Photograph courtesy of Totem Acoustic
Charlie Schnyder should have been annoyed. Schnyder manages St. Louis Stereo (314-489-0090), a new, by-appointment audio shop at 2020 Washington downtown. Before MP3s, there were a lot of shops like this one. Nowadays, though, most sound equipment is bought at big-box stores, for home theaters—“loud TV,” Schnyder says.
I play a lot of MP3s on my MacBook through headphones, which is fine—how much better could vintage Al Green sound? And realistically, I’m not spending oodles on a stereo.
So I asked Schnyder what he could do for me. “For us, it’s about music first,” he said, leading me to an unassuming pair of speakers. He put on a CD of Tony Rice’s “Manzanita,” an instrumental, bluegrass-ish recording. It sounded like sequins, bright and jumpy. I felt bad, but also good, the way you might if you learned that the Porsche 911 Speedster keeps breaking down.
Then he put on “Tired of Being Alone.” Al Green’s voice hung magically between us, in a kind of deltoid shape. The backup singers moved up and down around him. It was like hearing a kaleidoscope. I was also listening to approximately $9,000 of audio equipment, including Kudos speakers driven by Naim electronics.
Then Schnyder showed me the Totem Dreamcatcher speakers, $650 a pair, that could similarly rock my sonic world. Add a good amp, and I can run the whole thing with my MacBook.
