Remembering Pacific Stereo

Concept CE-2 speakers: http://www.hifiengine.com/files/images/concept_ce_2 speakers (800x600).preview.jpg

Concept 5.5:


What kind of shape are the surrounds in on both the woofer and the passive radiator on the rear? Are they cracking?

The receiver was rated at 55 watts/ch. In reality, it is likely 80-90 watts/ch. It has switching for 6 speakers and four tone controls, which is effectively a four band equalizer. It has the best protection circuit made. You can dead short the speaker wires without doing damage. All that will happen is the led in the power button will go from green to red and it disconnects. Find the short and turn the receiver back on, and it works! Does the receiver work?

lhillaryd said:

Thanks for the reply. My receiver is a 5.5, speakers are CE-2.

Concept is among the BEST stuff we sold. The speakers are made by ESS. What model speakers and receiver do you have?

Welcome to QQ.

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Old thread? New information! I worked for Pacific Stereo in their Walnut Creek store in '68. As I recall, there were only three stores at that time...San Francisco, Berkeley and Walnut Creek. As one of two guys in the warehouse, I made regular runs into the SF store to either pick up or transfer equipment. I'd almost always see and talk to Dick Schramm and occasionally, Ted Bennett. These were heady days back then, the crackle in the air was always buzzing with excitement with new products coming out almost every day it seemed. One of, if not the most memorable moment, was meeting Armand Bose (Bose speakers) himself. We had no prior notice he was coming other than a huge buzz in the store that morning. This was in the latter part of '68 as I recall (!?) and we were running around in the store setting things up for a demo. Dr Bose arrived looking (to me) like the mad professor...unkempt hair, baggy pants, very distracted guy...accompanied by another helper or two, they unpacked the strangest looking speakers I'd seen to date. We managed to hang these weird boxes from the corners of the main floor ceiling with chains that hooked onto the top of the speakers. A pre-chosen LP, "Bookends" by Simon & Garfunkel (they were very hot in the music biz at that time) was placed on a turntable and Dr Bose carefully positioned the tonearm over the track "America" and when that needle hit the groove, and the song began to build, I remember distinctly looking around the room (there were at least 8 or 9 guys standing around besides Bose) and everyone was dumbfounded...all looking at each other, collectively thinking "what in the hell are those speakers?" Well, of course, it was one of the first private demos of the original Bose 901s and, needless to say, it was quite an experience. I was only 21 years old but already hooked on the likes of the Fisher 500C, McIntosh, etc, Dave Brubeck, etc and living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60's. What more could a poor boy ask for?

I’ll jump on the old thread too. I’m sorry I was only a customer to Pacific Stereo myself and not an employee. I read through the posts carefully and was surprised the BIGGEST reason for me being a faithful customer for years hasn’t been mentioned earlier. Pacific Stereo had a one-year, 100% trade-up policy on speakers. Anytime during the first year, you could upgrade your speakers and get 100% of the original purchase price towards the upgrade. Unfortunately their demise obviously ended that gravy train for subsequent years. I still have ESS AMT-1Bs but actually (dating myself) I bought them from Fedco.

OldAsMono said:

I’ll jump on the old thread too. I’m sorry I was only a customer to Pacific Stereo myself and not an employee. I read through the posts carefully and was surprised the BIGGEST reason for me being a faithful customer for years hasn’t been mentioned earlier. Pacific Stereo had a one-year, 100% trade-up policy on speakers. Anytime during the first year, you could upgrade your speakers and get 100% of the original purchase price towards the upgrade. Unfortunately their demise obviously ended that gravy train for subsequent years. I still have ESS AMT-1Bs but actually (dating myself) I bought them from Fedco.

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Well at least you didn't buy your speakers from Rogersound Labs.

The only place I truly miss the most (HiFi related) is Recycled Stereo. It was owned by Pacific Stereo and was always a successful treasure hunt every time we went there.

Quad Linda said:

Transaudio 1800 belt drive turntable. I have one of these on my second system.
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That looks just like my Apan turntable from '77

Welcome to QQ, albiewan!

Thanks for mentioning our one year speaker trade-up, oldasmono. I'm also old as mono. My first record purchase was a 78. It was not a children's record. The speaker exchange was a sweet deal for everyone involved. The customer could buy a moderately priced speaker and not break the budget. After saving up your pennies, your system could get a massive upgrade. Our bottom line was enhanced by these upgrades.

I also forgot about Recycled Stereo. Thanks for mentioning that, albiewan. It was the repository for most of the used gear we took in. As I recall, each store had the option of selling it's own used gear or transfer it to Recycled. There was a Recycled Store within our Broadway/Devon store in Chicago.

There was a proprietary line that predated my tenure and lines like Concept, Reference and Calibre. It is Spectrosonic. Here are a couple Spectrosonic pieces:

Spectrosonic 55-4 receiver:


Spectrosonic SQ-4 Quad adaptor/SQ decoder/rear channel amplifier:

Quad Linda said:

Transaudio 1800 belt drive turntable. I have one of these on my second system.
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I bought this new in '79 for my parents' Christmas present, along with an Ortofon MM phono cartridge, 2 Kenwood speakers, Calibre 225 receiver, and a Sony TC-161SD cassette deck. I still have all this gear.

watsontr: That looks just like my Apan turntable from '77.

Apan BRU-121 Turntable:

Note the "flipper" knobs, the same as the Trans Audio. Likely both turntables were sourced from the same Japanese OEM.

Two of the four Infinity Qb speakers in my bedroom were bought from Pacific Stereo in 1977 and still work just fine. My primary turntable for going on 35 years is the Sony PS-X75 I paid a whopping $500 for back when it was a new model.

Dick Schram was a salesman and the designs attributed to him, were only suggestions on what he like'd in stereo equipment. I worked for Pacific Stereo 1971 to 1984. Managed the Costa Mesa CA store, and then ran the Recycled Stereo for several years. Last gig was in their speaker repair station in the CA warehouse. At one point in time Pacific Stereo sold over 60% of the total audio sales in America. The Concept receivers were manufactured by Tandy Electronics in Japan. Audio today is all Tinkle and boom, not much music. Thanks to whomever started this thread on Pacific Stereo. My name is Bob Harpley, and I've been in audio electronics since 1947, starting with The Radio Craftsman in Chicago. The ride isn't over yet.

Tom Anderson interviewed me for a job in the Walnut Creek store, 1971, and hired me on the spot. 14 years later I quit and watched all his work go down the drain and into bankruptcy. A very sad ending!

Thanks for the kudos. I ran Recycled Stereo for several years. We sold all the audio equipment Pacific Stereo took in on trade. Serviceman was Mike Sonleitner, and we are still in contact with each other. I think I miss Recycled Stereo more than you, it was a great place for all the old classic equipment, and that includes Mac, Fisher, Yamaha, Bozak, JBL Sherwood, Altec, BIC and Infnity. I still have my rebuilt Concept 16.5 and Klipsch La Scala speakers. I really do miss all those years, and thank you for remembering.

I was a relative short timer in the mid-1980s; look back on it fondly for myself and other PS folks and the friendships that ensued. Quad Linda will be along soon and she was a lifer!


From QQ deep space

Welcome to QQ, Bob (Quasiburro)! I'm the nutcase that started this thread. I worked at several PS Chicago locations in the late '70's & early 80's. Actually, Tim, I wasn't a lifer. When I got married in '81, I left PS to represent several electronics lines in IL, WI & IN.

Our proprietary blank tape line, made by Tampax, er make that Ampex:



Later proprietary Pacific Stereo tape from Mammorex:

Quad Linda said:

Later proprietary Pacific Stereo tape from Mammorex:
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Did these come in those same goofy cases Memorex used?

By then, Memorex switched to a more conventional cassette jewel box.

Before we carried Memorex, a customer came in and said his TransAudio 5500 got a tape stuck in it. The tape was a Memorex and it was a DC problem (defective customer.) The guy didn't take the white reel hubs out, causing the tape to jam. So, we replaced it because we felt sorry for his stupidity.

cupboy said:

Did these come in those same goofy cases Memorex used?

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Pacific Stereo newspaper ads:

Okay i meant lifer in the nicest possible way. You do have the historic treasures.


From QQ deep space

No offense taken, Tim. It's just that I wasn't a lifer.

timbre4 said:

Okay i meant lifer in the nicest possible way. You do have the historic treasures.


From QQ deep space

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