Duratone Hi-Fi Closing Down after 50 years

[Duratone]

Announcing Duratone Hi-fi Closing Down Sale!

 

After serving the Audiophiles and Music Lovers of Canberra and surrounding areas for over half a century, we have decided that it is time to close our doors. We wish to thank all our loyal customers who have supported us over the past several decades. I often meet people who tell me that they have bought their equipment from Duratone, as did their parents before them.

It was my fathers' passion for music and high quality Hi-Fi systems which unintentionally led to the opening of Duratone. He was always showing off his latest equipment to his friends and work colleagues at the ANU where he was a lecturer. They started asking him to source equipment for them, and they told their friends who told their friends, and it came to the point that my parents had to find premises and open a shop. My father used to travel to Europe to source the very best equipment, and on one occasion I was lucky enough to travel with him. For me the highlight of the trip was staying with the legendary A. J. van den Hul and his lovely wife. They gave us the most wonderful guided tour of Holland!

I have clear childhood memories of sitting and discussing the differences in sound quality with my father while he tried out different combinations of speakers, amplifiers, turntables and cartridges and cables. I remember on one occasion I was enjoying listening to Brahms' violin concerto on a record, and he came in and started pulling the system apart to try a different cartridge, because the "sound wasn't quite right". Initially I protested that I just wanted to listen to the music, but once he had finished, I had to concede that the sound was much better, and then we both sat and enjoyed listening to the music. 

The day the store will be open will be Saturday 27/07/24,

Many Thanks Marie Cull (Director)

[audiofeline]

Sad to hear of another hifi store closing.  A loss to the music loving citizens of Canberra.

[turbo88888]

Sad day for hi fi. Brick and mortar shops are disappearing slowly.  May the memories of Duratone live forever!

[ENIGMA]

Sad to read about the closing down of the store.

 

Interestingly, your post above was lovely to read and it really wasn't about Hi FI, thank you for sharing your memories and there are things in our lives that are only supposed to be around for a period of time. 

 

Whilst its sad to read the business is closing, the memory is precious and will forever remain. All the best with new door that now opens.

[RussB]

Thank you for sharing the history and memories.  Sorry to hear about the closure but all the best for the future.  I have fond memories of being a customer back in the 90’s when I was in Canberra.  Bought my Paradigm 9se mkii’s there which I loved.  

[Peterbean]

That’s so sad to hear. It was a great store, it was pretty eccentric and certainly interesting. Some great staff too. I had various issues discussions with ea

 of your parents and I vaguely recall-

were you at Melrose High? So many music people went through there.? I taught art there and often dropped in on the way home. I taught Pat’s daughter years later at Narrabundah 

I’ll drop by sometime soon 

[captain starlight]

This is sad.  I was a regular during the 80s and 90s and bought many items there - new and second hand.  I loved the store - the “adhoc”  layout, the huge range of second hand equipment, the need to step over items, the listening rooms - and the staff,  Charles, Faye and Pat and the many casuals.

 

plus saying g’day to Faye at various times at curtin shops - and seeing her drive the karmann ghia at various times.

 

duratone was an institution.  I was involved with ArtSound during the 90s and I believe duratone provided some form of sponsorship for that too - all for the love of music.

 

this truly is sad - and even more sadder is that I won’t be able to make it back to Canberra for one last visit.

 

sad.

[IanRM]

Sorry to hear of Duratone’s end. It has been a Canberra hifi institution for a long time and I have enjoyed browsing the record collection and making equipment purchases over the years. Still have a Project debut TT and OM20 I got decades ago…still works. Also remember when home theatre started to get popular and went down to order a Denon AVR only to be told by Pat and Faye that they don’t stock HT gear but can order it in for me; I ordered the AVR and Pat muttered “you know HT will never take off”.

I hope Miranda Hifi is doing ok in their reasonably new showroom in Fyshwick otherwise us Canberra enthusiasts will have to travel to Sydney for a bricks and mortar experience.

[Beyond Salvation]

Yes another unfortunate closure of a stalwart of the audio family. As bad as when Impact Records closed in Canberra. The time & money I spent in there!

I recall there was another hifi shop on the opposite corner to Duratone - Kent Hifi I think it was.

[JukKluk2]

8 hours ago, Beyond Salvation said:

Impact Records closed in Canberra.

I arrived in Canberra mid '03 not expecting much in the way of record shops and was bowled over by Impact. They were reminiscent of Perth's 78 Records back in the olden days and I thought that I was on to a winner. Next thing y'know they were bought out by JB and for a very short while it appeared that the change of ownership/name wasn't going to change things......but that was just to lull everyone into gracefully accepting things. Within a year it was just another JB, no character and very little to do with vinyl or not top 40 music.

One of these days I hope that they, JB, drop the Hi-Fi from their name because in the 21 years since I returned to Oz I have never seen any in their stores at all.

[Beyond Salvation]

On 09/07/2024 at 12:16 PM, JukKluk2 said:

I arrived in Canberra mid '03 not expecting much in the way of record shops and was bowled over by Impact. They were reminiscent of Perth's 78 Records back in the olden days and I thought that I was on to a winner. Next thing y'know they were bought out by JB and for a very short while it appeared that the change of ownership/name wasn't going to change things......but that was just to lull everyone into gracefully accepting things. Within a year it was just another JB, no character and very little to do with vinyl or not top 40 music.

One of these days I hope that they, JB, drop the Hi-Fi from their name because in the 21 years since I returned to Oz I have never seen any in their stores at all.

Yes it was sad day when Impact sold to JB alright. I still catch up with a couple of the ex staff members of Impact in Canberra. Mick the owner is in Sydney.

[Peterbean]

 

An awful lot of bargains with some incredible deals on racks. Check out their website, and if you’re local then get your arse over there. 
And a good reason to visit friends and family here ( and raid my spare records and CDs and audio gear ) 

they were an importer of various interesting speakers and Van Den Hull stuff 

 

[daedanus2]

It was quite devastating to hear of the closure of Duratone after 56 years. As someone who on several occasions brought in hi-fi equipment to be repaired and/or serviced, I'm finding it just about impossible to track down their technician Sid (sub-contracted by the way). (I have equipment that needs to be serviced.) Can anyone help?