Re-Tales

In last month's Re-Tales column, I discussed the impact the current economy is having on the hi-fi industry. Some hi-fi companies said sales have "normalized" after widespread, dramatic increases during the COVID years—which is to say, sales are down relative to their peak but still strong. Others have noticed customers biding time before making expensive purchases or opting to buy less-expensive equipment than originally planned. Yet, even in this risky economic climate, a few people are taking the risk and opening new brick-and-mortar retail stores.

How healthy is the hi-fi market? One widely reported silver lining of the pandemic was increased sales of anything to do with home entertainment, including hi-fi. Recently, though, inflation has broken out and the stock market tanked. Higher prices all around—from shipping and logistics to necessary parts and raw materials—added pressure from all sides.

I spoke with people working in hi-fi to get a sense for how the industry is evolving. Here's one way: Some companies at the market's higher end are eschewing the traditional distribution model, in which a domestic company serves as middleman for products from overseas, buying and reselling inventory to dealers and then providing support. In the newer model, distribution services are provided by the overseas manufacturing company itself, either directly or via a US subsidiary. Brinkmann, dCS, Estelon, Gryphon, and T+A employ variations on the model.

Attracting new customers is essential for brick-and-mortar dealerships' long-term survival. Over the last several years, many b&m dealerships have continued to expand into home automation and custom installation. Home theater is also undergoing a resurgence. These services can support—and complement—two-channel audio-equipment sales.

It's not every day that someone opens a new brick-and-mortar hi-fi store. A variety of factors make the prospects of such a venture uncertain at best. Hi-fi industry veteran Michael Klein, though, has the guts and seasoned-salesman charm to make a go of it.

In last month's Re-Tales, I discussed what was happening on the vacuum-tube landscape, especially tube shortages resulting from Russia's war on Ukraine and its consequences for trade. Tube availability is, of course, a small concern compared to continuing Russian atrocities and the resulting suffering of Ukrainians. Still, it's a question tubed-electronics lovers and makers must grapple with, and we're a hi-fi magazine. So: If that Russian tube supply is curtailed or boycotted, what are the alternatives for manufacturers and individual buyers?

Unless you live under a rock, you've followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. You know something about sanctions against Russia and Russia's responses to those sanctions. If, in addition to not living under a rock, you're a tube-audio aficionado or electric guitar nut, you may have thought about a likely consequence of that war that's far less momentous than the destruction and carnage we see on TV: Will I be able to get new tubes for my amplifier? Especially those lovely Russia-made tubes.