Real important News (October 8th)
Hello fella’s, truth be told it took me a while to write this up for you folks. Not that long ago, less than a year ago, I nearly reopened shop as the nearly 3 years had opened several options. I kept it close to the vest (yes, I can do that guy’s ;-). The uncertainty with my back issues was still not behind me in a way. Your Lucster is now in a better place.
Many clients knew I was active behind the scenes work wise. But I had not been totally open with that fact. Now everyone should know quite soon.
So here I am, Kris is still with me on deliveries and Roger still does the website. But life has also moved on for my crew. Kris now is a fishing aficionado. I still managed to work these last 3.5 years with my crew. The same applies now, the difference is I am open about the new work load. I feel comfortable in saying it’s a new game now. I feel good in saying welcome back Lucster. Yes, welcome back, folks.
PS : Further details on hours and opening time will appear shortly.
It’s been somewhat quiet…
…no kidding folks. With exception of one or so month in July, the remainder went back to a normal summer. But some thing is in the air for sure. Can’t always be somewhat quiet. At this time, I am pushing and rushing something ralated to our Clearance page. There is more work there than anticipated. Prices will be reviewed and reduced. I simply have way too much gear…way too much. So this will become word to the wise for sure. My response times have also gotten much faster. They were quick but now they reflect the activity levels we are chatting about.
Some folks have noticed , the brevity of our writings on our website has gotten much shorter. A good thing. A last important point, our Clearance page will be reworked and revised. As I said, prices will be reduced still and some new stock will be added.
Have a nice Autumn folks.
Brief news, early october to november…
Considering there will be nearly 2 months of future months, news will be limited. Things continue to change and move quickly in the marketplace. I will keep these changes at arm’s length away. Just too much to tend.
However, our Clearance or bargains page will be updated. It’s taking more time to work this project of extending details. Major push this week. There have been much sold folks and there are also a lot not placed on this quite active page. It’s the main reason why news is being kept brief in our October news cycle. Great news for you guys… mid October it will be uploaded. Take care fella’s.
September 2026
What happened this summer?
My return from vacation, well, let me start out by saying, there was no true vacation time. A little here and a little there. Those are the breaks. I perceived a lot of action. One of our key suppliers was sold. Focal Naim changed hands. I looked at their website which had a revised website was interesting. Focal had been revised, not a lot. However, Naim had managed to be gutted in my view, and maybe for good reasons. Many core value products we gutted. Even relatively new revisions were gutted. I had never been slapped in the face so hard upon witnessing the sheer amount. I’ll let you see for yourselves how Naim has been gutted based on the Naim website.
Linn has taken an entirely different path. A Majik standard LP 12 is now over 7,000 dollars. A Selekt LP 12 is over 20,000 dollars and then some more. Linn LP 12 parts have now shot up through the roof. Check out any U tube video of Linn LP 12 repairs from the USA, some old teck’s are now finding repairing LP 12 very difficult if not arduous in keeping the parts down in price wise. A few of those old U Tube boys are saying out loud that the LP 12 are likely their last one’s. These old boys find the repairs process complicated and with the prices of said parts , all LP 12 parts, these parts have become very expensive… I mean every word of that. Linn makes it very hard to support parts distribution. Once hikes happen so quickly and devastated-ly, even the short terms effects cannot be good, quite the opposite in fact. Linn has begun to replace gear at a very rapid ratio. So, what you buy, gets surprisingly replaced very quickly. Not all but many components. Many of their speakers have doubled in price, meaning they start at 5,000.00 then the next speaker jumps to 10,000.00. Oh, that’s where it starts with Linn. It’s not unique to Linn. I take note others have taken the same road and with the same level of price hikes.
I happen to know, some supplier, have let go some lines that they had done for years prior. Our city here is a bloody mess audio wise, often you lose lines that you had for years. I could go on and on; many of our lines have been affected in this fashion. One line up I had been discussing with in France, shut their doors permanently. Boy oh boy, that was fast !!! I’m barely touching the surface.
Then we see our American side with Tariffs. We have some lines that have been shut down quite quickly. So, there is no investing or adding to our lineup. All of our future’s seem topsy tirvy at this time. Our website will need to reflect this reality. Let us see where this goes my dear gents.
Clearance page
…Will be active again in the coming days or week max. It will be refreshed very soon.
Inventory levels
Aside from the new that we continue to offer, we still maintain we have still a tremendous amount of inventory… still more than any other shop in the region.
Tariffs
Tariffs have affected most American lines that we carry. Both sorry and regret having to carry lines under this predicament. We had negotiated with 2 lines, tariffs had posed a pause but the Trump nightmare has deepened as you all know.
Emails…
… are being responded to, quick enough, in fact quite efficiently. Saturdays are loaded with lots of activity with our clients, so expect some brief delays. YES… coffee is still being served, not the cheap kind 😉
Suspect retail behaviors
We’ve seen many shops who advertise line ups in droves they do not have on the floor or they advertise the entire line up while they have but one or 2 pieces. Suppliers have no choice, as business cycles are basically very low. Never seen this before to this extent now.
Next update.
This September will see a whole Naim system on. Then we will move onward onto other brands sometime this October. We can see introducing NU PRIME, a first. On this last note… take care fella’s.
Starting July 11th
The times are changing and not all of them good. So many of us have change’s coming into our lives. There are good ones as well. I am certain many of us will need to rest our brains, and for good reasons.
I have invested into our Nu Prime line up which I happen to liking a lot. It’s beyond any expectation, really. Highly musical and beyond any normal sense of musicality. I will be listening to this NP line up this summer. Add to this our new Bryston line up, that everybody knows. What’s not to like.
Upon our return back, changes are being planned in order to adapt to the many things I’ve seen happen with our suppliers. I think I know what to do, but no need to rush. I will simply push these things through. Taken all at once, these things will mean a lot. People may notice… or not.
Rather than tease our clients, who needs to be teased I say, those changes will simply be pushed through when the time arrives.
On this final note, I would like to wish you all a great summer with family and friends. I will do the same for our longest summer vacation ever. Be good folks.
AUGUST we are closed and on Vacay.
We’ve become too busy this July and second half of June. So, I shall be off this August instead. It’s a 1st when I think about it. We have bought some inventory , quite a bit actually. A fair bit of NUPRIME audio. Very enamored about this stuff. I think I may be looking at their superior line up quite soon. I shall also be adding Wireworld and the list goes on. One thing is sure , other than taking this July somewhat off, I shall be taking the entire month of August off. May you all have a great summer off folks.
A while back I advised you fine gentlemen that I was smitten with this NP line up. This was early September 2025. Here we are today, in July and my predisposition to be excited about NP, has in fact gotten worse… I am still stuck with NP being in my listening regimen.
Just pointing your index at any one NP component, you will fall prey to what amounts to world class level of musicality. I still have ways to go yet as I have a ton of product yet.
NP Omnia A 200 has been keeping my ears really busy. NP finger print base are the following: unsurpassed musicality , high power reserves, build quality and an absolute connection protocol. I have never lost connection with any NP component. However, with the spring and early summer storms lately, once power came back requiring a reboot on my end, the NP gear always reconnected to my network without fail.
I now have played with many NP components, and all have me impressed. Don’t trust me , I am a vulgar sales guy. Here in Ottawa, I start with the STA 100, a small amplifier rated at 100 WPC into 8 ohms and 150 wpc into 4 ohms. The power is irrelevant to me. I am a hell of a lot more interested to the high degree of musicality it possesses.
I have a lot of stock in back up, I have included, quite a few of level 8s and 9X, and I am looking forward to including the AMG level line up. I can only barely touch the surface of the series I have in stock. I have been taken so far aback by this line up, that bearing my soul would not be taken seriously. This is the what I think about NP. I had just built a Bryston and Linn Klimax gear for my July vacation , but reality I have confirmedhas been relegated this fine system behind NP gear. I’m not saying behind Linn and Bryston, but what I am saying is this NP line up is simply beyond fun and sheers musicality.
NP is a vast line up, most will be able to buy into some level.
Here I am, months end is nearly upon us all, this small article will be my last one for the summer and till at least August. I will be spending time with my family and friends. While I am thinking about it, NP will be at the ready this summer as well. May you all have a pleasant summer gent’s. Be safe, enjoy music and stay happy folks.
Changes out there
CHANGES OUT THERE.
I PROMISED MYSELF I would not write any articles like the following… but here I am, a last time I believe.
Coming back from a delivery downtown on a Sunday morning, I noticed nothing had really changed since Dec 19th 2019. As my son drove our truck, I witnessed shops that had closed when the pandemic started way back, had not come back , small to large locations that were rented to banks. A few people were walking about on this rather nice Sunday late morning. However, some folks were injecting drugs into their arms out in the open. The contrast with the sunlight was the bleak reality of where we are even in our capital city.
This made me think that no wonder we’re seeing what we are, let’s say even worse in the market area. For us older business types, I’m pretty sure there are 3 that are counting their days before this walk off into the sunset. Add to this , our suppliers are being bought off by conglomerates, which is another thing. If this isn’t so, then what about mystery cash flowing into new retailers, Ottawa is not immune from this . When these guys disappear, they are gone with any of their responsibilities to their clients. Why would any retailer get into this business when day in, day out, suppliers will choose a bigger pay check even if it’s a few times only. Look at what happened to Sim Audio, a few years ago. How about Naim not that long ago.
This environment does not instill confidence, when you know your rightful line up cannot be trusted. I saw the same things in Montreal but much worse about 3 years ago. The void and the chaos that will lead to, will make it a bad argument in staying on when no trust can be found after hands are shook after the deal is worked out. I know of 3 retailers that are close to closing down and retiring. This should be no surprise. In the 35 years I’ve been at this with my crew, it was a rather nice ride. We were very lucky. But as I witnessed this reality on Bank Street and a few more streets, I think those days are over. Anybody who was part of those great happy days, will have lost this happy feeling. We’ve started this pandemic experience 6.5 years ago. I truly doubt that many of the old timers would want to continue. As I wait to retire as my wife is close to doing in less than 2 years, I am here to stay for now. I will not be the only one to eventually leave.
I will not get to having worked on these milestones that are memory-based… like 1,500 Linn LP 12’s, may get to 37 years of existence. We’ll see mates. Somewhere along our business journey, I think we should be able to demand having a bit of fun. I admit those realities are getting a bit difficult mates. It still was a great over 35-some-odd years serving you folks. Stay safe and happy listening.
Quick facts
Just in case it was missed, we will be enjoying mostly our summer off, and will be slow to respond starting in July. Our bargains page will go MIA at that time… for about 2 months. We will see you again at summers end. Enjoy your families and summer fella’s!
Stay safe.
Here we go again…
Sorry I had quite the fiasco with my back issues. I am feverishly catching up with my work load. One of the things that I am catching up on is updating my Clearance page . In fact, this web page will see 2 new things… A lot of gear that has never seen the day on our website.
Secondly, with my medical issues that have been no fun to endure, it has become important that I reduce the prices that had never been had so low before. Read the notes above the list; a great many of the components are being given away quite literally , some drastically. Of course I need room in my home. My wife is wearing thin on me; I still get the evil eye after 45 years together because of this thing. I can’t blame her. I have uploaded a massive dump load of gear. Scary part is, I still have more.
This is usually not a good time to sell this mid spring, so if it turns out I’m right again, and will remove list and place it later in the year. Sorry for disappearing, but the circumstances gave me no way out. It was rough, but I’m back guys. Thanks for reading.
I’m here folks!
I am now available to accepting work on the turntables we have sold you, and or Linn LP 12’s. Further, my sound room is available to show or demonstrate any and all new gear we have added to in our shop. Our Clearance page will be deleted, then updated very soon and placed back on our shorter and sweeter website.
Lastly, we’ll be available more so than before, as we’re clearly behind the 8 ball. Take care folks.
Nu prime
I am having a ball with Nu Prime. These folks are very active. Ordered several levels of gear, including level 9 line up. Gad, having ball, and it’s been a long time since I have had this much fun. For those folks that like Lumin, by default, you might like this line up more, I’m just saying.
They go in deeper in their offerings! I’ve just ordered a few NP components, for myself. I had already ordered quite a bit. That say’s something when the shop owners buy their line up for themselves. Sleek, different finishes, cutting edge technology, extremely music and all have crystal clear silence or back ground noise, for me NP becomes very easy to love, then there is that sound which is at a different level entirely. More so than any other brand. Don’t take my word for it.
We have sources for Streamers, DAC’s, all in ones, power amps, preamps, integrates etc etc. The STA 9 amp, will stab you in the heart. Then there is the power of those Marvelous things. They equally have the STA 100, a power amp for 800.00 USD, I have my own, a 100 wpc at 8 ohms’ and 150 wpc at 4 ohms’… damn thing is actually a beautiful thing too look at. This STA 100 plays insanely well on Chamber music, even Symphonic music scape’s by with it’s quite powerful 150 wpc. Your silly dealer has over 20 NP products, that’s a lot. I suppose, get these while their hot fella’s.
I have equally noticed that our floor models of Pro-Acs sing very well with our NP line up. I’ve tried several pairs Go figure, but my guess about this match up was right on the money. Another speaker company that does rather well, is the French company… Davies. High end speakers are a really heavy thing, mainly because our home is packed full . We have above 30 to 40% still boxed up.
Axiom/Bryston line up
Here is another great Canadian company. We have the power amps, from the benches of Bryston. Some may be surprised to hear that Axiom owns Bryston. Our models had been initially damaged by the shipper. These rather heavy boxes had to be shipped back to Bryston. I just received these again. So here we go with burn in once again . Our new Bryston stock have completed some burn in, but the amp has no burn in. So here we go again, folks.
Thanks for your patience
I had a small medical set back nearly 5 weeks ago. I did answer most of our clients, with exception that for about 7 or so days ago that I could not. I am back on track, slowly but surely. Roger will assist me as I rebuild this site. As I had my back turned, several things changed with the market place and our suppliers. These pesky details will be addressed quite soon. Further, our Clearance page will be revised and many prices will be reduced quite soon. Thank you so much for your patience, folks.
Bryston line up
Within about a week’s time, our NEW BRYSTON line up will be ready to be played. I see this happening towards beginning of the month of May.
Summer hours
Will arrive this June. As June rolls around, these will become clear.