Any audio shops in Vegas that shouldn't be missed?

Another vote for Premiere entertainment!

I am in Las Vegas on business this week and found them from this thread. I called and made an appointment for 8:00 am(!) and let them know what I was interested in. I had to call back and reschedule for another day, no problem. When I got there, Jim greeted me by name, he had a room all setup with the speakers I was interested in hearing. This was really helpful for me, as I was on a tight schedule.

No pressure, nice tour of the place, left me alone with the equipment, invited me to position speakers as I liked.

Pretty amazing, considering I let them know I was from out of town! I offered upfront to pay for their time (I hope this wasn't insulting), which they declined.

This store might not satisfy the most serious audiophiles on this site. I didn't see any tubes or turntables (I didn't ask as I wasn't looking for them). Home theatre occupies a good deal of space.

A decent range of electronics from Marantz, Rotel, Arcam, Bryston (and Anthem and Proceed on the HT side). The only quality 2-channel separates were from Bryston, no complaints from me.

A great selection of speakers (which is what I was looking for). All available for demo: B & W (including N802, N805, and CD-9NT), 2 different sets of Martin Logans (I listened to "Ascents", I believe), Vandersteen 3s, a "local" make (RBH), and Paradigm Reference. Lower-end models from B&W and Paradigm also. Again, not the highest of high-end, but right in my range.

They seemed quite honest, are willing to ship to me because they have spent significant time with me in their shop, and so they consider it a "local sale". I will strongly consider purchasing from them if a speaker they carry makes my final cut.

Overall, a great experience.

I was only in there one time with my brother & whoever the salesman was, he treated me very well. He played a CD that was either homemade or a customer made for them & it was great. I asked about getting a copy it was so good & that's when I learned it wasn't commercially available.

I listened to some Watt Puppies driven by an all Luxman system. I had a good time & went in there just to see the store & was treated to some very good tunes on a very nice system.

The Upper Ear was bad experience for me. When I worked their they had a perverse distane for audiophiles, refering to them in a derogatory manner as "tweeks". I was the odd man out being the only real audiophile there.(I owned ARC gear at the time and had owned 3 pair of Magnepalnars)
They sold a very weird mix of stuff. Cheap Sony and Polk crap, Mark Levenson, Mac, Klipsch, Magnepan(which none of the other sales people seemed to like),Tandberg, B&W, Oracle. They had a system which consisted of Levenson class A ML 2's sitting on top of a pair of Big K horns fed by a Sony CDP 101 that they thought was real cool.It sounded dreadful!
You had to attend the Dale Carnagie sales training(brain washing)courses at your own expense.I sold the only pair of B&W 801's they had ever sold at the time. They had no idea how to make a TT sound worth a damn. They loved to put on a big Sigfried and Roy style show with all of their Hp test equiptment to set up a table but didn't even know what VTA was! . I got fired after voiceing the opinion that the Sony CDP 101 sounded like crap(seems they all bought one). I will not shead a tear for their demise!

Yes, I remember the Upper Ear. It was a sad day when they closed the doors. Like Driver stated above. I go to SoCal for most of what I can't get on the Net.

Such is life in front of the speakers!

The Upper Ear closed on June 1st 2000. Some of the people from there started a new store: Premiere Home Entertainment on Rainbow Ave. They are good folks and will treat you right.

I had a greate experience last Christmas at Premiere Home Entertainment, 2300 N. Rainbow (702)877-0222. They carry B&W and Audio Research so credentials in order and they couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful (even wrapped my DM303's for free!) (Warning: they put red pepper in the popcorn). Kim, the store's President, is a real Babe.
Viva Las Vegas!

I just got back last night from Vegas and their Yellow Pages proves unless you are into car audio it truly is a virtual wasteland for high-end audio.

My brother lives there & he sent me this answer:

Upper Ear 3900 W. Charleston at Valley View, In the NW corner. Just about the only true stereo shop in town that is not a chain. For a city this big with as much money that floats around here we don't have squat for high-end audio. Best of the chains is Ultimate Electronics. Most people here that are into audio go to LA to get it.

Jdwek, you staying at the Sahara and playing Monday 4/29 through to Thursday 5/2? 4-on-4 format? Best, Jeff

The Upper Ear was the only and the best shop in Vegas 'till recently. I talked with Steve (owner) just couple of years ago and they were still in business. Now they have Executive Audio, Ultimate Audio etc...

Hey Vegasears, Do you remember "The Upper Ear" or "R.P. Miller Audio"? Both were in Vegas in the early 80's. I worked at both those joints.

HQ Recycled Stereo
2122 E. Charleston Blvd.
873-3088

Recycled Stereo is a bone yard for audio stuff. I Most of what they have is junk but every now and then they have something of interest. May be worth a look.

Each and every Pawn shop. I don't make it a habit to look in pawn shops, but I strolled into one there about a year ago and found a pair of speakers, a set of B&W Nautilus 802's, NOT STOLEN, for $2,000. They had been asking $2,400 and I thought if they don't know to ask $5,000, they sure as heck won't care for a lowerball offer of $2,000 cash out the door!
Dan

I am going to the same hoceky tournament ..I think. I am interested in the answer to this one!