Pearl Audio is an awesome store. First, unlike any other store in Portland, or probably anywhere else, they have a huge stock of very high end equipment in their store. Second, the staff is amazingly helpful. They have extensive knowledge of high end equipment. Once I decided what I wanted to listen to Russ set up auditions of just the equipment I wanted to hear using the same equipment I had at home as the ancillary equipment. He never tried to push me into buying things I didn’t want. He made suggestions of equipment I might like and let me take it home to see what I thought. Also, perhaps just as important, he actually talked me out of buying things I thought I wanted but didn’t really need. I bought a Linn turntable and Russ built it for me. He made several trips to my house to fine tune the turntable, including after hours and on his day off. He then found a buyer for my old turntable. When I bought a pair of Sonus Faber speakers Russ came out to my house and positioned them for me. They also host fun events. We heard the new DCS Varese through top level Nordost cables, Burmester electronics and Magico speakers. Even when we’re not talking about buying stuff it is fun to just hang out with Russ, John and Connor and talk about fine whiskey, cars and stereo equipment in general. Highly recommended.
