{"id":7661,"date":"2023-04-19T12:13:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T16:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nordost.com\/blog\/?p=7661"},"modified":"2023-04-19T13:47:58","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T17:47:58","slug":"dealer-spotlight-saying-farewell-to-harrys-hi-fi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nordost.com\/blog\/dealer-spotlight-saying-farewell-to-harrys-hi-fi\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealer Spotlight: Saying farewell to Harry’s Hi-Fi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Harry’s Hi-Fi, longstanding audiophile retailer, closed March 31.  Now, we say farewell to a true Canadian Hi-Fi Institution!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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By Bruno de Lorimier<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were all saddened by the loss of Harry about a year ago, and no person more than wife and co-owner Pat Sotropa.  A little over a year after this tragic and totally unexpected incident, Pat came to the heart-wrenching decision to close the store at the end of the month. Pat isn’t exiting the business for financial reasons but after 40 years, she has earned a rest and is calling it a day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Harry and Pat Sotropa are owners of Harry’s Hi-Fi. PHOTO BY TROY FLEECE \/Regina Leader-Post<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I have personally known Pat and Harry for over 25 years and\nconsider them friends.  In Regina,\nSaskatchewan, Harry\u2019s Hi-Fi was one of the first Canadian dealers to come on\nboard with Nordost. Like everyone, I was extremely shocked and saddened by Harry\u2019s\npassing which came so suddenly as he simply didn\u2019t wake up on the morning of April\n8th<\/sup>, 2022. One may find comfort in that he passed away peacefully in\nhis sleep, but that doesn\u2019t diminish how much we\u2019ll miss him.  Everyone who knew Harry will tell you that he\nwas a truly unique and remarkable individual with a vibrant passion for life\nand for music (and gardening). Even today, we continue to love Harry!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, with the permanent closure of Harry\u2019s Hi-Fi, the audio industry\nwill also be losing a truly special and extremely supportive dealer that was devoted\nto providing the most comprehensive, attentive, and caring sales advice, quality\nproducts, and support to all its patrons. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry’s hi-fi obsession was rooted in his love of music \u201cWhat\u2019s\nbetter in life than music?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing you should now about Harry is that, although\neveryone referred to him as Harry (including himself and his wife Pat), his\nreal name was Vern Sotropa!  Here\u2019s the\nstory behind the name\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Custom Stereo is the name of the store where Harry got his start\nin hi-fi equipment sales in 1976.  He was\n26 and working the summer as a staff clerk for the Department of Labor and\nspending a lot of his student loan money \u2014 meant for University of Regina\nsociology studies \u2014 at Custom Stereo.  He\nwas in there often enough that the owners, Tom Clelland and Richard Grassie,\noffered him a job which he happily took.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward six months or so: the three are sitting in the bar of\nthe Royal International Inn \u2014 formerly the King\u2019s Hotel, demolished along with\nthe store in 1978 to make way for the Cornwall Centre. As Harry told it, \u201cTom\ngoes, \u2018Custom Stereo is a lame f\u2014\u2013g name.\u2019 He goes, \u2018We should change the name\nof that place,\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pat interjects: \u201cYou know this is all going to become public\nknowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d Harry answers. He goes on: \u201cWe should name it Tom,\nDick and Harry\u2019s.\u201d So they had a Tom, they had a Dick, and from the time we\ncrossed the street from the Royal International to the stereo shop, the name\nstuck like s–t to a Hudson Bay blanket. And that was it.\u201d  Harry was born!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through three Custom Stereo locations, to the founding of his own\nshop in 1983\u2026Through sales of turntables, the players of those \u201cunlistenable\u201d\nearly CDs, car stereos, home theatre, and the popular resurgence of record\nplayers \u2014 he\u2019s been known as Harry. Not Harry Sotropa. \u201cIt\u2019s like Prince or\nMadonna,\u201d he says laughing. \u201cIt\u2019s just Harry.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Harry (wearing shorts) and Pat stand in one of their listening rooms. PHOTO BY TROY FLEECE \/Regina Leader-Post<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Harry and I also a had funny\nritual.  Quite often, almost exclusively\non Fridays, he would call me after 5:00 pm my time (3:00 pm for him) as sort of\na joke. He would say \u201cAm I too early to disturb you yet?  I can call you later if it further disrupts\nyour weekend\u201d. We would then proceed to tell each other jokes for the first few\nminutes (sometimes more) before moving on to more serious business.  I miss those calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s Pat who has the real Harry tales to tell. She told me: \u201cI bought a stereo from Harry and I was married to someone else at the time. From that moment Harry and I were together for 44 years. We both listened to all different kinds of music, it was a passion for both of us that did not diminish.\u201d Since childhood, Pat and Harry have been in love with music and it was no secret that both were huge fans of Nordost. They recommended Nordost cables to every customer who walked-in the door, and they practiced what they preached, since their entire home system was wired with Valhalla. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a 50th<\/sup>\nbirthday present to his wife, Harry had earrings, a bracelet and pendant made\nfrom a piece of Valhalla speaker cable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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