The owner of a Wynwood hi-fi audio store shares his recommendations for a fine sound experience at home.
When Eric Gould founded Soundlux Audio five years ago, he wanted to create an audio shop that provided an all-senses experience like no other of its kind. With wooden furniture, white-painted brick walls and metal bookcases, the store looks more like a sleek Manhattan apartment than an audio retailer. Formerly known as Deja Vu Audio South, Soundlux is an audio store that supplies exclusive American-made and international hi-fi equipment.
During the isolation of quarantine, Gould recommends investing in a high-quality home audio system because it is the key to listening to music at its best. “With great reproduction of music, it’s a whole different experience,” he says. “It’s not uncommon for people to come into the store, and they sit down and I play something for them, and they have an emotional reaction.”
Soundlux’s flagship brands include Audio Note (UK), an award-winning audio systems manufacturer, and Oswalds Mill Audio, a high-fidelity audio company for which Soundlux is the only dealer in North America.
Among Gould’s favorite home equipment are the Audio Note AN-J LX speakers ($5,584), a pair of speakers with cabinets made of Russian birch plywood and a real wood veneer finish that augment bass performance when placed near walls. When it comes to headphones, Gould recommends the Audeze LCD-2 ($995), a handcrafted set that provides low-distortion sound. For amplifiers, he suggests Oswalds Mill Audio Black Knight 807 ($70,230), which produces 10 watts at full power with extremely low distortion.
Although Gould prefers customers try equipment at the store to make sure they fall in love with the audio quality, he is trying to give personalized advice to audiophiles by remote means. The store is open for in-person demonstrations by appointment while Soundlux also provides phone customer support, sales of hi-fi systems and installations.
“What we’re trying to do is get people exposed to music that sounds good,” Gould says. “If we get them to think about how they can listen to music better, mission accomplished from our side.” By appointment only, 120 NW 25th St., Ste. 302, soundluxaudio.com