Vale, Mervyn Marshall of Northside HiFI, Brisbane, Australia.

[Hilltop Rob]

Hi folks,

 

Not sure how many of you here had ever dealt with him, but the original and only owner of Northside HiFi in Aspley/Brisbane passed away last Thursday, after a drawn out battle with Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia. His illnesses snuck-up on him quite slowly, and unfortunately, led to the demise of what was once home to some of the nicest gear available on the East Coast of Australia.

 

In true "Mervyn fashion", he went out dosed-up on morphine, listening to "Comfortably Numb".

 

Mervyn was a dear friend of mine, and an excellent mentor. He started Northside HiFi about 35-40 years ago and was there pretty much every day of his life, when he wasn't at home with his family, out riding motorbikes, or watching others race them.

 

He taught his customers (as well as all who worked with him) to trust their ears and believe what they heard. He was an honest and humble business man whom I personally watched more than once, let a sale go out the door because a customer had auditioned a product at another store, but had turned up just to shop for a better price. His belief was that the sale belonged to the person who put the work in initially, and he wouldn't let greed or selfishness trump his credibility or integrity amongst the dealers in South East Queensland. Some may say this was bad business, but it was just "him". That said, he was an EXCELLENT salesman. One of my best memories of him was having someone walk in with an old speaker from an old 3-in-1 system or similar that had a broken speaker terminal that needed repairing. In under an hour later, the gentleman left with an Electrocompaniet integrated amplifier and a new pair of B&W 805s. I was gobsmacked.

 

"Eccentric" wouldn't even begin to describe him, occasionally turning up with blue hair, or perhaps having one too many whiskeys during business hours with another friend Harry, (who also worked there until he moved to Bendigo) and maybe even falling asleep on the Chesterfield in the back listening room until someone came in and woke him up. If someone came in and asked if he had "a bit of Dire Straits", he would offer them a piece of a Dire Straits CD that he had once broken into pieces after he realised that it sounded awful on a critical system. He was candid - If another customer came in and said "I've currently got x-brand of equipment" and it was something he didn't like, he would immediately and jovially come out with "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that!". This manner wasn't for everyone as I myself nearly walked out after either he or Harry said something bordering on offensive to me during one of my first visits back in the mid to late 90s, but I stuck around and learned that this store was one of the last "real" HiFi shops in existence that hadn't been corrupted or prostituted to the market, purely to make the bottom line look better. They actually cared.

 

So, if you have any gear that you bought through Mervyn or his store, please take some time to appreciate that you were quite lucky to have dealt with one of the last, original, "old souls" in the game. Of course there are still some good shops around, but the old-school feel of a small HiFi shop where one could waste a Saturday morning listening to and talking to the owner about some of the best gear around is, sadly, disappearing.

 

If you feel inspired, grab a nice glass of single malt and play some Pink Floyd - He'd like that.

 

Take care of yourselves, folks.

 

Rob.

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Hilltop Rob

[dirktoggler]

Rob, 

I ventured to Northside a few times over the years and you paint a very accurate description of what I also observed.

Mervyn was quirky for sure, but passionate and very generous his time and knowledge. I never experienced a hard sell, or felt judged.

I once went to buy a basic record cleaning kit and was "fortunate" to only walk out an hour and a half later with just that.

Somehow the conversation rolled along and the next thing I know I'm getting the Electrocampinet / B&W 805 sucker punch and seriously considering buying the speakers (which were way out of my budget at the time, let alone on the radar for an upgrade). 

I don't have scotch, but will have a good rum and toast to Mervyn tonight.

Hopefully he's kicking on on the dark side of the moon.

George

 

 

[Tim D]

I only drove past the old store a few days ago and was wondering what happened to Mervyn.

 

Whist I never actually bought anything he always welcomed me in to have a quick listen which ended an hour or so later.

 

He had quite a few stories to tell and met some of the famous artists.

 

Sad to hear that he has moved on and I will think of him as I drink my beer on this hot day.

 

Tim

[Hilltop Rob]

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Gents.

 

Cheers,

 

Rob.

[Tivoli Hi-Fi]

Beautifully said Rob,

 

He will be missed.

 

Cheers

 

James

[Rocketfrogs]

I bought my Michell Gyrodec from Mervyn in 2009.  He and I spent a exciting hour  putting it all together on a Saturday morning.  He was a cool guy.  Vale.

[SUB000]

Sorry to hear of this news, I often wondered what happened to Merv following closure of his store a few years ago. He was generous of his time and on a couple of occasions I spent an hour or two auditioning equipment and chatting with him without feeling pressured to buy. It’s a tribute to Merv and testament to his influence that some years later I settled on Electrocompaniet amps and B&W 805s which I love and continue to enjoy today. Rest in peace my friend.

[Wimbo]

R.I.P. Mervyn. The late 90's early 2000's took out a lot of Traditional shops. Was a sad period.

[Riggers1]

In the early noughties Mervyn generously allowed me plenty of time to audition a pair of B&W speakers.  In the end I ended up going for a pair of Orpheus speakers from Reg Mills.  When it came to buying my dream turntable I saw Mervyn at Northside HIFI.  Gyrodeck expertly setup with an amp and speaker combination that I don't recall (although i do remember the Alphason arm!) it really didn't take much convincing to buy from Mervyn, and its a purchase that has always delivered.  Mervyn certainly was a little quirky but friendly and generous with his time.  Vale.

[chilldawg]

i have a NAD AV716 amplifier and Jamo 707 speakers which was purchased around 1993/4 when i was in grade 9 or 10. It's been handed down to me by my father. My NAD amplifier main left channel recently started to get faulty so i took it in for a repair. Sadly some how corrosion has gotten the better of the amp. the technician has tried his best to repair it and it's going again, how ever says it will eventually fail again. this led me to doing a online search for a decent hifi store close by. sadly this post came up on one of the searches which has answered a few unanswered questions. althought i was only a kid at the time during the purchasing process with Merv i remeber him being very professional and knwoledgable. merv was introduced to us by my old mans friend who was another satisfied customer. my old man saved up a long time for these componets and was very happy he could show off what he had to his mates. merv delivered the good to our house on a saturday afternoon and setup the system in our lounge room. he was very patient and answered all our questions. he even gave his time and stayed for dinner! i dont think we will see another genuine sales man like Merv. through my years of growing up we drove pass northside hifi during our fishing trips. i always tried to look for the store to see if it was open when we drove pass and had a good feeling inside when i saw it was still there. i do wish i could have met him again to have a chat about the equipment he sold us. i'm certain my tinitus was caused by it. if anyone has a recommendation in brisbane for a Merv 2.0 please do let me know. To Merv, to this day i still love the equipment we bought from you. i'm glad we went the jamo 707 instead of the smaller 606. thanks very much and may you resting in a place as good as your shop.