Remembering Pacific Stereo
- Thread starter Quad Linda
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I suppose you cant keep a good thing down. My PS memory just scraps by remembrance as I was a little kid but i do recall being in "aw" seeing all the flashing lights, giant silver bricks with tons of knobs, and speakers, SPEAKERS! LOUD. My folks had a Quadraflex system. It rocked, until Mom garage sale'd it for pennies long ago.
Now 40 years later, I have a quadraphonic rig all set up playing perfect. People flip out when I tell them they are listening to an 8-track…….in 4 channel. My 2 channel rig has a Concept 4.5D and 6.5, an ELC tape deck (did work, has issues now with the celloid?) and Im in the process of restoring a TransAudio 1800. It needs a belt, cartridge, headshell, tonearm balance weight, little weights, mat, and lubrication. I will say Concept receivers are the goods. Id love to have a turntable and a ELC 2.
Cheers 2017 to Pacific Stereo memories.
Now 40 years later, I have a quadraphonic rig all set up playing perfect. People flip out when I tell them they are listening to an 8-track…….in 4 channel. My 2 channel rig has a Concept 4.5D and 6.5, an ELC tape deck (did work, has issues now with the celloid?) and Im in the process of restoring a TransAudio 1800. It needs a belt, cartridge, headshell, tonearm balance weight, little weights, mat, and lubrication. I will say Concept receivers are the goods. Id love to have a turntable and a ELC 2.
Cheers 2017 to Pacific Stereo memories.
Never knew Pacific Stereo back in the day, but are they at all related to the folks who help host the "Tapeheads" Forum site? That PS does tape machine repairs and parts....R2R, cassette, etc.
Perhaps a survivor has carried on the name?
Perhaps a survivor has carried on the name?
In the strictest sense of the word, there was no survivor of Pacific Stereo. When I was hired in the 70's, the owner was CBS. They kept an eye on us. LOL!!
In the 80's, it was sold to Burke Mathes, who was Curtis Mathes' Brother. It was sold for $1M and mostly financed by a note from Curtis himself. After his death, Curtis' family wanted no part of the business or backing up the loan. Money was most tight being the middle of a US financial crisis. Bank of America called back the note. Several hi-fi chains in Chicago went belly up at that time. Prior to that, BOA pulled the plug on the Pacific credit card. That was an omen. Pacific Stereo folded. To my knowledge, no one bought the name.
Pacific Stereo is a name used by a former Pacific service technician. "Cervix, line 2..." Don't know what their relationship to tapeheads.net might be. Tapeheads does have a link. http://www.pacificstereo.net/index.html
There is a car stereo retailer in California who had adopted the name 20 years ago: http://www.pacificstereo.com/pacific-stereo-riverside
In the 80's, it was sold to Burke Mathes, who was Curtis Mathes' Brother. It was sold for $1M and mostly financed by a note from Curtis himself. After his death, Curtis' family wanted no part of the business or backing up the loan. Money was most tight being the middle of a US financial crisis. Bank of America called back the note. Several hi-fi chains in Chicago went belly up at that time. Prior to that, BOA pulled the plug on the Pacific credit card. That was an omen. Pacific Stereo folded. To my knowledge, no one bought the name.
Pacific Stereo is a name used by a former Pacific service technician. "Cervix, line 2..." Don't know what their relationship to tapeheads.net might be. Tapeheads does have a link. http://www.pacificstereo.net/index.html
There is a car stereo retailer in California who had adopted the name 20 years ago: http://www.pacificstereo.com/pacific-stereo-riverside
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What products/services do you currently accept that card for, Tim?
Thanks Linda, I had not read the current PS biography, he describes himself as curator and caretaker for the company now. Perhaps you knew him, he worked retail also! Anyway, my scant Tapeheads involvement goes back to my quad R2R, I'm currently on there due to a Tandberg cassette deck I picked up. Always wanted one of those babies, I only feed it 1980's CrO2 tapes. 
Gregory Lange
New member
I have several fond memories of Pacific Stereo. I was involved with PS initially at its humble beginnings, but mostly between 1970-1976, when I was a salesman at the Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and San Francisco stores.
My fondest memory: In 1962, when I was 14 years young and living in Berkeley, CA, I lived next door to one of the founders of Pacific Stereo, Ted Bennett. He hired me to make bookshelf stereo speakers in his basement workshop. 8" 2-way Electro-Voice speaker in a Walnut Veneer cabinet. Ted ripped the veneer, and I assembled the speaker box and the speakers and cross-over. It was fun and I certainly enjoyed it.
Mr. Bennett was planning to introduce stereo component systems to the initial Pacific Electronic store in Berkeley, which later, because of the success of these speaker cabinets and other electronics, and his genius marketing skills, became the first Pacific Stereo, followed by the San Francisco and Walnut Creek Stores.
With in a year or so, speaker cabinet demand was so incredible, I could not meet supply, so the speaker-making operation was relocated, moved around, and ultimately moved to PS's Emeryville plant to become Quadraflex Industries.
I didn't stay in Berkeley for long and went off to college in 1966, only to return after graduating in 1970 to be a salesman in the Walnut Creek store.
One might be curious to know what type of stereo system I might have acquired while working at PS. Though salesman promotions, sales contests, purchasing directly customer trade-ins, and buying from other salesmen, I managed to assemble a nice stereo system: two pairs of Infinity Servo-static 1A speakers, a Harman Kardon Citation 15 tuner, a Harman Kardon Citation A pre-amp, Harman Kardon Citation 12 power amps, and a Panasonic Techniques Direct-drive turntable with Rabco arm. This vintage stereo component system is still mostly operating to this day, I only replaced the Citation 12's with Carver amps.
Thanks for all those fond memories!
Greg
My fondest memory: In 1962, when I was 14 years young and living in Berkeley, CA, I lived next door to one of the founders of Pacific Stereo, Ted Bennett. He hired me to make bookshelf stereo speakers in his basement workshop. 8" 2-way Electro-Voice speaker in a Walnut Veneer cabinet. Ted ripped the veneer, and I assembled the speaker box and the speakers and cross-over. It was fun and I certainly enjoyed it.
Mr. Bennett was planning to introduce stereo component systems to the initial Pacific Electronic store in Berkeley, which later, because of the success of these speaker cabinets and other electronics, and his genius marketing skills, became the first Pacific Stereo, followed by the San Francisco and Walnut Creek Stores.
With in a year or so, speaker cabinet demand was so incredible, I could not meet supply, so the speaker-making operation was relocated, moved around, and ultimately moved to PS's Emeryville plant to become Quadraflex Industries.
I didn't stay in Berkeley for long and went off to college in 1966, only to return after graduating in 1970 to be a salesman in the Walnut Creek store.
One might be curious to know what type of stereo system I might have acquired while working at PS. Though salesman promotions, sales contests, purchasing directly customer trade-ins, and buying from other salesmen, I managed to assemble a nice stereo system: two pairs of Infinity Servo-static 1A speakers, a Harman Kardon Citation 15 tuner, a Harman Kardon Citation A pre-amp, Harman Kardon Citation 12 power amps, and a Panasonic Techniques Direct-drive turntable with Rabco arm. This vintage stereo component system is still mostly operating to this day, I only replaced the Citation 12's with Carver amps.
Thanks for all those fond memories!
Greg
Thanks for a GREAT first post! Welcome! Looking forward to more insight and memories from you.
abby normal
Active Member
_______________
great blast from the past info
you got to be in the catbird seat of high end audio right at the inception. can you please tell me how well your servo static speakers compare to the best of today's speakers, or even to speakers like the magnepan tympani III panels?
Pretty sure I bought a cassette player from a Pacific Stereo in the Sacramento area in the late ‘70’s early ‘80’s maybe
anyway, I had just bought the player (Technics maybe) from a young salesman; and we really got into deep conversations about audio gear & music, fun times. So much so, I had walked out of the store forgetting to pay for it and I believe he even carried it out to the car for me. About an hour after I got home the salesman is knocking on my door sheepishly asking for payment (I must have filled out some kind of form with my address.) He was claiming his boss told him to get the moola or don’t come back. An honest mistake, but embarrassing for both of us. That’s all my foggy old memories will allow.
anyway, I had just bought the player (Technics maybe) from a young salesman; and we really got into deep conversations about audio gear & music, fun times. So much so, I had walked out of the store forgetting to pay for it and I believe he even carried it out to the car for me. About an hour after I got home the salesman is knocking on my door sheepishly asking for payment (I must have filled out some kind of form with my address.) He was claiming his boss told him to get the moola or don’t come back. An honest mistake, but embarrassing for both of us. That’s all my foggy old memories will allow.
abby normal
Active Member
^^^ah, that was a much more innocent time...
abby normal
Active Member
nowadays the results would be horrifyingly different.
I bought a Kenwood KX-1030 at the Arden Way store in either very late 1977 or very early 1978. Same trip also got me a pair of Infinity Qb speakers.
I remember being tempted by the Elcassette deck...
That Kenwood made better recordings at 1-7/8IPS with Dolby than my Sony reel deck did at 7-1/2...too bad it suffered from repeated tension issues.
Living in the middle of the middle, we never had a Pacific Stereo locally. The popular names were independent stores David Beatty (high end), Brands Mart (good mainstream) and the Team Electronics chain. But anyway I've had a good time reading this thread. Got my curiosity up so I poked around YouTube. There's about 1/2 dozen vids about PS. One of them is about 15 mins long very amateurish on camcorder titled A Day with a Pacific Stereo Salesman. But might as well start here:
Amazing that's from '81, from my old perspective looked more like '60's stuff; and time marches on
I had a Kenwood KX-1030. 3 head w/test tone generator. My main cassette deck for 5 years. Made great tapes, no tension issues, thankfully. I bought it from Pacific Stereo when I worked there.
For 50% off salesman's accomodation! YESSSS!!!!
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