Has NYC audio scene recovered? What's it like today?

[caesar]

A couple of years ago, we had a long running thread on this site on how high end audio was done in the greatest city in the world with the closing of Sound by Singer. Has NYC recovered?

What is the high end audio scene like in NYC these days?

 

[docvale]

Well, I've lived in the City for just 3 and a half years, so I'm probably not the most authoritative voice.
Anyway, I think that Manhattan is not really the place where you may have a hi-end audio system. Apartments are small, acoustic isolation sucks, many people are not permanent residents (not speaking about immigrants, but people that are planning to live here for a defined time frame). This is not encouraging the purchase of super-expensive and bulky gear.
Notwithstanding, the crowd at the shows I've been to, the re-opening of Sound by Singer, the increasing reputation of Innovative and other shops makes me think that things are moving quite good.
I guess that most of the customers live in Long Island, though...

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Apartments are small, acoustic isolation sucks, many people are not permanent residents (not speaking about immigrants, but people that are planning to live here for a defined time frame). This is not encouraging the purchase of super-expensive and bulky gear.

I guess we see things differently. I and most of my family/friends are long-time residents with no plans to reside elsewhere (except, perhaps, on weekends), our apartments accommodate decent systems (some in dedicated rooms) and we enjoy sufficient acoustical isolation from neighbors. I cannot say what is typical but I can say that an interest in high-end is much less typical than either of our descriptions.

Notwithstanding, the crowd at the shows I've been to, the re-opening of Sound by Singer, the increasing reputation of Innovative and other shops makes me think that things are moving quite good.

Agreed.

 

[docvale]

... an interest in high-end is much less typical than either of our descriptions ...

True. In the end, hi-end audio is just a small niche of the general audio market.

 

[Lee]

I lived in NYC for six years and it was a hotbed of audiophile craziness. I think it has remained that way, notwithstanding the closing of Andy's store. I've often meet successful New Yorkers who seem to take the money they would have spent on cars and buy fine stereos.

 

[Bill Hart]

It has changed. Whether it is better or worse depends on your point of view and what you expect from a dealer. Newer dealers, like High Water Sound and In Living Stereo, sell niche products. Oswald Mill in Dumbo is fascinating (I'm still due to visit). Some of the old guard- Lyric, Park Ave, Harvey, Singer are gone or moribund. Rhapsody looks like it has fabulous showrooms. Harvey Rosenberg and Cello were interesting while they lasted. Stereo Exchange was once a clearing house for used high-end equipment, with stacks of ARC preamps and amps, Goldmund tables and tons of used speakers, cable and the like. With the advent of Audigon, that's history. Innovative moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan and I gather it is now OK if you don't have a Linn turntable.
For the 'greatest city on earth' I'm not sure the retail scene is any better than any other major metropolitan area. The old radio row is long gone, and finding venues to hear live music is not as easy as it once was with the closure of many famous clubs over the past 15 years or so. That said, there is a strong audio community here, and New Yorkers somehow manage.
Lee, you'd be surprised at the number of Manhattanites who are holding heavy iron too. I used to see a guy I know driving his Ferrari Daytona early in the morning from the city out to the country. He used to run the car outbound while everyone else was sitting in traffic on the inbound commute. He would roll back to the city later in the morning, when the traffic was relatively lighter.
Oh, and quite a few reviewers lived or still live in the metro area.

 

[MylesBAstor]

It has changed. Whether it is better or worse depends on your point of view and what you expect from a dealer. Newer dealers, like High Water Sound and In Living Stereo, sell niche products. Oswald Mill in Dumbo is fascinating (I'm still due to visit). Some of the old guard- Lyric, Park Ave, Harvey, Singer are gone or moribund. Rhapsody looks like it has fabulous showrooms. Harvey Rosenberg and Cello were interesting while they lasted. Stereo Exchange was once a clearing house for used high-end equipment, with stacks of ARC preamps and amps, Goldmund tables and tons of used speakers, cable and the like. With the advent of Audigon, that's history. Innovative moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan and I gather it is now OK if you don't have a Linn turntable.
For the 'greatest city on earth' I'm not sure the retail scene is any better than any other major metropolitan area. The old radio row is long gone, and finding venues to hear live music is not as easy as it once was with the closure of many famous clubs over the past 15 years or so. That said, there is a strong audio community here, and New Yorkers somehow manage.
Lee, you'd be surprised at the number of Manhattanites who are holding heavy iron too. I used to see a guy I know driving his Ferrari Daytona early in the morning from the city out to the country. He used to run the car outbound while everyone else was sitting in traffic on the inbound commute. He would roll back to the city later in the morning, when the traffic was relatively lighter.
Oh, and quite a few reviewers lived or still live in the metro area.

There are quite a few by appt. only stores in the area (that didn't exist before) that unlike before allow audiophiles to hear gear that had been closed out of the market for decades. I still though don't understand why cj and ML don't have a Manhattan distributor???

Also don't forget Wes Bender's store! He carries a lot of interesting gear!

 

[Lee]

Wes has some great show systems!

 

[Bill Hart]

Just looked at Wes Bender's site. Those Wavestream Kinetics V-8s are the equivalent of a car, Lee. Just missing the tranny, but of course, in NY, that's not hard to find.

 

[Lee]

Just looked at Wes Bender's site. Those Wavestream Kinetics V-8s are the equivalent of a car, Lee. Just missing the tranny, but of course, in NY, that's not hard to find.

LOL! Well played.