With the hi-fi business, arguably, at a critical juncture, keeping it fun is more important than ever. Hi-fi salespeople play a key role in that—they're the boots on the ground. If anyone is going to foster interest and imbue the hobby with fun, it's salespeople.
At Albany, New York–area dealership Hippo's, Nicholas Shippey has been doing that for almost five years. He, his colleagues, and his customers call him "Audio Curator." He's not a manager exactly, but he plays several key roles at the dealership, including meeting with vendors and helping to decide which brands and products are a good match: Since signing on at Hippo's, he has brought in more than 30 new brands. He provides in-home consultations and helps dial in customers' systems. His most important role, though, may be working to expand the ranks and enrich the experiences of Hippo's and the industry's patrons.
Hippo's has been in the same location—Stuyvesant Plaza, a prominent open-air shopping center across the street from the SUNY Albany main campus—since its founding in 1984. Several other colleges are nearby—Bryant & Stratton College, Russell Sage College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)—which means lots of young adults in the vicinity. There's a Starbucks right across the parking lot, which helps draw some of those young people in. (Older people, too.)
Shippey's demeanor is friendly, refreshing, disarming—welcome in an industry where arrogance and cynicism are encountered more than occasionally. His passion for hi-fi was obvious when we first crossed paths at the 2025 Capital Audiofest. It was just as apparent during our conversation over Zoom. "I just have casual conversations with people; I'm not a high-pressure salesperson," he told me. "I'm trying to think of and implement ways to get younger audiences involved."
Perhaps his most effective tool is in-store listening events—so far 18 or so by his count. He follows up each event with an email blast with photos and a playlist of music he played there—though more likely than not, he played it on vinyl.
Shippey's events focus on a certain musical style or era, though he usually selects at least one interesting—you might say unusual—album by an emerging artist. One event displayed a genre known as "Brasshouse" via two New York–area bands: Brooklyn's Moon Hooch and Manhattan's Too Many Zooz. Both feature two horns and a drummer, switching off on synths. He encourages regular attendees to bring a favorite album or two—ahead of time so that it, or they, can be carefully cleaned.
Shippey orders in a small selection of vinyl, mostly specialty records and limited-edition releases from Impex, Analog Productions, Craft, Mobile Fidelity, and so on. "People are attracted to the records here," he said. The vinyl moves briskly: "Every time I have vinyl in the store, people buy me out.
"And if it brings them into the store, maybe they'll look at other things to buy as well." It will shock no one to learn that lately there's been renewed interest in turntables—Rega, VPI, Luxman—as well as tube amplification. McIntosh—both tubed and solid state—is a mainstay.
Shippey makes a point of using a range of different systems for playback at events. "So, if they come often enough, they can build their audio database of listening in the same space to different components to hear the sonic differences."
"Anyone who is younger that has even the most remote interest in this stuff, I want to see if I can get them more interested, because ultimately I feel like that's what's going to keep this industry going and alive and heading in the right direction," Shippey told me during our Zoom conversation. Shippey recently gave a tour to a mom and her two young sons. The older son "was over the moon," he said. "In 10 years, he's going to remember this and maintain this interest."
A similar experience brought Shippey into the hi-fi fold. "When I walked into Hippo's for the first time as a sophomore in high school, because one of the sales guys took time out of his day—I wasn't dressed up fancy or anything; I certainly didn't look like I was going to buy—but he took time out of his day to show me around and give me the demos and talk to me and treat me like a human being. That stuck with me."
Shippey, an Albany native, bought his first pair of speakers—Bowers & Wilkins's DM600 S3s in the Sorrento Oak finish—at Hippo's. He still has them. He went back later and bought the matching subwoofer.
During our conversation, Shippey emphasized the importance of educating salespeople, "to make sure that their fingers are on the pulse of the industry, so that they're ready to talk about whatever folks are seeing scrolling through social media or asking AI about." In an era of ubiquitous information—much of it wrong—it's important that salespeople get it right. "I view myself as the expert friend," Shippey said, "somebody who can be relied upon to give them the inside scoop."
Nicholas Shippey
One recent event was presented in partnership with the Albany Symphony; Hippo's founder/owner Anthony (Tony) Hazapis serves on the Symphony's Board. Conductor David Alan Miller introduced a new recording by the Albany Symphony, Blue Electra, composed by Michael Daugherty and inspired by Amelia Earhart. About 100 people showed up.
