Friday, June 17, 2022

Hub City Vinyl

We took a long drive to visit relatives in Western Maryland for Memorial Day weekend.

I made sure we checked out Hub City Vinyl in downtown Hagerstown, MD. This really cool record store is housed in an Art Deco structure that served as a car dealership in its previous life.


I was based here from the latter part of the 90s till the late 2000s and never imagined a well-stocked record store of this size could thrive in this town.


Notice da boss patiently waiting in the listening lounge?


The Zu Omen speakers driven by Schiit Audio electronics with Steely Dan's "Gaucho" spinning on a Technics turntable made the atmosphere even more endearing!


Towards the back of the building is another room full of LPs and CDs.


The left hand corner of that room had stacks of classic hifi gear!


 This Gates CB1200 3-speed idler driven turntable + Gray 206 viscous damped tonearm definitely caught my eye. But I've run out of space and need to unload to pacify the boss.😉 

So I hope a blog reader will buy the above set up and enjoy it!🍻


I like the black out aesthetics of this 70s Plainview NY era Harman Kardon 330C receiver, which sported technically innovative circuitry. The rack mountable Tandberg tuner is also interesting!


How about a custom tube amp using 6BL7 tubes?


One of the sales associates told me that the back end of the building will eventually be transformed into a live music venue as the pandemic winds down. This is really great news for the cultural life of Washington County!


If you're a record collector and/or audio buff driving through the junction of I-81 and I-70, this place is a must-see!

Welcome, summer! Safe travels!




6 comments:

  1. Looks like (very cool) fun to me! Thanks for sharing the photos and this information!
    Now, that being said, perhaps one of us ;) should equip them with a "better" (i.e., more appropriate) means of amplification for those Zu loudspeakers? ;)

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    1. Their off on a great start! In due course they'll learn how to properly amplify those Zu speakers.👍

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  2. What a great spot - I'd hang around there all day! #vinyloasis - JB

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    1. I hope you make it there at some point!🍻

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  3. I miss going to record stores... The HK receiver was the first vintage receiver I bought myself - maybe back in 2002. It has been quite the slippery slope since then!

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    1. I find record stores therapeutic in general. I'm not so sure about hifi stores.😉

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