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I'm going to be in LA in a week or so on business, and I want to check out any brick-and-mortars that might be around if I have time. A friend told me about some place in Woodland Hills called Shelly's Audio (I think).
Anyone know anything about it? Good place? Bad place? Fictitious place?
sT
Follow Ups:
Only visited once to hear Audio Research--Rude, condescending Mob
Avoid!
Des
Which place are you referring to?
This Elephant is getting bit long in the Tusk
Des
Woodland Stereo, what a wonderful place. Walt always took good care of me. Heard the first pair of Infinity Servo Statics there...yes a long time ago but the best sound in LA.From Stereophile: Nudell:...I think six to eight months, and when we played it, it did just what we thought it would do. We realized, wow, we had something. We took it Walt Lewsadder at Woodland Stereo, and he said, "I've never heard anything like it, and none of my customers have either. Can you make some?" We said, "We're not sure, we're trying." He said, "I can sell all you can make." I said, "For $2000 [per pair]?" He said, "No problem."
Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/arnie-nudell-here-infinity-page-2#6R7jpJeebhQst5QB.99
Edits: 08/17/15 08/17/15
Ahem--Shelleys Stereo--yes over 20 years ago--definitely in the Valley if I recall --I thought Woodland Hills but that was Mike at Precision Audio--Nor up the stairs to Randy's loft--Shelleys was ground floor left entrance-it'll come to me
Yes big Walt the Bhudda on his throne--great guy many a fun hour there-- I got on well with Arnie Nudell he organised Jon Ulric(RIP) to make me a Switching Amp!.
Mel Schilling not the friendliest dude but knew his stuff and didn't suffer fools--I luved his Amp switching Console--he was chuffed to hear we had similar one at Unilet in the UK late 70's when I worked there
None though hold a candle to the Prince of Gentlemen Jonas Miller--who welcomed a scruffy
down under Surfer into his fold with such grace I still revere it todayStill the benchmark in Audio retail attitude--in my book anyway
Good listening Gents--carry on!
Des
Edits: 08/18/15
like many visitors do, you'll pass Pacific Coast Audio in Corona Del Mar on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).
sT-
let the rst of us know which shop(s) you visit & the gear auditioned. Feel
free to post pics as well.
Pitch Perfect Audio if your tastes lean toward vacuum tube electronics ( Shindo, Leben, etc. ) and analog playback. Could be appointment only, but I'm not sure.
Looks like a really cool place to visit!
Do you want to check gear or do some listening?
Where is LA? Huge place with a lot of traffic!
I'd call around, make sure it's not appt only.
Don't think Shelley's is ignorant, they just prefer the older lines but they are open the event below.
LAOCAS always has monthly events, and I note Shelley's is on for Sept.
May I suggest Brooks Berdan in Monrovia? I quite enjoyed my visit last month. I didn't get a chance, but wanted to, stop by Audio Element in Pasadena.
See ya. Dave
Edits: 08/11/15
Yes, Berdan's and Audio Element was already on my list. I have been to both in the past.
Just had never even heard of Shelley's.
....sT
I went there a couple of years ago to reaudition some big Magnepans. They still didn't float my boat.
Nice store and folks.
See ya. Dave
The place seems to have evolved to home theater..... Didn't realize the place was still in business.....
(Although diminished over time, Southern California still has one of the largest audiophile communities in the country. So unlike some other parts of the country, high-end dealerships in S. California have remained in business over extended periods of time. In fact, it looks like Shelley's is about to relocate to a larger brick-and-mortar site.)
At one time, Shelley's was "Sound Center", which next to Ambrosia/David Weinhart, my all-time favorite high-end audio dealer. Don't know much since it became Shelley's. Probably doesn't have much semblance to the Sound Center back in the 1970s/1980s. (Sound Center became Shelley's around the time the CD was about to overtake the LP in the mainstream market.)
NO! sound center was on ventura and winnetka and run by paul carvel who was notorious for not wearing shoes. shelleys had a store in the same parking lot as Federated where they profited nicely from disgruntled Federated customers.
then a store on Topanga near the Alpha Beta grocery store for quite a while.
sound center did not become shelleys. afaik ambrosia has always been in bel air and then changed to David Weinhart Design (same proprietor as ambrosia. he downsized first and now has re-expanded.
...regards...tr
When Sound Center closed, I was informed by a few friends that shopped there that the product lines sold by the store were taken over by Shelley's..... I visited the Shelley's store once, saw it was not close to what the Sound Center (or Federated) was.... I lost interest in the store after that.I don't know what happened to Paul.... Or John (quiet laid-back guy), for that matter. The store was on Winnetka, across the street from Taft High School. Shelley's was 5 to 10 miles West on Ventura, if I recall.
In regard to Federated, which I also spent a lot of time at, I don't recall any retail store remotely like that place. It was like a Fry's Electronics for audio. It was a huge retail chain store that sold only audio gear. The store was on De Soto and Vanowen, if I recall.
Edits: 08/16/15
you're right about vanowen and de soto. do you remember the Fred Rated ads? shadoe stevens, a former disc-jock played the part.
once i went federated to buy a grado fte+1 for about 15-20 bucks and the sales guy asked me how many i wanted. cute.
...regards...tr
I was in that store so often, I remember the name of one of the salesmen.... David Draves.....
There was even an "exotica" room in that store..... With Ohm Walsh "F" speakers on display, as well as Dahlquist DQ-10s and larger JBL speakers.......
The demo rooms used an electronic controller to run any receiver with any set of speakers. (Separates were not in vogue at the time. Although present in the exotica room.)
I once did a wacky thing with a turntable there..... There was a quirk in the design in which fiddling with the controls caused the platter to spin really fast..... Possibly 300 RPM or so..... (It was a direct drive turntable.) In retrospect, I was fortunate not to get caught and thrown out of the place.
"Shelley's was 5 to 10 miles West on Ventura, if I recall."
I just look at a map.... Shelley's was only two miles West of Sound Center.... It seemed a lot farther............
The high-end room has some nice stuff, usually a pair of 3.7s in there. Demos are generally very good, they know good sound but a big part of their business is not high-end gear. Probably one of the oldest Magnepan dealers.
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