For serious audiophiles, there’s no comparing modern stereo systems to the equipment being produced from the 1950s to the ’70s. Nowadays, electronics are made to be upgraded and replaced every few years, but back in the heyday of vinyl records, stereos were built to last. Back then, manufacturing standards for amplifiers was more rigorous, materials like lead solder (now outlawed) created stronger connections that helped amps produce better sound, and equipment was often wired by hand, minimizing interference and noise in the circuits.
“They just don’t make them like they used to,” Adam Wexler, owner of StereoBuyers in Red Hook, told the Wall Street Journal. A self-declared sound hound, Wexler began buying and selling audio equipment out of his dorm room in Ithaca. After graduating, he rose through the ranks at one of Manhattan’s premier AV integrators and became one of the city’s top high-end AV salesmen and designers. He opened StereoBuyers in 1999 and has been serving the New York audiophile community ever since.
Located in a Red Hook warehouse, StereoBuyers rarely opens its doors to the public. Like a treasure-filled cave, the warehouse is chock full of thousands of pieces of rare high-end audio equipment that often sells for tens of thousands of dollars. Wexler and his team sell pieces rarely seen anywhere outside of magazines, including equipment from top brands like McIntosh, Marantz, Krell, Conrad-Johnson, Audio Research, and Mark Levinson.
Courtesy of StereoBuyersCourtesy of StereoBuyersCourtesy of StereoBuyersCourtesy of StereoBuyersCourtesy of StereoBuyersCourtesy of StereoBuyersCourtesy of StereoBuyers
On January 15, 2022 at 2 p.m., StereoBuyers will throw open the doors to its Red Hook warehouse for a special behind-the-scenes tour for Untapped New York Insiders. Pete Raho of StereoBuyers will explain what makes audio equipment “high-end” and why it can make music sound so real. Attendees will experience the differences between two stereo system setups pulled from the warehouse’s vast inventory and will have the chance to listen to play whatever they want in the listening room.
You’ll also learn about Red Hook’s waterfront and historic warehouses on a walk from the IKEA ferry terminal to StereoBuyers’ warehouse with our Chief Experience Officer Justin Rivers. This event is free for Untapped New York Insiders. If you’re not a member yet, join now (and get your first month free with the code JOINUS).
Behind-the-Scenes Tour and Listening Session at StereoBuyers Red Hook Warehouse
Laura is the managing editor of Untapped New York and a freelance writer based in Rome with a passion for covering travel, arts and culture, lifestyle, design, food and wine. Her writing has also appe
