Sunday, July 24, 2011

Brooks Berdan RIP



On July 8, Brooks Berdan passed away. He was perhaps one of the most knowledgeable men on the planet when it came to turntable set-up. People came to his hi-fi store/analog museum in Monrovia, California, from all over just to hear his wisdom on all things vinyl. I visited Brooks Berdan Ltd. on more than a few occasions, and I regret not buying more from him. He was kind, helpful and above all he loved vinyl playback.

My personal story about Brooks concerns an errant lead on my SME V tonearm. It simply broke off, and I couldn't retrieve the wire from inside the arm tube. Since Brooks was the local SME dealer, I headed over with my arm and my checkbook. He took one look at it, burrowed around in his big tool box for a minute and found a replacement lead. He fished the wire out, crimped the lead and had everything fixed in about three minutes. When I asked him how much, he replied, "No charge...because the part was in my tool box!"

A memorial will be held at Brooks Berdan Ltd. on August 8. I'll be traveling to LA to attend, and I hope to see a few fellow vinyl-lovers as well.

(Image courtesy Positive Feedback Online)

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