Max Estes is my artist for LIFE. He is incredibly talented, priced fairly and he is kind and easy…read moregoing. He regularly checks in to make sure I'm good. He never forces me to push through. He is the ideal artist. Very respectful for his clients and ensuring their comfort at all times. I was really stoked because the last tattoo I got, my snake and skull and flowers, I just kind of said I like xyz but do whatever I totally trust you. And then Max was awesome with my kids asking them what they want their annual tattoo to be. My daughter wanted to watch the entire process (she's 11 1/2,) and she was intrigued. Max tolerated ALL of her questions and all of her talking. My son was very direct and asked for his specific star and didn't want to watch or comment. He ended up talking to Max's wife about Pokemon. I have said that Max is my guy as long as he'll have me and as long as he stays in Portland!

Daniel Stewart at HiFi Tattoo has done three of my tattoos, and I seriously can't recommend him…read moreenough. One was done back in 2017 and still looks amazing, no touch-ups needed, which says a lot about his work. He's great at taking your idea and giving honest, helpful feedback to make it even better. Two of my tattoos were fairly standard, and he totally nailed them. The one we're working on now is something I came up with, and we built it from the ground up together. It's a little different than what he usually does, but he's been totally open to it, had great ideas, and has been awesome to work with throughout the process. He's always on time, prepared, thoughtful, detail-oriented, and just really solid to work with. Honest and fair too. I truly can't recommend him enough.

I am a former restaurant owner and I work in the wine industry, and I can confidently say the…read morepolicies at Hi Fi Wine Bar are completely absurd and nowhere near industry standard. I've never been to a wine bar or restaurant that refuses to let guests taste wines before committing to a full pour, especially at their price point. Yet the bartender here would not allow us to taste anything. Since tasting wasn't permitted, I asked him about the wines to help guide our choices, and he still couldn't answer basic questions. The few descriptions he offered were inaccurate, and we ended up purchasing wine we didn't enjoy at an overpriced rate, which is exactly why tasting is standard practice in this industry. To make matters worse, the bartender had an attitude and was not friendly or welcoming. With so many great wine bars in walking distance, you'd expect a higher level of customer service. Clearly that's not a priority here. And one more strange detail: they advertise that they have records, but you are not allowed to pick the records they play... Overall an incredibly disappointing visit. I wouldn't recommend this place when there are so many better options nearby.

Massive selection of vinyls which per their sign they get to pick the music and you get to pick the…read morewine. We enjoyed our complimentary wine as provided by our boutique hotel Douglas on Third. Attentive service.

Customer service is at its best at Stereotypes. Andrew and his team are knowledgeable about sound…read moreequipment. Clearly their passion comes through while working with them. They were helpful to my needs, and I felt like they cared the whole time I was there - and respectful of my time as well. I had to go back a couple of time because of the weird layout of my home, but we brainstormed and worked it out. A pleasurable experience start to finish. Ron

Appreciated the advice I got from the gentlemen at Stereotypes. Love the vibe at the store…read more Excellent experience.

These folks are terrific! Although Echo focuses on high-end components, they graciously work with…read moreand accommodate more modest budgets. Their customer service is second to none. Highly recommend!

Echo Audio deserves the acclaim it has earned from its customers. I brought them a vintage CD…read moreplayer that had a seemingly intractable problem. They solved the problem on time and charged a fair price when they could have inflated their invoice. I was deeply impressed by their integrity and level of expertise. I wholeheartedly recommend them as a new GOTO customer.

I can't say enough about Fred's Sound of Music and it's personnel. Will Farnham is the most…read moreknowledgeable person I know when it comes to audio systems. Bill, the Operations Manager was a gem to work with and finally...Joe, who installed the system was a true professional in every manner. You can't go wrong with this team.

Fred's is a wonderful holdover from the days when mom and pop audio stores existed in many…read moreneighborhoods. They carry new gear at all price ranges, as well as doing repairs and selling a fantastic variety of used audio. In my experience, high quality hifi gear tends to be bought by people who take good care of it, and makes for excellent purchase opportunities when the original owner decides to upgrade. Whether I need something or not, looking at both the new and the used gear at Fred's is always fun.

Audio Specialties is a gem in the Gateway neighborhood. It is great to still have a place in the…read morecity that does repairs and stocks vintage gear. Whether I'm just browsing, trading in a piece of 70s era hardware, or having something fixed, this is my main destination.

I bought a 1972 Sansui 210 stereo receiver on Facebook market place when I got home it didn't work…read moreI was super bummed. However I brought into audio specialties. The owner Doug repaired my receiver and it sounds amazing. I learned that Doug has been repairing stereo equipment for over 30 years he is professional and repaired my receiver very quickly. I highly recommend Audio specialties.

This place leans heavily toward the audio side of the home entertainment spectrum, and they do a…read morespectacular job of it. Pretty much everything they carry is an aspirational brand, you could most likely be happy with anything in the store. Part of their service oriented business model is hosting informative presentations from manufacturers - a great way to learn what's new. If you're fortunate enough to be able to consider brands like Magnepan, Linn, McIntosh, Sonus Faber, Magico, or Dynaudio, you owe it to yourself to visit the folks at Pearl.

* I bought a McIntosh AV receiver and amp in 2007 in San Francisco as part of a stereo including…read moreB&W 805 speakers and a Sunfire subwoofer. * This system sounded fantastic. * I kept in touch with McIntosh products and developments over the years. * When it came time to upgrade my components, I looked up my local McIntosh distributors in Portland, OR, and Pearl Audio Video came up. * My experience with Conner and Pearl has been FANTASTIC. * Conner worked closely with me to ensure that the sound I got was exactly what I was looking for. * I recommend Conner and Pearl fully and completely - it's great to have them in Portland.

Amazing selection of virtually every genre. Lots of newly released vinyl and even more used. Don't…read moremiss the Jazz section upstairs

This is a unique little record shop with stuff primarily suited for DJs, house techno hip hop with…read morea bit of everything else. A good spot to hit for a little quick dig

This is one of those Portland businesses where you have to say "wow that's cool". Case of Bass…read moretakes apart thrift store and garage sale speakers and installs them in thrift store and garage sale suitcases. They are following the trend towards all in one iPOD speakers, rather than having pairs of speakers. These are not hi-fi speakers for critical listeners. The drivers are chosen by eye and the electronics are tuned by ear which means they will be idiosyncratic. On the other hand, most people are not critical listeners as would be a recording engineer. So the speakers are more design curiosity objects. They have handles for easy moving, though I doubt they are particularly rainproof! Case of Bass has even built an experimental backpack speaker, the Bass-Pack. These speakers are great for stylists, photo shoots and displays. They have been successful in that world and you can see examples in the press section of their website and follow on their social media. About twice a year, they open their workshop and showroom for First Thursday - they are down the hall from Hellion Gallery (they have since moved - check their website). Otherwise they sell over the web and by appointment. They got some love in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXode5ZRTfc. These cool speakers are guaranteed to get the party started for your design friends.

Took a well-loved, no-longer-made Sony radio and CD player in to see if it could be fixed. The…read moreowner quoted me a reasonable price, but also said he might not be able to fix it. So refreshing just to have an honest exchange about what to expect. It was like brand new when I left. I will go back to him with anything radio-related that needs fixing. Doing his part to keep the landfills free of old radios. He's great! PS No cards, and I was two dollars short in cash. He said, "We're good," but I took in the two dollars the next day because I want to keep going back!

I have my dad's receivers and record players from 1950's. They were cleaned and maintained and now…read morework and sound beautiful. Couldn't be happier. Great service, great person, and I can't say enough good things about this business.