NYC's hippest hi-fi shop

DeVore speakers and Shindo electronics at ILS.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

The shop has lots of tube electronics, but solid-state lives there too.

(Credit: In Living Stereo)

Steven Mishoe opened In Living Stereo just a few weeks before 9/11, and it turned out to be the worst possible time to open a high-end hi-fi shop in New York City.

But ILS is still there on 4th Street, right across from where Tower Records used to be. And unlike the bigger, more established hi-fi shops, ILS sells music systems. Don't go there to pick Mishoe's brain about music servers or iPhone apps. No, In Living Stereo caters to people who listen to music at home. What a concept!

Over the years I've heard great sound there many times. Brand selection is choice, including tube electronics from Fatman, Leben Hi-Fi, Prima Luna, and Shindo Laboratory; speakers from DeVore Fidelity, Dynaudio, ProAc, Rega, and Verity Audio; and turntables from Rega and Shindo Laboratory.

Complete systems with a CD player, integrated amplifier, and speakers start around $1,200. Mishoe's an analog guy, so he stocks turntables starting around $400, tube amplifiers from $1,200, and speakers $500 and up.

Call ahead, make an appointment, and bring some of your favorite tunes to see how good they can sound.

Check out the ILS Web site to learn more about the store.

[scaught78]

Stupid NYC and your stupid cool stores!

[jaguar717]

I know you meant it ironically, but the idea of hi-fi and city-boy-hipster going together is pretty ridiculous.

I mean, your Apple-white earbuds just have to go with your white belt and "I spent $50 to show you how much I don't care" haircut, right?

[humblehifi]

This is my favorite spot in the city. It has been a source of great distraction though. I went there 4 years ago and hear the Devore speakers for the first time. For three years they haunted me until I could finally afford to buy a set. Steve is a great guy and will let you listen to anything you want. I think the next on my list is the Liben. There is something so sweet about the Liben paired with the Devore Gibbons.

Also, next door is Other Music, one of New York's great music stores. Very knowledgeable staff and great stock of obscure titles. Check them both out when you are in the area.

[John72953]

Did you get a commission to promote this store? I enjoy most of your blogposts, but this is a useless waste of space.

[loose_filling]

So he likes the store! What's your problem with him relaying that information? I've been there and I think he's dead on. I love In Living Stereo. They always have the best sound in New York in my opinion. I loveeeeeeeeee the Shindo equipment. To see it in person there is to want it.

[rich12313]

Yea man, calm down. nice place, great service..hard to come by these days...anyway i bet your being paid to bad-mouth the store. ha.

[John72953]

Well it may be great store, but the vast majority of readers here don't live in NYC. So what's the point of this post? To write a blogpost because you have nothing else to say? Come on'..the world of audio doesn't revolve around NYC.

[soundman45]

I totally agree. It's just free advertising, and for those who don't live in New York City we should care because???

[buzzvader]

Geesh! I'm listening to an AM radio broadcast on my Marantz receiver (AM 740) that probably sounds better than most of the stuff sold by "In Living Stereo." In Living Stereo? Isn't that what most of the RCA albums were sold under? I'd be willing to bet that my parents Zenith console stereo with Cobra turntable/changer sounded better than most of this equipment. After going to the website and looking at the brands, I've heard of only 12 of the brands. Does this stuff come from China? Oh yeah, right, it probably does. While I wish nothing bad for In Living Stereo, I'm sure there's better stuff out there without paying a fortune for it. That's right, it's on eBay; vintage electronics. Where are the real audiophiliacs anyway? Isn't the country bigger than NYC?

[loose_filling]

Buzzvader, do you work for another store. Cause it sounds like it.

[make_or_break]

BV: I detest NYC as much as the next guy, but c'mon...killer audio gear knows no boundaries. We've got a cadre of similar shops here in Seattle who sell gear just as "hip" with service to match, as if such characteristics are actually REAL criteria for getting excellent sonic quality to one's ears.

Next thing we'll know, Guttenberg's going to be tossing about such notable audio traits like "cool", "chic" and "trendy"...woe is us...

[abaddon504]

hey, buzzvader...you sound like an idiot. thanks for nothing. move a long please.

[crisante]

There are similar stores that sell similar equipment. Pitch Perfect in San Francisco and Don Better Audio in Cleveland carry many of the same brands. I'm sure there are more. One of the reasons for this particular mix of products is that they complement each other so well. Devore speakers have high sensitivity and high impedance levels. They are perfect for driving with amps such as Shindo's which are generally lower power amps.

I auditioned the Gibbon 3XL's and they were amazing. Buying them in a couple weeks. Can't wait until I can afford to pair them with a Shindo amp.

For Buzz, Devore Fidelity is right in NYC and Shindo and Leben are from Japan. If you don't like this post your entitled to your opinion. I can't stand when Steve goes on and on about TV related audio.

[humblehifi]

You are going to Love the Devore speakers, I have the Gibbon 8s. I have them paired with a VTL IT-85 and they sound divine. My roommate came in one day and was thinking my friend and i were playing out guitars in the room. Now if that is not something for realism I don't know what is!

I have stayed up way too late many of night just because I could not turn them off...

And as for everyone bashing ILS, what gives? If you had gone there you would agree with Steve. It is one of the only shops around the city that does not get pissed if you are just in there looking and want to hear something. Plus, it is next door to Other Music...

[phpdood]

This is blatent advertising for a store; this is the best "news" out there? Come on, if I want to hear about a store, or find oout about the atmosphere I can look on the internet for reviews; if I want good honest advice on WHAT to buy, then I turn here.

[buzzvader]

No, I don't work for anyone else and am not an idiot. Much of the modern stuff is well put together; I'm just not sure it sounds as good as the JBL Centuries and Dahlquists once did. You have to remember it all sounds differently to each and every one of us. FM Sound in Buffalo used to have all the equipment behind a curtain and they would play different combinations of amps, receivers,turntables and speakers to see what you really thought was best by using your ears. That was an "ear" opener!

[loose_filling]

OK. So you're an "audiophile" who knows better than any one else. You take a shot at an audio store based on what? It sounds like you don't know anything about audio equipment. Where are you from, Pennsyltucky? Don't like people who live in New York because???? I know the answer... you're an idiot. A guy writes a short article on a cool store with great products and a laid back atmosphere and you have to chime in with your negativity because you feel inadequate. If you can't afford new stuff or your ego is so large (or small) that you can't help to make it personal when someone isn't lauding "YOUR" equipment than you should find another hobby. Maybe you should work for Sarah Palin's in 2012. Afterall, she is from Alaska and not that big bad New York City, home of city slickers.

[jaguar717]

Wow, what a whinefest that was. Maybe you should move out of the urban slums--you might find the real world a bit more relaxing and less uptight.

All I read in your post is pretentious, pseudo-intellectual snobbery. There's enough of that running the country right now, and quite frankly some of us are a bit tired of being told by the Anointed Ones that we should shut up and do what we're told like peons.

[loose_filling]

Well Jaguar, it's clear that you're on the fox news mailing lists from that comment. Nice to hear you spout cheap populism. I think you're right we need country bumpkins like Sarah Palin and George Bush to run our country.

[loose_filling]

Jaguar717, obviously after visiting your vast community profile I get the picture. A unibomber type that goes on and on about "peons" and "whining" in a great majority of his posts. I swear he spends most of his day writing post on sites like this. I just replied to this article cause I like the store, that's all. This guy has made a career of whining on these posts and telling everybody how stupid they are. Take the hay from between your ears and apply your pseudo intellectual right wing drivel over to Glen Beck's house. a perfect pair indeed.

[buzzvader]

No, I don't work for anyone else and am not an idiot. Much of the modern stuff is well put together; I'm just not sure it sounds as good as the JBL Centuries and Dahlquists once did. You have to remember it all sounds differently to each and every one of us. FM Sound in Buffalo used to have all the equipment behind a curtain and they would play different combinations of amps, receivers,turntables and speakers to see what you really thought was best by using your ears. That was an "ear" opener!

[beanbag963]

test

[craig.knapp1]

As an avid photographer who still shoots medium format film, processes the black and white negatives, and makes 16x20 prints in my traditional wet darkroom, I find it refreshing to hear success stories of a brick and mortar retailer who is making a go of it, be it an audio or visual medium. I guess at the age of 48, having worked in a photo studio-photo equipment retailer in the 1970s-1980s, I can appreciate an Entrepreneur with a knowledgeable sales staff posessing a passion for their "craft". These types of specialty stores are becoming rare, and should be appreciated with our admiration and our purchases.

[buzzvader]

I apologize for any negativity toward In Living Stereo. I wish there were more stores across the country like it. I wish the man all the success in the world. It never was personal, just an opinion and an analogy. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with people like " loose filling." By the way, I am a New Yorker.

[jinp6301]

I've been at the store a few times and each time I have been treated like a hoodlum. I went earlier this year to check out some speakers for my father, who didnt have enough time to go here himself. Since I was in my 20s, the owner treated me like I was a hooligan. I knew most of the brands being sold there and I made insightful comments on the gear (types of tubes being used, freq response etc) to make sure he knew he wasnt talking to an idiot but he still talked to me like I was there to steal something and kept commenting on leaving and coming back when my father was here. I would never go here again.

[Rod Roddy]

Are we gonna see another East coast West coast rivalry again? We all know the West coast is the best coast!!!

[Jefferson101]

Sweet store! My buddy just got a Peachtree Audio Nova DAC and tube amp....its an awesome product for anyone with a digital and analog source. They need to review it on here

[loose_filling]

Jaguar717, obviously after visiting your vast community profile I get the picture. A unibomber type that goes on and on about "peons" and "whining" in a great majority of his posts. I swear he spends most of his day writing post on sites like this. I just replied to this article cause I like the store, that's all. This guy has made a career of whining on these posts and telling everybody how stupid they are. Take the hay from between your ears and apply your pseudo intellectual right wing drivel over to Glen Beck's house. a perfect pair indeed.