[JoshK]

Heya folks,

I am going to be visiting my family over the holidays (24th-4th) and will be in the Portland area half the time and the other half up north in Washington.  I know it is the holidays and most places are closed up, but was wondering if there were any audio places I should go visit?  

Dan Wright, do you have a show room?  Will you be open over the holidays?  

Any of you other NorthWesterners want to meet up and grab a beer or something, drop me a PM and we'll see if we can't arrange something.  

Josh

[OBF]

I don't think there's a whole lot of must visit audio shops in Portland.  Hawthorne Audio has a bunch of MF gear and the Gallo Ref 3s if you've never checked them out before.  I also believe there is a home showroom by appointment that has the Exemplar Denon source and some other great gear.  I'd like to hear it, but since I'm not going to buy anything I don't feel right about making an appointment.

I'm in Keizer which is about 30 min south of Portland and wouldn't mind talking shop if time and schedule permits.

--Mark.

[Incredulous]

I bought a pair of Meadowlark Kestrels from them.  As they say, it's "a pretty nice place."

http://www.hawthornestereo.com/

[R_burke]

I was up there last summer and there were a few places in Portland, the only one I remember is Chelsea.
You should be able to find some on the web, be sure to check the surrounding areas, Beaverton and Lake Oswego

[sleepkyng]

If you're in downtown portland, you NEED to check out echo audio

www.echohifi.com

they are really classy guys, and have top notch service. Several times, they've demo'd stuff for me (while i was in vermont) and told me to choose other options based on my criteria

cheers

[R_burke]

After looking at the website and the logo I remember that Echo was one of the places I went to last summer, they were very nice, knowledgeable and had some good stuff.  Well worth a visit.

[OBF]

Echo is an interesting place with a lot of nice equipment, mostly at the upper end of used prices.  It's great if they have something you want and don't mind paying a bit more for the convenience, but if you want to sell something back you'll get hosed as bad as buying and selling new equipment.

[JoshK]

Well I wasn't that interested in retail dealer shops really as I don't even frequent the ones I have here, I was more interested in places/people we have on this forum.

[bubba966]

I'd certainly be up for catching a couple of beers with 'ya while you're in the area.

I don't have a clue about any scheduling though.

[JoshK]

Neither do I, but if it happen, it happens.  I have a few buddies in the Kirkland area so I will probably be around, we should catch a few brews.

[jackman]

I hope you are able to meet Dan.  I have traded emails with him over the years and he's a really good guy.  He did some nice work on my CDP for very little money and was really cool about explaining all of the mods to me.  

You should also try to find Kevin from Solar Hifi.  I don't know if he's still around (haven't seen him on the forums) but he's an interesting character and I bet his stuff sounds good.  Lots of single driver stuff with high quality digital amps.  He's also a good guy.

If you can't get together with any of the audio folks, I would suggest...nevermind, forget it. I was going to make a joke about trying some of that fine Pacific NW weed but I was concerned that people would think I was serious!  I may want to run for office some day and can't afford to have everything thrown off the tracks by an idiotic post!  Let the record show that I was joking.  

Good luck and have a safe trip.  I hope you bring a digital cam and take some pictures of any unique audio discoveries you make on the West coast.

Cheers,

Jack

PS- Again, just kidding about the weed...okay, now I sound paranoid.  Nevermind...

[bubba966]

I have a few buddies in the Kirkland area so I will probably be around, we should catch a few brews.

I don't get out to Kirkland much, so I hope somebody else knows a decent place to grab a beer.

While you're in the area, you ought to try picking up a bottle of this http://www.alaskanbeer.com/porter.html It's got quite an interesting flavor. Good stuff. Thanks goes to Wayne for bringing that one to my attention. Only appears to be available in 22oz bottles @ $5 each. I've found it at about every decent sized grocery store around here.

[JoshK]

Are you in Seattle-seattle or the burbs? Most of my friends who live in downtown have since moved.  I grew up in Puyallup but only a few family members still live there.

[bubba966]

I'm in Seattle proper, up towards the north end of the city limits (Crown Hill exactly if that helps).

[sleepkyng]

hey, if you're gonna be in oregon, you gotta drink the brews

off the top of my head:
black butte porter
dead guy ale
bridgeport ipa
Jubleale
Full Sail's amber
Pelican's stout
Obsidian Stout (ok so i'm a Deschuttes guy)

god i miss oregon beer so bad...

[JoshK]

hey, if you're gonna be in oregon, you gotta drink the brews

off the top of my head:
black butte porter
dead guy ale
bridgeport ipa
Jubleale
Full Sail's amber
Pelican's stout
Obsidian Stout (ok so i'm a Deschuttes guy)

god i miss oregon beer so bad...

ok..

black butte porter   <LOVE IT! best porter i've had to date
dead guy ale  <haven't tried it
bridgeport ipa  <good yes
Jubleale <don't think I've had it
Full Sail's amber <mmm
Pelican's stout <think i've had it
Obsidian Stout  <yes yes of course

Deschuttes makes some good beer.  I also like the bitter ale by I think the company says something about Special bitter ale or something.  ESB maybe?

Best stout I've had though was Eight Ball stout by a California small brewery but Obsidian is mmm good too.

[TheChairGuy]

I gotta' second Echo Audio...I've bought many things from them (met them once up there on business, too).

I disagree on the prices...I think they are stellar.  Often, they sell for less than many items are listing for (or sell for) on Audiogon or ebay.  Very surprising considering they have overheads to make.

I'm sure you don't get a lot selling to them, tho, based on their selling costs.

Curt and Jim will take care of ya', for sure.  Depending on what's in that week (stock moves very quickly), you could find a nice trinket.  Hawthorne Stereo loves the Brit gear and is much more expensive, overall, than Echo HiFi.  Nice folks tho, on the phone once  

Hey, I always have great food, too, up in Portland when I go (2x yearly or so).  Real pride in the food up there...in almost every restaurant you go. I'm not much of a drinker, so I am tasting the food, not the influence of beer or wine

Kirkland's nice, especially when I walk out with an order from Costco  

[mac]

Neither do I, but if it happen, it happens.  I have a few buddies in the Kirkland area so I will probably be around, we should catch a few brews.

There's a guy in Kirkland who's got a DEQX based system that might be worth listening to.  

[sleepkyng]

If you're in Portland,

a couple of great places to eat:
Oba's Cuban Restaurant in the Pearl District
Nikolas' Lebanese food on the "other side" of the river - amazing and dirt cheap
Papa Hayden's - best desert in town - alphabet district and hawthorne (i think)
The Bijou (for breakfast) - forget exactly where it's at tho.
Jakes Grill (amazing grill!) - forget the location...DOH!

cheers

[OBF]

There's a guy in Kirkland who's got a DEQX based system that might be worth listening to.  

I don't know when, but I sure want to hear your DEQX based system sometime!