Has Audio Concepts Houston adopted a new business model?

[Burke Strickland]

Or to put it another way, has anyone been in the store in the past month?

I've dropped by a couple of times during their posted business hours (which according to their still-functioning web site are Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10 AM - 7 PM) only to find the doors locked with no visible signs of activity. No signs at the door indicating closed for lunch break or closed for vacation either. They have not answered a phone message or an e-mail. So they appear to be maintaining a very low profile right now.

Anyone know what is going on there?

Burke

[David Meek]

Another one bites the dust? Once Parth left it was fairly easy to lose interest with them - at least for me. And now, being a few miles further northwest I haven't been in there in a long time.

[Maceo23]

Yep, unfortunately they have close up shop.

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Wow, what a shame. The last of the old hi-fi shops that were clustered in that part of town - Sheffield Audio, Home Entertainment, and now A-C. They had been around since at least the mid '70s hadn't they? (Seems like I'm forgetting one - were there any more? Not exactly close by, but what was that one on Fondren near Westheimer?)

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

[bvk_houtx]

I was in Audio Concepts a few months ago, just to browse around and everything seemed normal. I used to love drooling over the McIntosh equipment at Home Entertainment on Kirby. It seems there was a high-end store on Shepherd just south of Richmond and another store on Kirby & Westheimer next to the hardware store. I don't remember the names of either store. It looks like the last high-end stores are Home Entertainment in the Woodlands and Modia.

[Burke Strickland]

It looks like the last high-end stores are Home Entertainment in the Woodlands and Modia.

Add Sound World of Houston (Bellaire near Beltway 8 ) to that list. Worth a visit, IMO, if you are really serious about excellent equipment from a reliable local dealer.

[bvk_houtx]

Burke, thanks I'll have to stop by there and at least do some window shopping. In the near future I will be shopping for speakers and I always like to see & hear potentail purchases before I make my final choice. I remembered another store in the Houston area, Allstar Audio on Richmond and Weslayan.

[johngalt47]

Esoteric Ear

I bought some equipment from Esoteric Ear back around 1994. Their store was really close to Audio Concepts. They carried Krell, Martin Logan and Wilson speakers. I listened to some Wilson Grand Slams played through Krell amps and was not impressed. I think they didn't have the room treated properly. I listened to Brothers in Arms and the sound was really dry and over processed through that system.

I almost forgot about this other place in a strip center on the corner of Kirby and another street north of Westheimer. I think Buffalo Hardware occupied one of the sections in that strip center. I don't remember the name of the audio store though. At one point they built a home theater when HT was just getting started but went out of business (I think) soon after, or maybe they just moved.

There also used to be a place in a strip center near Sharpstown called Dynamic Audio Video (or something like that). I bought an Aragon 4004 MK II from that store in 1994.

I bought some British Fidelity speakers and a Well Tempered Record Player from a guy who sold stuff out of his house. I don't remember his name but it seems he was on the west or southwest side of town. He was very nice to deal with.

I've been meaning to go to Galen Carol in San Antonio but haven't yet...probably 'cause I've gotten into the DIY stuff.

[boarder1995]

Allstar is still there - although I haven't visited inside for several months now, but it looks to still be operational. I've frequented Modia on Westheimer a bunch recently and noticed they've sent back their McIntosh line arrays they had. Also, they have a few damaged 802/3/? speakers and aren't interested in showing them off or getting replacements right now. Hope it's not a sign of things to come there too if they aren't replacing damaged demo speakers.

[SGrace]

Audio stores in Houston

The Groove was the store on Westheimer & Kirby.
Sheffield Audio was the store on Shepherd, just south of Richmond. They were a McIntosh & B&O dealer in the 80s.
Like someone already posted, Esoteric Ear was in the Shepherd Square shopping center, currently where the Yoga Center is located (next to the Stag's head pub).

I can't recall the name of the store on Fondren right now, but I went in there a lot in the mid-80s. They were really nice guys.

As someone else posted, Sound World (Bellaire & the beltway) is a really nice store. Nice gear. Knowledgeable staff. Definitely worth a look.

[JW944]

Houston Audio Concepts

They had been around since at least the mid '70s hadn't they?

Yes, Audio Concepts Houston opened in 1975 (IIRC) - I was there in 1985 and we had a 10 year party of sorts.

BTW, anyone in contact with Parth? Tell him Jerry said hello. TIA

[Wilfred]

Allstar is still there - although I haven't visited inside for several months now, but it looks to still be operational. I've frequented Modia on Westheimer a bunch recently and noticed they've sent back their McIntosh line arrays they had. Also, they have a few damaged 802/3/? speakers and aren't interested in showing them off or getting replacements right now. Hope it's not a sign of things to come there too if they aren't replacing damaged demo speakers.

I think Allstar is more a video shop these days. I visited them a few times after they moved from 8/I-10 but it's all TV and I have not been back since.

[Wilfred]

Been out of the audio scene for a while (last logon 8/2004!!). Stopped by A-C last Sat to check out Magnepan 1.7 only to find lease sign and landlord notice (Sep 09). Sad!!

I don't think there are not any true high-end shop in town anymore. We were talking about Houston is an audio desert, now it truly is.

A little bit Hi-Fi shops history of Houston:

Audio Essential (Voss / Westheimer, next to Miyako) - Rotel, Mirage

NTT Electronics (Richmond / Reverse St, around the corner from A-C & E Ear) - PASS Lab, Audire, Jolida and Conrad Johnson

(Name forgotten - Sound World?) 9000 Richmond - Bryston, Lovan. Moved to 11480 Bellaire before close.


Still open:

Sara (International) Appliance and Electonics (5890 Point West Dr) - Gallo, Triangle, etc. Looks like they actually expanded! Check http://www.saraae.com/locations.html

[Burke Strickland]

(Name forgotten - Sound World?) 9000 Richmond - Bryston, Lovan. Moved to 11480 Bellaire before close.

Wilfred, I believe that you are thinking of "Hi Tech Audio" which was a Bryston dealer and had locations on Richmond and Bellaire before they closed.

Sound World of Houston is still open for business (spoke with the owner today to confirm that). They sell Bryston gear among other fine choices and are located in the same general area you were describing on Bellaire (near Beltway 8 ). They are NOT the place to go to "beat an internet price", but if you are serious about great sound, they have some serious equipment for sale to produce it, and provide excellent service helping select the right system for your taste and budget.

[Wilfred]

That's it... "Hi Tech"

I know about Sound World, visited them a couple of times but I was "on the way" out of audio, so never really taken them serious.

Good to hear from you again. It's been a long time.

[TBTX]

Sorry to hear of A-C's demise

I was an original employee of A-C when it opened in September 1975. Our location was between the two other high-end audio stores at the time, B&M Electronics on Shepherd and Home Entertainment on Kirby. A-C's approach was different, resulting in the nickname 'Alien Concepts' being fairly promptly applied by our brethren on Kirby.

A-C brought a number of audiophile brands to Houston for the first time, including IMF, Magneplanar, Linn, Dahlquist, Acoustat, Mark Levinson, Duntech, Rega, moving coil cartridges of several types and brands and premium speaker wire and connecting cables. We were more oriented to listening to discern how well music was reproduced and less to bench measurements.

A-C became a locus for the nascent audiophile community in Houston at the time. We, and most of our customers, were hobbyists as well as music-lovers who enjoyed the equipment as much as (and sometimes more than) the music it reproduced.

I left A-C (and the business) in 1982. Mark Lyon was still the owner at the time, later establishing a new store in Austin and, I'm told, eventually selling his interest in A-C in Houston. Mark thus came full circle, having worked at Audio Concepts in Austin (not connected with A-C in Houston, which was officially 'Houston Audio Concepts, Inc., dba Audio Concepts'). I started in the business with Home Entertainment at the old Memorial Drive store and then worked at Audio Concepts in Austin with Mark. I moved back to Houston and went to work for Mark when A-C opened.