Laskys and Tandy

[plasticpenguin]

My nearest Laskys was in Kingston Upon Thames, about an hours bike ride away. Back then I used to try and blag a lift from my dad. It was worth the wait though. Quite often we would pop into Woolworths and buy a couple of records either new in the charts or from their cut price bargain bin (usually ex-juke box).

 

[Gizza]

We are roughly the same age but I don’t have any recollection of the branch of Lasky’s? I presume it became another brand and I remember the place as that! Where was it?

It was in Corporation Street, New Street end, same side as Rackhams, pretty much opposite C&A. Not sure which shop is there now. 

 

[Gizza]

Here you go... 

 

[Gizza]

Just read they were bought out by Comet. 

 

[Gizza]

I recall Lasky's was located at the the top end of Corporation Street opposite Rackhams. I didn't go in there much, it was too main stream for my tastes. I preferred and spent most of my time in Hardmans on the top floor drooling over the high end stuff like the chunky big gold Denons and Missions.

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OK, my turn.. where the heck was Hardmans

My goto hifi shop for my first system was Norman H Field in Hurst Street. 

 

[Rockchild]

I recall Laskys in Slough... I remember when CD came out and so much going on in the store around one of the first Philips that hit the shelves.. there was an open demo going on with someone from Philips doing an AB comparison between CD and Vinyl. Sadly it wasn’t about the music it was about convenience and cracks and pops from the vinyl... 

 

[Rayymondo]

I sure did, I bought me a pair of these bad boys . Had to buy them one at a time, as could only afford them that way so had to have the mono button pressed in on my NAD amp for a couple of months until I could afford to go stereo and buy a second one ;-) . Had to carry it home on the bus which was no mean feat as they were massive and weighed a ton (even individually)

Obviously not really that good but I loved them as I was young and into reggae at the time! Thy did go quite low as I remember (12 inch woofers)

View attachment 36470

 

[Minicoupeman]

I worked in Laskys  in TCR for three months or more ( I forget). Customers came in their droves to buy Amstrad and Sinclair stuff while we did our best to get them to spend a few quid more for Trio or Cambridge.  The return rate on the Amstrad and Sinclair stuff was unbelievable- I know it was a long time ago but 20% seems about right. Oh and Ditton 15 speakers and Whalfdale bookshelve speakers flew out the door, as did Garrard SP25’s and Pioneer PL12D’s.  Couldn’t shift Connasiour turntables (BD something or other) though - too expensive.  Shure cartridge anyone M75? 

 

[Lawrence001]

Genexxa lx5's from Tandy's in Letchworth, still got them, the best speakers with a bit of tweaking, and there was a franchise in Hitchin, called Kotecha giftronics..... 

That's what I had in my room at Kegworth yesterday!

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[plasticpenguin]

Always remember buying my first proper speakers from Comet. They were Solavox PR25 MKII. Laskys and Tandy were way beyond anything I could afford at the tender age of 15. The Solavox brand were only sold in the UK through Comet, like Cambridge and Richer Sounds.

 

[rabidlistener]

In the early 70's I used to work for the MOD at St Giles Court under the infamous Centre Point Tower. I fondly remember many a lunchtime was spent wandering along TCR looking in REW ( man they used to have some really exotic kit - Gale TT anyone?), G W Smith (I still have their catalogue around somewhere) and of course Lasky's. I used to drool over the Quadrophonic systems by Sansui & Pioneer in their catalogue but could never afford them. These lunchtime foray's were the start of my long, slippery ride to audio nirvana.

Mike

 

[MF 1000]

My first system was in 1986 bought from Laskys in Chester...AR EB101 deck, Trio pre amp/Trio power amp and Kef C40 speakers.

 

[greybeard]

Used to regularly go in Laskys TCR, in fact still have the first amp  I bought there, a Trio 2000.

 

[Lawrence001]

Used to regularly go in Laskys TCR, in fact still have the first amp  I bought there, a Trio 2000.

Was it near the Oxford St end? I remember shopping for hifi in 1992 when I was at uni down the road in UCL and the building reminds me of a pile em high shop I went in, lots of Technics, Sony, Kenwood etc. Would that still have been Lasky's then?

If it's the one I'm thinking of they were all demolished about 20 years ago along with a kebab shop called Dionysus which I regularly got chips and veggie burger/falafel from on my way back from the Borderland, Astoria, Marquee, Limelight etc.

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[JD68]

I sure did, I bought me a pair of these bad boys . Had to buy them one at a time, as could only afford them that way so had to have the mono button pressed in on my NAD amp for a couple of months until I could afford to go stereo and buy a second one

. Had to carry it home on the bus which was no mean feat as they were massive and weighed a ton (even individually)
Obviously not really that good but I loved them as I was young and into reggae at the time! Thy did go quite low as I remember (12 inch woofers)
View attachment 36470

Think I almost remember them. Would have loved a pair of them as a teenager.

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[greybeard]

Was it near the Oxford St end? I remember shopping for hifi in 1992 when I was at uni down the road in UCL and the building reminds me of a pile em high shop I went in, lots of Technics, Sony, Kenwood etc. Would that still have been Lasky's then?

If it's the one I'm thinking of they were all demolished about 20 years ago along with a kebab shop called Dionysus which I regularly got chips and veggie burger/falafel from on my way back from the Borderland, Astoria, Marquee, Limelight etc.

My memory is not what it was but I recall it being nearer that end of TCR. Back in the 70's you could go in, and audition loads of speakers, as they were all connected to a switch box, for easy comparisons. Happy days!

 

[deggie]

Ah the joys of misspent youth .

 

[plasticpenguin]

Ah the joys of misspent youth .

Hi-fi should be on the national curriculum.

 

[eddie-baby]

One of the good old boys was Tandy IMO. I always made a beeline to visit the place. They had such a variety of gear in there it was a bit of an Aladdin's cave at one point, and you'd never know what you were going to get. Even down to the selection of replacement speakers or parts, it was a great place to visit at one point. They even had a pretty decent selection of separates as well, and such a range of speakers.

You'd often turn up at a mates house and they might have bought something from there that would entertain us for hours. And the catalogue they put out was something you could always reach for and hunt for gear as well.

Just one speaker I remember well were these. A mate of mine had a set and when the boys were round they'd be pushed to all sorts of extremes and with all types of music. Not particular great but at the time we were getting a lot more from them than your average households hi-fi systems.

 

[eddie-baby]

Actually, it wasn't those it was these, the bigger ones with the front port, 305s.

Shows how good my memory is, but we were drinking a lot of cheap alcohol back then