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  • Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

    Are there any good home audio stores on this island? I don't mean the big box guys, I mean specialty stores. The phone book isn't a whole lot of help.

    I'm thinking of replacing my old turntable and amp/receiver/tuner (see my offer to give them away in the Selling section), but I'd like to actually see the item I'm buying rather than go sight unseen from the web.
    http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

  • #2
    Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

    Audio Lab on Ala Moana Blvd. may be worth a try.

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    • #3
      Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

      Tom Choy at audio lab is the best. VERY knowledgable. and/but... he has the bestest TOP level high end stuff you have ever seen. he specialises in this. ya want off the shelf basics, I dunno. He would know where ta steer ya. But i don't recommend a buncha people ringin him up and demanding the shopping list be filled with stuff he don't touch.

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      • #4
        Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

        Is that the same Audio Lab (or was that Audio Center) that was in the Manoa Marketplace decades ago? They sold Nakamichi audio gear as well as other high end stuff.

        It's sad that today's Home Theater stuff can't even rate with the audio purity of the 70's.
        Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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        • #5
          Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

          A coworker is a serious audiophile (you don't know what he spends just on turntable cartridges -- you know, the "needle"?)... he definitely makes a good case for how today's top tech is still no match for the good ol' days of quality craftsmanship. So I asked him where to go...

          He also mentioned Audio Lab (660 Ala Moana, Ste. 102, 595-8066), but specifically recommended Stewart Ono at Audio Directions (1814 Algaroba St. between Hauoli and Pumehana streets, 941-6550). Definitely a full-range shop, from entry-level to sell-your-kidney, and absolutely a great resource for turntables. Open 11-6, closed Sundays and Mondays, check out the listening rooms and watch your step -- stuff everywhere.

          Ono is quoted in an article on vinyl from the Honolulu Advertiser and an HPR record sale story in the Star-Bulletin.

          He did confess to visiting the Magnolia room at the Best Buy on Alakawa, if only to play with their Martin-Logan speakers...

          Hard-core audiophiles are something else. To think I've reached the point where download-only, compressed music files are just fine for my ears. These folks can listen to two nearly identical $25,000 setups and tell you what kind of cables are running to the speakers!

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          • #6
            Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

            Thanks, folks. I guess I should schedule a field trip to both of those places.

            I've got nearly 300 vinyl albums. I'm not in the "vinyl's better than CDs" crowd (necessarily), I just don't want to indiscriminately throw them out. I bought that music for a reason, and I don't want to or can't replace it all with CDs.

            After looking at various turntables in the "under $200" range (not the DJ variety), I've concluded they're mostly junk. They've got plastic bases and look like a lazy Susan on a square frame. My Pioneer PL-50A turntable is 8" high (with dust cover) with a solid wood cabinet. It looks like a good piece of equipment. I just took the platter off and discovered that one of the reasons it doesn't work is that the old drive belt just cracked and turned to crumbs. Well, guess what? That can be replaced for under $30 bucks. A good new amp/receiver/tuner (with phono connection) can be found for $150.

            It's still possible to keep an old stereo system up and running, looks like.
            http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

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            • #7
              Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

              Originally posted by Linkmeister
              After looking at various turntables in the "under $200" range (not the DJ variety), I've concluded they're mostly junk.
              Well, I'm betting you're probably right in terms of the "look," and the cabinet, and the craftsmanship and how it matches your other stuff. But, still, there are well regarded new turntables out there for reasonable prices... they just won't look like your solid-state TEAC unit or anything.

              My coworker sent me a link to this unit. As looks go, it probably won't match anything in your house (though actually, you can just get it in matte black), but as far as components and quality, it apparently gets high marks.

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              • #8
                Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                Oooh! Purty!

                I just took the platter off and switched the Pioneer on. Motor pulley runs fine, so the belt seems to be the big problem (the stylus needs replacing, too, though).
                http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

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                • #9
                  Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                  Here's what the Pioneer looks like; you can see why a plastic base doesn't appeal.
                  http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

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                  • #10
                    Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                    Pioneer! OMG I would never put that name amongst even mid range audio gear.

                    If you're going high end you need to consider Micro Seiki on the lower end of the high end stuff.

                    And TEAC's professional line is of course TASCAM.

                    Forget Sony. That's consumer stuff when it comes to audiophiles.
                    Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                      Originally posted by craigwatanabe
                      Pioneer! OMG I would never put that name amongst even mid range audio gear.

                      If you're going high end you need to consider Micro Seiki on the lower end of the high end stuff.

                      And TEAC's professional line is of course TASCAM.

                      Forget Sony. That's consumer stuff when it comes to audiophiles.
                      Pioneer's speakers were highly regarded in the early 1970s. The turntable didn't come up to the Duals, Garrards and ARs, but it served its purpose well.
                      http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

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                      • #12
                        Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                        Originally posted by Linkmeister
                        Pioneer's speakers were highly regarded in the early 1970s.
                        Hope this isn't too off-topic, but anybody know a website or online marketplace of some type for vintage audio gear? I inherited some Pioneer speakers from my dad from the early 70's and just don't know what to do with them. They sound fine to my non-audiophile ears, but they're just too big for me. When I say big I mean BIG; probably 24"x42" or so, solid wood, and over 25 lbs each. I hate to just dump them; they're so nicely constructed and you really don't see anything like it nowadays. But, I have absolutely no use for them and they're just taking up room in my garage.

                        I just figured there must be some collector's marketplace or something where I could find somebody that would value these.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                          NoCalBoy, do they look like this? That's an 80-watt Pioneer.

                          I'll come back with an idea for auction (other than E-bay, which has a thriving audio sales section).

                          OK, here's a forum which has a section for buy-sell-trade. It's a bunch of audiophiles, so they'll know what you have, I imagine. You might have to post pictures. Do you have any idea whether they still work?
                          Last edited by Linkmeister; February 8, 2006, 08:12 PM.
                          http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

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                          • #14
                            Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                            Originally posted by Linkmeister
                            Pioneer's speakers were highly regarded in the early 1970s. The turntable didn't come up to the Duals, Garrards and ARs, but it served its purpose well.
                            Pioneer was never highly regarded by audiophiles back then. Now Garrard turntables were good stuff such as their SL95B and their Zero100-C turntables and Atlantic Research speakers as well. Dual was good along with BIC.

                            But Pioneer was known back in the 70's for their huge megawatt receivers that ranked along with Sansui, Optonica (Sharp's high end stuff) Technics (Panasonic) and Kenwood. Pioneer had their 12" monster tower speakers with the LED bargraph displays built in. More for power than performance Pioneer was favored by overseas military men and women who could get the bells and whistle equipped Pioneer, Nitto, National (Panasonic), Sansui, Sharp and other cheaper in Japan than in the US.

                            Even today Pioneer's home theater line (Elite) can't compare to the 70's Southwest Technical's Tigersauris 001 monoblock solid state amplifiers with a THD factor of 0.001% or even my Marantz 2050 pushing 0.08% THD.

                            Pioneer's amps were running around 0.8% THD with even higher IMD percentage factors, nothing to brag about.

                            Some of the really high end stuff included Mark Levinson discrete amplifiers, Magna Planer linear speakers, Micro Seiki turntables, Nakamichi Dragon cassette tape decks, McIntosh tuners and Teac/Tascam reel to reel tape decks. That was high end.
                            Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Audio Store(s) on Oahu?

                              High end wasn't affordable for most WestPac enlisted folks in the 1970s, even if it was available, which it mostly wasn't. I was making about $200 per pay period in 1973 when I bought my system. The Navy Exchange in Japan sold (as you might expect) mostly Japanese products for far less than you'd pay for the ARs or Duals. So most of the guys I knew bought Pioneer, Sansui, and Teac.

                              NoCal, I found another site you might try. This is the ad section of AudioKarma, where you can list your equipment for sale (buyers seem to be willing to pay shipping). You could also list them on Craigslist, of course.
                              http://www.linkmeister.com/wordpress/

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