Ball & Buck

[Doc B.]

Bottlehead and Blumenstein are now displaying our gear at a very cool new men's store in Boston, called Ball & Buck. It's sort of in the mold of Abercrombie and Fitch back in the day, when they were an outfitter rather than another "young and pretty clothing store" (I am old enough to remember buying a Penn Squidder reel and Fenwick surf casting rod at A&F in San Francisco!).

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fc.o0bg.com%2Frf%2Fimage_960w%2FBoston%2F2011-2020%2F2012%2F04%2F24%2FBostonGlobe.com%2FLifestyle%2FImages%2FIMG_7868.jpg&hash=014eef13c27aa840f6824c6f470e17af38bf5007)

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fc.o0bg.com%2Frf%2Fimage_371w%2FBoston%2F2011-2020%2F2012%2F04%2F24%2FBostonGlobe.com%2FLifestyle%2FImages%2FIMG_3068.jpg&hash=a9efe4152f8479b273ef4a9c6a91c7651bebcbdc)

Here's a link to the article about it in the Boston Globe. Like most newspaper websites, you have to register your email address to read it:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2012/04/25/ball-and-buck-mark-bollman-hunts-for-just-right-spot/B3H6qPuFlieYbuRZzRPmDN/story.html

[mchurch]

Now that's the type of store I love to poke around in. I love the ambience that the photo portrays. Since Boston is in reasonable driving range of Ottawa  I will have to add this as a stop on my next trip. The BH gear seems to fit right in.


Cheers;

Mike

[Cary]

Love the photos, what kind of speakers are next to the SEX amp?

[Doc B.]

Blumenstein Orcas, a perfect match for S.E.X - and Stereomour, which is also playing at Ball and Buck along with Seduction.

http://www.blumenstein-ultra-fi.com/index.php?page=orca

[fullheadofnothing]

I definitely plan to poke my head in next time I'm in Boston. Unfortunately, Newbury Street is no longer full of record stores, but as far as I know Looney Tunes is still kicking a couple blocks away (at Boylston and Mass Ave) and you might also have luck at Orpheus if you're looking for classical (although I never actually found it open in all the years and many times I tried to go, for reference it's on Commonwealth on the first block east of Mass Ave). For those not familiar with Boston, Newbury Street is the fancy shopping area of town. Traditionally, there was an expensive end, near the public gardens and and a funkier end. In recent years all the rents skyrocketed and most of the cool record and bookstores closed to be replaced with chain stores. Ball & Buck is near the middle, closer to the fancy end. It's a really pretty part of town and if you are visiting with wives/girlfriends, they probably already want to go there...

[Neuronal]

Doc, if you ever drop into Boston to check out your gear, consider having some sort of meet-up: there are lots of us trapped in the wilds of the Northeast who would love to meet you in person and thank you for the great audio kits and advice!

[Doc B.]

That is a great idea! BTW, we got mentioned in GQ. Now that's a place I didn't figure I would ever get noticed. If you saw how I dress you would know what I mean -

http://www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2012/05/store-spotlights-ball-and-buck-newbury-street.html

[Laudanum]

Two things that never went out of style ... Blue Jeans and T-shirts.   Aside from some Levis corduroys back in the 70's when I was a kid,  Blue Jeans and a T-shirt has been my attire from my teens to now.  Probably be wearing the same thing until I'm no longer around.   I have no idea what is "in fashion" these days.  In fact, my youngest son had his prom a couple years back.  We went in to rent him his Tuxedo and I was suprised to see that a tux now looks nothing more than a little bit fancier suit.  I own one suit and one pair of dress shoes (given to me by a former co-worker).   GQ? ... ha 

ps.  Forgot about the flannel shirt that qualifies as my winter coat on the average "winter" day here in the deep south.   

[Doc B.]

Bob Bean sent us a couple of photos from the opening of the new Ball and Buck and the Bottlehead/Blumenstein/SOTA systems they have set up in the store.

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bottlehead.com%2Fballbuck16C.jpg&hash=3ee7d49fcf3ac0ad8f53309c06189508069d477a)

(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bottlehead.com%2Fballbuck26B.jpg&hash=e49070659c9ba8acf000082d7e295cfa0d6fa270)

Hard to see in the photos, but the cabinets Clark made have "Blumenstein + Ball and Buck" and "Bottlehead (logo) + Ball and Buck" printed on them.

[Yoder]

I noticed that they have some sweet BH bases for sale in plain bamboo and caramelized bamboo: http://blumensteinultrafi.bigcartel.com/product/wooden-chassis-for-bottlehead-tube-amplifiers

[Chris]

GREAT stuff Doc... congrats... and DANG!!! GQ... better upgrade the duds....

[xcortes]

I like the looks of the matching turntable and rest of system.

Questions to Clark:

I did some research and the TT seems to be a Moonbeam II. What's the color option that matches the caramelized Orcas?

Also, the sub shown in the cart is not the new one. Is the new one available already?

Thanks!

[fullheadofnothing]

Xavier-
I know a little bit about the behind the scenes at Blumenstein, so I'll answer what I can. The new sub is the same as the old sub, cabinet wise, and is available with all the same options (base/no base/right face/left face, etc.) The difference is the driver, which uses a paper cone versus the metal of the old model. Clark recently posted a pic of the new driver in a sub in the Blumenstein thread in the speaker section. As far as I know, that's the only spot on the internet to see one... If you were to order a sub right now, it would be with the new driver. I don't know about the Sota side of things, sorry.

[HF9]

That's an interesting partnership, nice to see you guys trying new endeavors You may try sleeving the wiring with some brown nylon so it doesn't detract from the beautiful amp and speakers; for a store like that, I'd imagine appearance is very important to the clientele.