The Rural We: Tim Hall
Tim Hall created Audiophile Garage in a space over his garage in Falls Village, Connecticut. It’s a place where music lovers can listen to and purchase great gear and get expert advice. Once he started developing customers he realized there is a group of audiophile folks around the area. Hall started out as a musician, but he’s always been passionate about gadgets and systems. Eventually he concentrated on audio engineering in NYC working on multimedia and video production. Hall and his wife bought a house in Falls Village about five years ago, where “you can turn it up a bit without bothering the neighbors.”
Music as a business wasn’t the best stable foundation for me — I love music, but I like to eat, too. So I went into corporate work, which I really enjoyed.
Audiophile Garage got started because my friend, Scott Bierfeldt, had designed custom speakers that were phenomenal. I helped him launch those speakers at a show in 2019. It was my first time working at a show for consumers, and I found it so much fun. Scott diversified his business by selling international audio brands, and that quickly grew. He lived in an apartment in Jersey City, and I suggested to him that he could use my space as a showroom. I was brought in as another dealer. Now we’re working together on brands and equipment.
We rep about 25 to 30 brands. Building a system is important, because components do not always connect. There are so many good brands from around the globe, and so much technological innovation. Streaming has brought in huge changes. Receivers now have a streaming module that’s network friendly. You can listen to any streaming radio station in the world. There are new types of amplification. The overall quality across audio has risen so much, it’s much easier to find great sound than it used to be. Traditional stereo systems now come in all shapes and sizes. We also sell headphones, and portable systems for office and home. Turntables, too — the vinyl resurgence continues.
Architectural Digest did a feature on an interesting trend: the design of listening rooms, the new must-have in people’s homes. I’m hoping I meet some of these folks who want to have a dedicated listening room. People might have a beautiful hi-def TV, but their old speakers are comparable to watching a VHS tape on an old CRT TV. When people hear above-average sound, it’s like watching high-definition TV.
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