By Bruno de Lorimier
There’s a new shop in Vancouver, B.C., but the owner is far from being new to our industry. The shop is called AudioFi and the owner is none other than industry veteran Philip Meyburgh, who I’ve known for many years. I first met Philip about 20 years ago when he worked at a well-known specialty shop in downtown Vancouver. We share a passion for music, and have always been able to engage in interesting audio conversations. Philip worked at a number of different specialty shops over the past 50 years and it all started in his birth country of South Africa, where he had his own store that he handed over to his sister when he left for Canada in 1994.
Philip attributes his life-long passion for hi-fi and music to his father’s influence. As a kid he watched him build Vacuum Tube amplifiers, starting with bending the sheet metal, punching holes for the tube sockets, and sourcing parts — it wasn’t so easy in those days! Face plates were made by spraying a layer of black on clear acrylic, and then using a reverse stencil to scratch out the lettering, which were then sprayed white from behind. Speakers were Klipsch Horns, on which his dad upgraded the crossovers with paper capacitors — a suitcase full were needed! In the evenings when the Earth’s ionosphere was just right, his dad would use the opportunity to connect with radio amateurs in far away places. Philip learned about antennas, wire, cable tuning, and grounding. That was the sixties, the birth of rock and the beginning of the album era. As Philip told me:
“My seven-transistor radio made me love the music, but I needed better fidelity, so I started a lifelong program of upgrading. My motto? – With music reproduction, nothing is good enough! The magic of science and physics was a beautiful thing and I kept studying Physics through University, trying to understand the physics of the reproduction chain. Hey, why not just read the product brochures, right? The features and benefits are right there, right? I quickly learned who the ‘White Hat’ companies were that are truthful, as opposed to the ‘Black Hat’ companies that exaggerate things a bit.”
For him, it’s all about the music, which is great because that’s what it’s all about for us too 😊.
Philip opened Audiofi in October 2020, much to a lot of frowns, because of the uncertainty of the moment, but he didn’t want to miss out on a rare opportunity to get a cool space in a vibrant and developing area of Vancouver, near the Olympic Village. The space is Zen-like, where you step through a small inner courtyard into an oasis of calm, where clients can sit down and hear top quality audio. The shop is one large open space of approximately 1,500 sq/ft where many quality brands are on display and ready for demonstration on a by-appointment basis. Philip is very proud of the brands he sells, which were carefully selected by him on the basis of performance, value, aesthetics, honesty, and most importantly, musicality, about which he knows a thing or two. According to Philip, Nordost checked all the boxes when it comes to his rigorous selection process. In his own words, this is what Philip had to say about Nordost:
“These are the only guys that do things right from both a physics standpoint and also a proof-in-listening standpoint. This is why I recommend Nordost. I’m also looking forward to getting back to a post Covid era and hosting in-store Nordost events. Bruno, of Nordost, would come along and simply do comparisons, not push or influence the audience, letting them come to their own conclusions – this is the best type of selling, because when a customer hears the magic for themselves, it is internalized — It becomes a belief. I like being in this space.”
127 East 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5T 1G4
(604) 351-3485
audiofiinc@gmail.com
Hours:
Mon-Sat 10am-5pm
(5 pm -7 pm by appointment)
Sun by appointment