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Mail Order HiFi back in the Day.... Where'd ya Buy?

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bowtie427ss

Lunatic Member
Who bought via mail order back in the day?

What was your favorite place to buy from?

Where are they now?

For me it was a place originally called Wisconsin Discount Stereo, eventually changed to Wisconsin Discount Sales and abbreviated WDS. A great bunch of guys there, i bought from the same salesperson exclusively which as time passed proved quite beneficial as we got to know each other on a first name basis over the phone and the more i bought, the better my deals got.

Anybody remember this place or relate to similar experience?
 
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January of 1981 I bought an HK 680i receiver from a New York City dealer for $430 (retail in Denver was $630). A fine performer for me for several years, it survived many, many moves from college to home. I still miss it's great FM reception capability.
 
I used to buy Maxell UD35-90 R2R tapes from "District Sound, Inc." in DC by mail-order.

I also have a cherished :-) copy of a ca-1976 catalog from "Warehouse Sound, Inc." (San Luis Obispo, CA).

scan.jpg
 
I bought an Akai GX-267D r2r from ABCO Warehouse, Meridien CT back in 1981. Have no idea what ever happened to them.

But I also bought an AU-717 from Stereo Discounters in Maryland outside of DC. Huge warehouse. My buddy and I walked around there for hours drooling over what we wanted, what we could afford, and what our wish lists contained ....
 
I bought my Akai GXC-725D cassette deck from Illinois Audio back in the late 70s and used to by blank cassettes from J&R Music World, who I think is still around.....
 
I bought a Philips GA-212 with a Shure M-91-ED in 1972 from Illinois Audio (Hi-Fi? Stereo?). Later, I bought a Shure V-15 Type III from them. Great service and great prices. I guess they are long gone.

Sadly, the local stereo store where I ALMOST bought the GA-212 is now a topless bar. But it was part of a small national chain, too. Still, the guilt lingers.

My primary local hi-fi store stayed around for a long time (it's where my Mac, Klipsch, and B&O all came from). Eventually, they sold out to Suckers (I mean, Tweeters).
 
I bought a few things from Illinois Audio, but mostly I bought used or from dealers back in the 70's and 80's.
 
Sadly, the local stereo store where I ALMOST bought the GA-212 is now a topless bar. But it was part of a small national chain, too.
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Now, is that the topless bar or the stereo store which was part of a small national chain...?
 
I was a store manager for Stereo Discounters/Electronic World in PA. The chain was based out of the Baltimore, MD area and had a number of stores in MD, PA, NJ, and DE as well as a catalogue division. They eventually closed for a number of reasons not the least of which was the advent of the big box retailer.
 
mhardy6647 said:
Now, is that the topless bar or the stereo store which was part of a small national chain...?
Click to expand...

The Audio store was part of a small multi-state chain.

The topless bar is a franchise of an international, multi-level organization that has a rather severe severance package.
 
What was the company/catalog that carried DBX, Polk, and Infinity?

Was it DAK?

I remember pouring over those catalogues in high school, the polypropylyne drivers of the Infinitys, the Polk reverence, the DBX trio of two sattelites and a subwoofer...

But a high school boy with girls on his mind and a Firebird in the driveway- the money went elsewhere...
 
Wisconsin Discount Stereo was one of my fav's as well.
Picked up a set of ESS Heil AMT1b's and HK PM660 from those cats for (I think I can divulge it now) about half of retail. That set us up for many years of fine Rock n' Roll.
Happy Listening! Rob :beatnik:
 

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My Dad bought a lot from WDS- Technics SL-6, RS-T80R cassette, and even a Toshiba KT-R2 portable cassette recorder. I'm sure he bought other stuff from them, but I can't remember now. I still have all those old receipts, though!
 
I was a store manager for Stereo Discounters/Electronic World in PA. The chain was based out of the Baltimore, MD area and had a number of stores in MD, PA, NJ, and DE as well as a catalogue division.
Click to expand...

Good ol' Stereo Discounters! I was not a big customer, although I bought a Hitachi receiver for my parents from them ca. 1980. We DID always go to the big show and sale in Timonium every year. I bought several things there, including a nice, early VHS Hi-Fi VCR (Zenith) which we still have -- and use occasionally, for Hi-Fi audio recording and playback.

Perhaps this'll bring back a memory...
StereoD.jpg
 
District Sound and SRI, ca. 1978 and 1980. Dig the cool 1980 styles on the hip, educated shoppers on the latter.

DistrictSRIca1978.jpg


SRIDistrictSoundca1980.jpg
 
What was the company/catalog that carried DBX, Polk, and Infinity?

Was it DAK?
Click to expand...
ahhhhhhhhhhhhh yes! drew alan kaplan =DAK

He's attempting a comeback BTW: http://www.dak.com/newproducts.htm

Remember the Cerwin Vega end table subwoofer that was in his catalogs forever?

He even sold a bunch of SAE stuff at one time.

Since i'm in a small town well removed from any population centers, a great deal of my audio buying was done via mail order.

However one retail store i used to frequent, Stereo Lab in Oneonta NY is still in business today under the same owner, he sold me new adcom GFA1 and GFA2, Onkyo TX7000 and TA-2050 just to mention a few.

EDIT: Keep those scans coming guys! brings back many memories. Sadly i lost all of my audio related paper goods in a 1993 house fire.
 
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