But where did they all go since the mid 1980s ? Are some of them still there ? What did become of the hi-fi "temples" ? Those huge shops with hundreds of knobby receivers, walls of loudspeakers, recorders everywhere and a staff of twenty ready to help you choose between a Sansui or a Pioneer or a Sony or a Kenwood or a Braun or an Onkyo or or.
Judging by the number of ads, small or big, good or bad, there seems to have been one hi-fi shop in every other street !
With many of those ads copied in my iPhone, I decided to go make snapshots of those places which used to be "hi-fi heaven".
The first one I got is very close to my flat, just down Montmartre, at the Place Clichy : King Music.
According to the many 2-page ads published between 1971 and 1976, that King Music had 2500 square meters of exhibition spread over five floors - it was the entire building !
Equivalent King "hi-fi supermarkets" were already opened in eight other major french cities, with 14 others planned for opening throughout 1974.
Here attached is a january 1974 ad and its "36 years after" equivalent shot this afternoon. King Music is no more : a bank and an insurance company it is.
I'll be doing this throughout august (best time for free rollerblading in Paris) and it would be interesting if some of you could bring snapshots of your own before/after "where my hi-fi heaven was" !

