Summer 2013

With summer finally here and another great Garage Sale behind us people are taking some well deserved time off. We normally slow down a bit during this time of the year and also plan to have some vacation time for ourselves in August. With that, it should be noted that we will be closed from August 3rd and re-opening again on the 20th.

Until then, we will still be open as usual and offering great deals on fantastic audio equipment. This is also a good time to remind people about our awesome service departments. Since we specialize in both electronic AND speaker repairs this may be a great time to bring in those items that were in questionable condition when purchased from eBay, the dreaded Craigslist or other sources for repair.

As this is the season for checking out yard sales, flea markets and other boons of treasure for audio goodies, I would suggest checking out our ‘How to buy vintage audio’ article. Yes, I know, this is NOT the ‘audiophile’ version but is written to help those looking to get into the hobby, already in the hobby but not deep enough to upset the wife, and those that just love the thrill of the hunt. Oh yeah, and if you happen to find something you think we would be interested in, let us know, we are always looking for great gear and you may make a few bucks along the way!

We hope you have a great summer!
Gord

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June 2013

June 2013

This month the big highlight is of course our Annual Garage Sale…

For the first time since we started this event almost 6 years ago, we have filled every spot available! I for one am humbled. I truly believe that this is going to be an incredible day and can only hope that everyone attending – both vendors and buyers – is going to have a ton of fun.

Over the years, this event has been featured in magazines, on TV and on the radio across the North American continent including written snippets reaching as far as England! This year, we were featured on Global Television by radio legend Red Robinson and this alone brought a huge amount of attention to not only the event, but the store as well.

Quite a few people ask why we do this, and more importantly why we do not charge money for admission or fees. The answer is very simple. We have grown as a business thanks to the great many customers that have visited our shop over the years and built solid relationships that developed through the services we provide. What better way to say ‘thank you’ than by giving some of this back? We are proud to be a large part of the audio hobby community, and will continue to do the very best we can to continue the traditions we have developed together over the years.

So, while the garage sale DOES play a huge role for the month of June there are still lots of other things that are happening here in the shop. It may be worth the visit to drop by every now and again to see what cool audio treasures have hit the floor and maybe pick out some toys for yourself!

Until next month!
Gord

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Turntables: Old vs New

Two vintage record players. One modern turntable. Three copies of the same record. And one answer to the question: How do vintage turntables compare to today’s models?

Everybody knows vinyl is white-hot these days. And everyone’s getting in on it. You’ve got 16 year-old kids looking for the next hip thing. You got 70 year-olds looking to recapture the sound of their youth. The question is, what turntable do they buy? The days when you could walk into your local electronics store and choose among 15 or 20 models are gone. It seems like there’s not a whole lot of choices these days except for $100 plastic junk or $1,000+ audiophile turntables. Except for one alternative most people never consider: vintage turntables.

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Receiver Shoot-Out: Vintage vs. High-Tech

Receiver Shoot-Out: Vintage vs. High-Tech

A blind test finds out if 1970s receivers can hold their own against the latest stuff

What piece of audio gear has changed as much as the receiver? Since the early 1980s, receivers have grown from friendly devices into monstrosities almost no one can figure out. It used to be that the toughest part of designing a receiver was finding cool new features to add. Now it’s figuring out what features you can afford to cut because there’s no room for any more jacks!

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The Shock of the Old

The Shock of the Old

Why do more and more people prefer the audio gear of yesterday to the state-of-the-art products of today?

As an electronics journalist, I’m around audio enthusiasts a lot. But I’ve never seen so many of them get so jazzed about a single piece of gear as I did when a 1978 Pioneer SX-1980 receiver recently came through the doors at Innovative Audio, a Vancouver, BC vintage audio dealer. Some offered to buy the Pioneer on the spot. Some joked about stealing it. Every one of them had to touch it, lift it (or at least try) and somehow connect with this 270-watt-per-channel monster.

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Back On Track

Back On Track

When did you throw out all your 8-track tapes? Mid eighties, right? I remember the day. I’d already switched to cassette and was contemplating a move to CD. A lot of my 8-tracks had bitten the dust anyway, victims of deformed rollers, tangled tape, or being left too long in my truck under the hot Texas sun. And I didn’t even have a working player anymore. With considerable pride in my ability to kiss the past goodbye and embrace the future, I tossed my last five or six dozen 8-tracks into a box and threw them out along with my ankh necklace and my last pair of Levi’s Big Bells…

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$1000 Worth of Sound for $100: Refurbishing a Vintage Turntable

The following article by Ed Kobesky is re-printed by permission of Audio Discourse (with a big thank you to Mr. Dave Clark).

Analog is a smarter bet than ever for audiophiles on a budget. Excellent turntables are available from Pro-Ject and Music Hall for around $300, although that may still represent a big investment for those who want to experiment with analog before making a high-dollar commitment. Another low-cost possibility is to refurbish the classic turntable that is lying dormant in your attic or waiting for you in a neighbor’s yard sale or on eBay. Dust it off and start playing records! Turntables from the 1970s and 80s can equal or exceed the sound quality offered by today’s entry-level models. If properly set up, some may even approach the quality of $1000 CD players!

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An Interview With Gordon Sauck

A pioneer in the vintage audio business tells why the older gear is better.

What’s innovative about Vancouver, BC’s Innovative Audio isn’t the products it sells, but the products it refuses to sell. Instead of offering brand-new, state-of-the-art products, Innovative Audio focuses exclusively on vintage audio gear.

It wasn’t always this way. Innovative Audio started out selling new home theater gear, but founder Gordon Sauck soon realized his customers were more interested in the classic used gear on the back shelf than they were in the complicated new products in the front of the store. Sauck took the bold move of eliminating all the new gear from his store, moving to a new and larger location, and specializing entirely in vintage audio. In a few short years the store grew from a modest-sized retail outlet to the largest vintage audio facility in Canada.

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Ebay Do’s And Dont’s

Ebay Do’s And Dont’s

Special thanks Paul Gill, and to guest eBay author, Joanna Gurnitsky, for this list. This is part of the Become a Power eBayer reference series. This article is written with permission from the author.

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How To Buy Vintage Audio

Alright, before you begin you should know that this is NOT your simple 4 paragraph ‘buyers guide’ so often seen everywhere else. This article contains reams of information and is very, very looong. If you wish, you can simply skip to certain areas but I strongly recommend reading this article in it’s entirety at least once.

So where do you start? Easy. If you are simply starting out in the audio hobby there is a massive market to explore with garage sales, flea markets, swap meets, thrift stores etc. Sometimes simply asking your friends or relatives if there is some stuff in their attic or garage they wouldn’t mind letting go of can yield surprising results! There are no rules at this level about what to buy as long as it works, and there is no smoke coming from it when it is playing, and it should not smell like the bathroom Grandpa just left. If you can buy an entire ‘system’ for around 50 bucks including speakers, welcome to the hobby.

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