On a quick wander along any local high street or shopping mall, it won’t take long before it’s impossible to avert one’s gaze from boarded-up shop fronts, whitewashed windows, ‘for sale’ signs and other high street horrors. It can all leave you feeling that you’ve just visited a ghost town (cue the classic movie tumbleweed from any western of your choosing). Without being an expert in these matters, it’s hard to pin down whether or not the exodus of the good old “bricks and mortar” shop has been caused by cut-throat internet selling, that extraordinary pandemic, Brexit, and/or other factors. When it comes to best-in-class audio-visual equipment, in addition to supplying customers via the interweb thingamajig, we here at Audio T absolutely love providing you with a variety of hi-fi goodies and services from one of our stores… yes from a good old shop! Why don’t we grab a coffee, or perhaps something cooler in this heatwave, and take this discussion a little deeper…

Ready for Action! Our Main Demo Room at Audio T Reading

Hello. We really look forward to meeting you…

Welcome to another bright, but gosh oh-so-dry, sunshining day. Here at Audio T Reading there is that morning buzz of raising the shutters to a new day and the excitement of opening our doors to meet and greet more of the hi-fi loving community. What will the day in-store bring this time? Perhaps the continued turntable renaissance will usher in vinyl enthusiasts to take a look and a feel of the crisp and clean lines of the arresting Rega Planar 6? Isn’t it amazing how the Planar range continues to appear fresh yet timeless? Or maybe the slick looking Audiolab 6000CDT CD transport will get a spin in the demo room to show a customer first-hand that CD certainly isn’t dead? It never fails to impress us just how much detail can be extracted by the latest silver spinners. Gone are the days of CD players sounding ‘digital’ – it always makes for a great in-person conversation. And let’s not forget the next-generation ways of getting a healthy dose of music – perhaps today we’ll be taking our customers through the various streaming, networking and multi room listening options offered by the likes of say Bluesound? Or maybe we’ll be demonstrating the very best of old-meets-new technology, courtesy of say high-quality CD ripping via the impressive Innuos ZENmini Mini Mk3 audio server? Here at Audio T we have many great memories of the face-to-face interactions we have with our customers. There’s a satisfaction to seeing someone’s face light up at that first moment they hear new intricacies and hidden layers of information in their favourite recording. It’s the kind of neat trick the Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 combined DAC and headphone amplifier regularly performs!

Where Great Memories are Made! Happy Customers Visiting Audio T

A “Special” in-store experience… One of many

Not long ago, we had a customer come into the shop showing a keen interest in a pair of Dynaudio Special Forty, one of the finest looking and sounding stand-mount stereo speakers around. The customer had the opportunity to explain it was a significant investment and therefore wanted to be sure they were worth the outlay, as well as wanting to see the fit and finish of the Special Forty in the flesh. We agreed with them that the best way forward was to have a listen to them in our demo room, on the end of the newly arrived and wholly engaging Rega Elicit Mk5 integrated amplifier. See, one of the benefits of operating from our shop with dedicated demo rooms is that we regularly get to connect up a number of different hi-fi systems. From this most enjoyable of exploits, we have gathered a great deal of knowhow as to which equipment combinations dovetail incredibly well together, sounding much greater than the sum of their parts. We know that a Rega-Dynaudio system is one of many synergistic combos.

During the demo, the customer got to see the sublime SolidSteel SS-6 speaker stands, upon which the princely Special Forty were showcased. The customer had been interested in upgrading his speaker stands too, so in having the perfect opportunity to ask questions in-situ about the various performance benefits of SolidSteel stands (benefits that often get overlooked given their exquisite aesthetics) the customer had all the necessary advice, the sonic fulfilment from a most enjoyable demo, as well as the assurance of speaking to an expert in-person to confidently purchase an awesome pair of Dynaudio Special Fortys in ebony wave finish, along with a mighty fine set of accompanying SolidSteel SS-6 stands suited in black.

Turntable Service, Repair and Upgrade at Audio T

Best of both - Our stores in perfect harmony with online

With the above, in-store, customer experience being one of many great examples, it’s always clear for us here at Audio T to see the benefits and importance of operating from a shop and supporting an in-shop experience for customers, something which just cannot be replicated by services online. Don’t get us wrong, we love and actively support the online model of providing great hi-fi audio-visual products too and it has its many benefits, such as being able to read up on the many great products and services that we offer, or to check out our fantastic free Music at Home+ magazine, or to catch up with the latest happenings here at Audio T via our enthusiastic staff members’ blogs. That being said, there are bespoke services that we provide in-store that make visiting one of our shops a truly unbeatable experience. Maybe you want to talk to us about a problem with your turntable? Well, here at Audio T we have the in-house expertise to assess, repair, service and even upgrade a number of turntable brands and models, including Rega and Linn, and you can visit one of our shops, with or without your turntable, to discuss with our friendly team of enthusiasts. And, in-store, we can even make up a range of cables, such as the Chord Shawline X speaker cable, for you to take away. Or we can show you, in-person, how a range of our great vinyl cleaning options actually work, such as the Pro-Ject VC-E record cleaning machine.

We also offer a part-exchange service in-store, which we are happy to talk to you about and is a great solution for taking the next steps on your hi-fi adventure. Last but not least, there’s nothing quite like coming into your local Audio T shop, talking to our bright and helpful team, and actually getting hands-on (or of course “ears-on” via a demo) to experience for yourselves how sturdy those buttons actually are, or say how slick that volume knob feels. Coming to our shop is a unique experience that can be continued to be enjoyed for years to come.

So as you walk past yet another not open for business shop that has sadly vanished into the ether, do remember that we are open for business and are happy to welcome you and get listening to some seriously good music of your choosing! Thanks for reading.

Rishi, Gareth and Rob – Audio T Reading

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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