Such a small Prague evergreen. Readers still respond to the hi-fi club in Ve Smečkách Street
Look up from your mobile phone screen and try to perceive where you are walking, what you are walking around and what you are walking on. You might be surprised at what you’ve been missing for years, even though you pass it by on a daily basis. We offer you familiar places with different eyes as well as completely unknown facts. You will see that a walk through Prague can be an unrepeatable adventure.
I wrote my own and readers’ memories already at the beginning of this year. Then a small tsunami wave of memories overwhelmed me. Top music and the unavailability of quality electronics before 1989 troubled every fan of gramophone records, tape recorders and radios, and so their steps were directed to the specialized Svazarm store from all over Czechoslovakia. So the first article on nostalgia did a decent job.
However, I am surprised that the witnesses are continuously contacting me. But it is also proof that even the huge number of letters and pictures that flood the world internet are constants that will find their readers even after a long time.
One of them was, for example, the actress and singer Zora Jandová. “Thank you for the article about the Svazarmu Hi-Fi Club store in Ve Smečkách Street. I often went there too. Not as a customer, but for my father – Jiří Janda. He invented many of the devices, he was really a great enthusiast. Dad was born in 1926, died in 1999 due to cancer. It apparently had its origins in the Jáchymovské mines, where he worked as a political prisoner. In theory, he could have lived to see your article as well. I would certainly be very happy with it, as well as with the reactions of readers, hi-fi enthusiasts.” Tell me, didn’t you enjoy it?
A few days ago, another reader, Karel Borovec, called. “By chance, I came across your article while browsing the Internet and it stroked my soul. I have exactly the same experience. I never missed a visit to a store on my trip to Prague. In addition to the transiwat 140, which accompanied me for many years, I bought a turntable chassis there. I found that it is a completely forgotten thing today. Not right. A simple construction, a motor on springs, a flat strap made of pertinax, a shure 75 portable. Later, I also bought a cabinet with a cover, it looked and played great,” recalled Mr. Borovec.
I wish you a nice holiday.