One bitter cold Saturday morning I bundled up and headed for mid-town Manhattan with Judy Rubin who works with Lisa and myself when she’s not going to high school. Judy is into the Dead and the Allmans and our destination was 45th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, where all the hi-fi stores are located, one next, to the other along both sides of the street. Our objective was simple: find a reasonably priced stereo system for Judy.

We’d set an upper limit of $500 on our purchases. Before shopping, Judy ;had looked through the numerous catalogs 1 keep in the house and was prepared to pass on a radio receiver (AM/FM stereo tuner) in order to get the-best basic system possible. Our first stop was Harvey Radio, /probably the biggest retail store in the city. We shuffled into Harvey’s listening room with a young salesman who identified himself as “Ritchie” and mumbled a good deal, under his breath, about Db’s and separation and wattage at eight ohms resistance. I explained that we wanted a turntable, speakers, and an amp, and that if we spent any more than five big ones we were going to be in a lot of trouble. Ritchie nodded, bit into his danish, slugged down some coffee out of a cardboard cup, and motioned towards a wall of speakers. On four shelves, from floor to ceiling, were lined up sets of speakers in various shapes and wood finishes. Judy and I went into a huddle and I told Ritchie that we'wanted a set of speakers that were good for rock music. He disappeared out of the listening room arid returned with a Chicago album.