[xodeuce]

I'm headed to Atlanta this weekend on Saturday and was wondering if anyone knows of any high end retailers that have solid 2 channel setups in their showroom? I'm going to be there with my fiancèe's family, and her brother and I were hoping to check out some high end stores while they shop for wedding stuff.

Thanks!
Keith

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xodeuce /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm headed to Atlanta this weekend on Saturday and was wondering if anyone knows of any high end retailers that have solid 2 channel setups in their showroom? I'm going to be there with my fiancèe's family, and her brother and I were hoping to check out some high end stores while they shop for wedding stuff. Thanks! Keith

Try out "Audio Atlanta" on the old Marietta square. I snagged their Kensingtons, but they've still got the Tannoy Glenair 10 which will sound awesome to varying degrees depending on what they've got them hooked up to at the time. In particular they pair extremely well with the Rogue 90 tube amp, Rogue 99 tube preamp, and VPI Scoutmaster w/ Ortofon Kontrapunkt "a" they've also got setup in the shop.

They do have a true high-end room setup at a dedicated site, but that's by appointment only. I believe they have the Glenair (bigger version with 15" drivers) and the Tannoy Churchill there.

Bring some of your own music. Their focus is on enhancing the long-term enjoyment and experience of music. They don't like the sizzle & boom or "hifi" sounding gear that will impress you on first listen to carefully chosen reference recordings, because that kind of gear generally SUCKS with real music.

This shop is not going to lavish you with attention and marketing spiels to make a sale. They're not going to pretend to be your best buddy right from the get-go to make a sale. They may not even acknowledge you at first, until they've finished with their current guest/customer. However if you're patient and have an open mind, I find them to be way way more knowledgeable and helpful than the norm in this industry. Tons of expertise in turntables and tubes.

I've always had Pete setup my turntables, and I've had Gordon restore a couple of my vintage tube amps now. They did a world-class job, on both accounts.

Have fun, and watch out for our crazy drivers down here

 

[xodeuce]

Awesome. Sounds like a place that we could spend some serious time listening. I prefer places like that. I'm not looking to buy an amp or pre this weekend. I want to see what they have to offer, and listen to some recordings that I'm quite familiar with on my own system. It sounds like this place knows that in the end my ears will be sold on the equipment, rather than me being sold by the salesperson.

There's a place in Birmingham, AL called Audio Forest that has a Boulder dac pre and Boulder amp, with an Esoteric transport, Clearaudio turntable, and a pair of Focal JM Lab Nova Utopias. The owner is super nice and lets me come in any time I want and listen for hours at a time. They're great.

Unfortunately Boulder gear is a little pricey for what I'm looking for in the near future, but it's still awesome to go in and listen to.

Edit: Turns out Audio Forest is based in Atlanta. The guys here never mentioned that. I guess I never asked