Experience (car stereo) gave me Sy's name and I ended up buying a Nak CR-5A from him and then returning it for a Nak CR-7A...it was at the Buffalo Grove store though. Really straight shooter.
When I was stationed at Ft. Sheridan (78-80) I used to love going into the Highland Park store and marveling at the B&O tables and how impervious they were to external vibration.
I remember buying a used Teac A-6300 and later trading it in on a new Akai GX-747 at Pacific Stereo on 95th st in Oak Lawn. Did their eyes light up when they saw the A-6300. How dumb was I?
At the Highland Park store there was Carl Borden, Sandy Bronstein, and myself that sold the stereo gear. Norm Rozak, the owner, also worked the floor at times.
Sandy latter opened a Columbia Audio Video in Buffalo Grove with Norm. I worked a summer there when he was first opening the store.
All of these folks were good guys.
Does anyone remember Paul Scarpelli at Columbia Audio Video in Highland Park? He was there in the late 70s and early 80s. Really great guy.
Then there is a chance that a few remaining brain cells would recognize you because i still went there occasionally.
In 1974 i had moved from the TV store (20th century TV on 2nd street) on wanting to be in the speaker business.
I had gone to work for a friend from Highschool, Tom Furlong so i was building speakers up on 41 north of town and mixing bands occasionally at the Alley in Highwood at that time. Yes, it does seem like another lifetime, i guess it was..
Unfortunately the pictures don't come through on the link today but there was some reminiscing on PSW a while back.
http://www.livesoundint.com/archives/2003/april/water.php
Best,
Tom
are you still in the area?
I was going to podiatry school in Chicago at that time.
I live in So. CA now. I do miss the excitement of Chicago, but not the weather!
Steve
Hi Tom,
I remember Billy Runyan and your "flapping door" speakers. Whatever happened to him?
Brian Walsh
I don't know, last i heard he was in Mexico managing some big hotel.
He sounded good,up beat like normal but from what i understood he and his wife had separated.
That was a very sad time, my Dad got Cancer, the shuttle had blown up and much of Intersonics NASA R&D work was put on hold (along with the funding).
I thought i might be able to invent our way out of the disaster we faced and put much time into making those speakers into a demonstrable item.
The boss took on a "consultant" who thought the speaker div was the only salvageable part and then talked him (and me as well as others)into giving it to him to run.
The original founder had promised if i got a speaker division going, i could spin it off, like he did Intersonics from Interand, bummer.
The consultant took on some investors and then did some things that seemed strange at the time, that being the tip of the iceberg and eventually he left with the remaining money and went back to South Africa.
Anyway, the speaker design worked, one set i had made were flat from 40Hz to 22KHz that i had at a speaker BBQ on the "bass list" in the 90's.
The down side was there are no off the shelf parts, it required skill to assemble a driver and needed some additional R&D on materials which the consultant figured we didn't have time or need for.
The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth so my next venture into loudspeakers i figured now i am free to use conventional drivers (which i wasn't at intersonics)i would work on my favorite curiosity, horns and use more or less conventional off the shelf drivers.
Few designers seemed to care about where the sound went or even be aware that what they did effected it and this was clearly a strong part of ineligibility.
That lead to the Unity horns about 14 years ago, leading up to the Synergy horns now, which can reproduce a square wave over a decade wide bandwidth and has no lobes or nulls in it's pattern.
I have been fiddling with that style of driver (salon door) again lately (technically it is a rotary driver, each radiator being pivoted at one edge) although smaller than the "Focused field" speaker you recall (and not that may people remember those btw).
I do have a number of other transducer designs from the old days but one must be willing to take on much more effort to make drivers from scratch as you can well imagine.
Are you still in the area?
Best,
Tom Danley
Hi Tom,
Yes, I'm still here. Thanks for the most interesting reply!
Brian Walsh
Bought a pair of Kef 104ab's, a Micro-Seki DD-40 w/ MA505 & Supex SD901E from Ron Kravish (how do I remember that name?)at Stereo Studio in 1997. Still have all the gear (including cart) in original boxes in the basement. There was another shop down in Hisdale area, do you recall the name? Also, I used to get replacement tweeters for my Kefs from a shop downtown (near Morrie Mages) back in the day..
Thanks for dredging up old memories!
There's an Audio Consultants in Hinsdale.
DagW00d
Sounds Deluxe? They were on Ogden just east of Cass and another place, I can't remember the name of, was west of Cass a couple miles on the north side of the street.
Just reread my post - - that was supposed to read 1979!
.
I bought my first stuff there in 1968. Bose 901's Dynaco Stereo 120, Dynaco preamp, Sony TTS 3000 TT. I still have the Sony
I meant Musicraft on Oak St.
a
.
Ahh yes, Thank you for the memories folks! I remember George at MusiCraft, as I believe he was at one time managing the Oak St Store. Nice man, with a good sense of humor, and it was he who sold me two McIntosh MC-2105 Amps, and a Bose 4401 Quad Pre-Amp. I remember that day clearly, about 1974, the Oak St Store only had one Mac Amp in stock, and I believe I drove out to the Homewood Store to pick up the other.
I remember George saying 'I'll give you a tip, you want those Mac Amps to last forever?", and I said "Yeah, sure!" He replied "Don't play them"! lol
Yep, remember Allied over on Western Ave, bought an Akai quad R2R Deck there once.
Dealt with Paul Heath in '97, buying a brand new CAL audio Labs Delta-Sigma II Transport/DAC. I don't know what it was, but they always treated me like royalty-Michael Jordan when I walked in that store!
I virtually heard every darn line, and piece of gear they had in stock, such as Levinson, Apogee, B&W, MBL, Day Sequerra, CAL. They must've liked me!?
And Pro Musica as well up by Lincoln Park, I bought my Sunfire True Sub MK-IV from them, and my entire Premier Audio Racks. They too always treated me well, and always would have me audition the latest, and greatest from brands like ProAc, and Dunlavy.
Audio Consultants were pretty OK too, listening to much Wilson Audio, Levinson, McIntosh, Revel and Threshold Gear. Mark
I worked with George. He had also worked at the Mortgage Grove store for a while.
Dave
Post a Followup:
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
