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An Inside Look: Where It All Began Innovative Audio/Visual Solutions (IAVS) has been in business providing exceptional service to clients since 2000. But really, we need to actually go back about 11 years prior…
Around 1989 – 1990, Gordon Sauck, owner of Innovative Audio, started experimenting with stereo set-ups that were slightly different to what people up to that point were used to. Not radical things mind you, but showing people ways of getting various sound sources through their systems. This included VCR’s, (beta and VHS), musical keyboards and a host of other fun things. In today’s world this sounds like child’s play but this was some cutting edge stuff back then. He specifically chose this as the official starting point because this was the time he started to put into works the dream he had as a kid. Gord spent quite a bit of time building dedicated rooms for people that started to combine audio and video together. No, he didn’t invent ‘home theater’ nor does he think he had a hand in progressing what is considered today as movie rooms. What he did was simply show people that stereos and home video equipment were not scary monsters and can actually work quite well together. Once properly set up, they can be fun and entertaining for both the family and the audio nut. Although this little foray into the audio realm lasted only a few short years (he then did other work that is too horrible to mention), it was always in the back of his mind. In 1998, Gord took a more serious stab at it and it started, ever so slowly to build and evolve… Gord tells us his story: “It’s my dad’s fault…”
**Note** I found a few great websites dedicated to this obscure record and one actually has some decent MP3 files that are free to download and listen to. Please note that these recordings play a bit fast (in my humble opinion) but nonetheless give a decent overall feel to the quality of this great record. To see check this out further click here. From that point I started listening to everything I could on that system. Every time a record was played or even just the radio, I was there. I was fourteen when I finally got my own ‘system’. Yup, a Sony STA-120 with a set of Electra speakers. I kinda went up from there… So where did the store idea come from?
So why did I do it? I mean, I could have been like thousands of others out there happily playing records on systems that are protected from sunlight, dust, and of course - the dreaded child. But I saw things happening during the last fifteen years or so that really made me wonder. The biggest thing was finding literally tons of stereo gear being sold at garage sales and flea markets for pennies! This was astounding! Equipment I would have easily sold my right leg and left lung for was basking in the summer sun for $40.00! FOR ALL OF IT! Why? Well my friend, the answer I heard almost 99% of the time was; ‘it’s simply too old, big, and we already bought new stuff’. Needless to say, I started ‘collecting’ a few pieces here and there and bringing them home. Soon these started numbering into the hundreds, and more. Another gold mine for gear was doing installations. Yep, after that new unit was put into place I was already lugging the ‘old, big, now replaced with new’ equipment out to the van. I needed more room. My downstairs was now filled and the garage was fast becoming an obstacle course, and a dangerous one at that. Installation work was great, but it was long hours and too much traveling. Then a funny thing happened…about five years ago I started to find this gear less and less, and also found that people were starting to buy this equipment for more and more money. The bubble burst when eBay really started to catch on, and the rest you can say, is history. So where does that leave me? Rather frustrated, thank you. But not for long. Remember all that gear piling up in the basement and garage? Well, it took some time and with the help of simply too many people to mention, Innovative Audio was conceived. From the start, we have strived to lay out what would be the very foundation of our store; to provide our clients with the best equipment, combined with the best service, every time. Mind you, this was mainly doing installations in new houses now being built with dedicated ‘Theater Rooms’. Over this time we have gained a solid reputation for reliability, value and commitment to insure that all our clients and customers get their monies worth. But even then, more equipment was still coming in…
Our store opened on November 14th, 2005 in Delta, British Columbia, Canada and since then has been a haven for vintage audio enthusiasts. People from all over B.C. and the States have walked through our doors to see the largest selection of vintage audio on display anywhere in BC and stroll past the hundreds of items on our floor. My garage actually saw a car parked in it for the first time in years as we moved a good chunk of gear into and onto the shelves of the new store. Eddie, our head tech, was hired on about five months before our doors opened going over and repairing literally hundreds of items in preparation to our opening. I have to admit that at first, I thought this was going to be easy, it was just a matter of throwing stuff on the shelves, put some prices up, throw the doors open and wait for the throngs of customers stampeding through the store. Well, I was a tad off. Susan, the accounting genius behind Innovative Audio, took me off to the side and gave me the cold hard facts of what I was up against. Needless to say, I was taken aback. How can there be so much crap to deal with just to sell stuff? Okay, I knew about taxes, licenses and what I wanted the store to represent but it was the countless hours at night going over reams of legal paperwork and dealer’s lists and credit applications and on and on and on that had me thinking maybe I was over my head here. Again, it was Susan to the rescue. Not only did she understand this stuff perfectly, but she knew almost every route to take to get things on track and on time. I could now go back to what I knew best – buying stuff! When we turned on that ‘Open’ on the morning of November 14th, 2005, it was a great moment. We did not have a single customer in our store the entire day (except for about a dozen people looking for the beer and wine store that used to be here). But you know what, it did not matter. Leading up to that day I saw a great many people banding together to make my dream as a kid a reality, and to all of you I say thanks. Every one of you helped create the most unique store of its kind in British Columbia. Kinda brings a tear to your eye, eh? So there ya have it - My story. |
In
1972, my father, John, brought home a Pioneer receiver, a record player,
and two speakers. My dad was a painter/ decorator ‘extraordinaire’
and had no audio experience to speak of. Nonetheless, the sales guy
loaded him up and out the door with $1,277.85 worth of equipment. Pretty
steep considering what he bought – Pioneer SX-1500TD Receiver
(with mic), Dual 1225 Turntable, two KLH Fifteen speakers and the weirdest
record I ever heard. The record is a key plot point because I really
do not believe I would be writing this today without it. From the first
time I heard this new ‘system’ I was impressed. Well, about
as impressed as a nine year old kid could be over sound, but I liked
it. 
