Art Dudley's comments on Sound by Singer

Tonto Yoder · « **on:** 26 Jul 2004, 12:27 pm »

August Stereophile: Art describes his enjoyment of HE2004 and mentions Sound by Singer of the early 1980's--"Andy went out of his way to demonstrate numberless combinations of gear.....on more than one Saturday afternoon I was invited to stay around for a beer and a few album sides after closing time--a quaint habit that present-day SBS shoppers might find hard to believe."

I only know Singer by his recent online posts, but this '80's Andy seems like a totally different guy.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 Jul 2004, 04:40 pm »

Tonto,

We don't need this to go into 'Fight' Club again, but my one and only experience (snub) was in 1987. My post is somewhere in that convoluted mess a while back.

Perhaps, Andy and Sound by Singer was totally different in the FIRST half of the 1980's.

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Jul 2004, 04:49 pm »

Dudley mentions a showroom above a supermarket in Murray Hill where he had his pleasant auditions.

Don't mean for this to be a rehash of bad SBS experiences, but thought it was interesting how things started out.

Horizons · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Jul 2004, 05:21 pm »

FWIW, I had horrible experiences with SBS during that entire time period.

Kind of OT:
Is this the same Art Dudley that bought Accurate Audio in LA from Randy Cooley and destroyed a thriving dealership around this same (1980) timeframe? Randy Cooley later on opened Optimal Enchantment.

meilankev · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 06:39 pm »

In the 15 months that my best friend and I auditioned equipment in NYCity (and surrounding areas), we never once had a bad experience. In fact, we never had an experience that was less than "pleasant". These auditions took place surrounding the year 2000.

We was looking at pretty pricey stuff, and stayed in these rooms for extended periods of time (with our own music). Note that neither of us were returning customers, as we had never bought any gear in any of those stores.

My friend ended up with Vandersteen Model Five speakers, Quicksilver monoblocks, and an Audio Research preamp. My gear was not that expensive, but not bad.

Perhaps they all enjoyed our Southern accents and aw-shucks attitudes.

Kevin

zybar · « **Reply #5 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 07:11 pm »

Kevin,

Nice to see you posting more frequently recently!

Did you friend buy all that nice gear at Audio Connection in NJ? If so, the experience they deliver is much better than one can expect out of the places based in Manhattan.

BTW, what stores did you visit?

I have been to Sound by Singer, Park Ave. Audio, and Stereo Exchange, none are places I would go back to.

George

meilankev · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 08:37 pm »

George,

Thanks for the welcome !!! It's true I've grown to enjoy Home Theater Talk quite a bit. Mostly because there's a bunch of Tampa area audio enthusiasts that post there. You know my main reason for coming to these sites is for the opportunity to meet (and hopefully make friends with) like-minded music-lovers. In fact, I've got another Audio Meet going on at my place this weekend. Of the 12 attendees, there's a few folks I haven't met face-to-face yet.

The stores in NYCity (in which I can remember the name) were:
> Harvey's (right around the corner from where I worked - JPMorgan)
> Lyric Hi-Fi (up on Lexington)
> Innovative Audio (somewhere around 60th Street???)
> Sound By Singer (Downtown)

There was one more, but I can't remember the name. I'm sure it wasn't Stereo Exchange, but Park Ave. Audi sounds familiar (but perhaps I've just seen it in a magazine). Of course, we also camped out at the big HE Expo at the Hilton (up on 6th Ave) in the Summer of 2000 - this is where I heard the widest assortment of gear.

Yes, Audio Connection is where my friend ended up getting all of his gear, and the gentleman there was really fun (knowlegeable and blunt). I think his name was John, but it has been almost 4 years now. Although my friend still works for Morgan, Verona is considerably closer to where he lives there in NJ. As for myself, once I knew I was moving to Florida (Spring of 2001), I stopped researching the gear. But fortunately, I already knew the gear I wanted.

I'm sorry your experiences were not as positive as mine.

Kevin

Daniel · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 09:50 pm »

In Living Stereo on E. 4th Street across from Tower http://www.inlivingstereo.com is a relatively new outfit worth including on any audiophile shoppe tour. They are the mellowest I've met and have some good gear (Avalon or Triangle speakers anyone?). The shop is small however, so there are room problems. I have been treated well at all the high-end bricks and mortar stores in NYC except Lyric and StereoExchange, where they prefer to cater to hometheater shoppers. I spoke to the owners at both places about my experience. Bottom line? Audiophiles are just too demanding and tend to take up a ton of time without buying. Frankly, I can't blame 'em.