Return-Path: Received: from gs74.sp.cs.cmu.edu by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU id aa25387; 11 Nov 91 11:46:44 EST Received: from gs74.sp.cs.cmu.edu by GS74.SP.CS.CMU.EDU id aa29135; 11 Nov 91 11:46:26 EST To: bovik@CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Stereo Shop Date: Mon, 11 Nov 91 11:46:22 EST Message-ID: <29133.689877982@GS74.SP.CS.CMU.EDU> From: Dan Morrow I just wanted to share my positive experience at buying a stereo system at Butch's Sound Shack in Natrona Hts. After ten years with a Pioneer system, it was time for an upgrade. First, we hit all the department stores (Kaufmann's, etc) and also the applicance stores like Silo -- but none of these places had anything like a listening room, and there always seemed to be other people cranking up another piece of equipment. We listened to some Denon stuff at Wide-World Stereo (North on McKnight) and liked it, but seeing as how that's all he carried, we weren't sure if it was as good as he said it was. I also visited the Listening Post in Shadyside, but they didn't have a very large selection and I really didn't spend much time there. I stopped in Better Sound Concepts on Braddock and found out that the only CD player they carried was $800! We wanted to spend around $1000 for receiver, CD player, and speakers -- and basically they didn't have anything in our price range. We finally got around to visiting Butch's Sound Shack -- I say that because it is quite a drive from the CMU area -- I'm not sure how to get there by bus (or if you could). The nice thing about Butch's is that he has 3 different listening rooms and stocks the widest selection of equipment of anyone we visited -- from the stuff they carry at Silo to the stuff they carry at Better Sound Concepts. Also, Butch is very nice -- he let us play with the equipment and explained differences (and non-differences) to us without being patronizing. Overall, I thought the experience was very positive and I thought we got a pretty good deal; I know I could have ordered the equipment mail order and probably saved another $100, but I feel like if we want good stereo stores around and access to listening rooms, etc, then we need to give those stores our business. We ended up buying Denon components and Boston Acoustic speakers.