UK Audio?

[AudioHTIT]

My wife and I will be in the UK (England, Scotland, Ireland) in September. I don’t think I’ll earn many points for suggesting we visit a HiFi store, but maybe it would fit into our agenda one day. For those across the pond, are there any shops you like, or think are worth visiting?

[novisnick]

Record store or strictly HiFi?

In London go to Grahms, opened in 1929! Great shop Im told.
Have fun and safe travels!
I have some great shops for records if you like.

[AudioHTIT]

Aug 14, 2023 12:45:21 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Record store or strictly HiFi?

In London go to Grahms, opened in 1929! Great shop Im told.
Have fun and safe travels!
I have some great shops for records if you like.

Thanks Nick, if Grahms is along our route I'll check it out, but more interested in seeing some unique gear.

[markc]

Aug 13, 2023 19:36:13 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

My wife and I will be in the UK (England, Scotland, Ireland) in September. I don’t think I’ll earn many points for suggesting we visit a HiFi store, but maybe it would fit into our agenda one day. For those across the pond, are there any shops you like, or think are worth visiting?

Hi there,

I'm not sure if you realise but neither the UK, England, Scotland or Ireland are cities or towns or even places!!

They are countries, each and all of them, so you would need to be more specific with where you are going to.
Lots of cities have lots of HiFi stores so you would need to give more detail.

However, realistically with HiFi, it is always better done the other way around:  you need to have an idea of a manufacturer from whom you want to see their gear and then find a stockist for that manufacturer and then maybe see what else that store has to compare and contrast it with.

Beware: If you are talking about visiting or being in London, even that isn't a city exactly, but the district of Greater London which takes up to two hours by car or taxi or public transport (train/tube/bus/tram/boat) to get from the outer suburbs to the opposite side, irrespective of the direction, so even then you would need to know what area of Greater London you are staying in and / or visiting..

Par example excellence: Grahams HiFi, mentioned above is just 2.6 miles as the crow flies from the centre of "London" (Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square) and only 3.8 miles by road.
Don't be deceived though - if you are lucky, this is a 29 minute drive (car or taxi-cab) during the day or 29-32 minutes via the fastest public transport (your choice: three sequential tube trains or two tube trains and a bus) (the option with fewer changes has one tube train and a bus but takes longer at 44 minutes and I could brisk walk the distance in that (and usually choose to!)

(NB The City of London proper is known as the square mile for that reason: it is small at just over one square mile area, has fixed boundaries and is actually located a mile east of what is cartographically considered the centre of "London" at Trafalgar Square in the West End and is technically in The City of Westminster, not London.

The square mile City of London has very little there for tourists or Londoners alike, apart from the financial district and offices and the occasional place to visit. Technically, the City of London is not even part of Greater London but is an enclave surrounded by it, much like the Vatican is not part of nor within Rome.

[405x5]

Aug 13, 2023 19:36:13 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

My wife and I will be in the UK (England, Scotland, Ireland) in September. I don’t think I’ll earn many points for suggesting we visit a HiFi store, but maybe it would fit into our agenda one day. For those across the pond, are there any shops you like, or think are worth visiting?

I have to wonder if the presence of hi-fi stores has diminished outside of the United States at the same rate? Most of the favorite places I had in the US are long gone. The showroom in my last hold out had turned into a home theater, contractors, workstation with all their equipment getting ready to be loaded into trucks and then off to do an installation with the show room as dead as it could be