HiFi-Do E-mail Newsletter

How do you do? This is a report from a new recruit, Katsuhiro Shinomiya. Today's topic is "My consideration on the naming of Hi-Fi Do". I would appreciate your continued support.
by Katsuhiro Shinomiya

Since the release of CD/MD players, main items at electric appliance stores have been minicomponents, and music downloaded via a cell phone or PC have been dessiminating in our life. For these decades, the place for component audio equipment has been reduced. Even those club DJs, who are minorities loving analog records, spin a CD at the club without hesitation. Some of comparatively new artists, who express their sound by a "lo-fi" method, have become popular nearing main streams.
On the other hand, here come the words "high fidelity" or "hi-fi" in abbreviation. In terms of audio equipment, it means "fidelity to the original sound", doesn't it? It seems to be a frail phrase that is about to be lost in time.
A few years ago, however, a novel was published in England and became a great best seller among people including the youth. The very title of it is "High Fidelity"!! It has been translated and published in many other countries too like in Japan, and finally made into a movie and DVD. You can find the DVD in a rental video shop here and there.
The story describes a daily life of a owner in his thirties of a used record shop, with smiles but with a feeling of exhaustion.
Then, why is the title "High Fidelity"? Is the title a symbol of the last analog record generation that is disappearing, or a symbol of people's particularity in analog culture?
In fact, it is a story of the greenhorn-like life of the middle-aged man, in which he drops his various small particularities and is getting along with himself and people around him in a relaxed manner.
The "high fidelity" in this novel does not mean "fidelity to the original sound" but means his lifestyle to live a life honestly and loyally in a relaxed manner.
Besides, at the same time as the publication of this book, relaxation cafeteria culture became popular with a catch copy of "healing" and "slow". It also seems this story was the beginning of recent trend of "LOHAS" (Lifestyles of Health And Sustainability), instead of formal words like "ecology", among consumers.
This phenomenon shows a kind of recycle of the words "high fidelity". If the word "classic" or "standard" is a title for things that have survived a long time being exposed to severe environment and being improved, a lifestyle of high fidelity can also survive the present time.
Incidentally, at the store and storage of Hi-Fi Do Main Store, there are many vintage audio and rare analog audio equipment like valuable jewelry that is about to be lost in time. Furthermore, our staff, who are audio enthusiasts, are making full efforts for the maintenance of the vintage audio in order to restore them and keep them in mint condition.
Sometimes, I think of the words "high fidelity", looking at the billboard of our shop. While I recommend to end users our items, saying they are vintage or with superior functions, I imagine there surely are users' established sense of values and philosopy of life that are universal and which let them "visit the old and get the new" regardless of the current trend, beyond sound and audio. I wish to offer them a total support and care that can help such sense of values and philosophy of life of the users. I wonder how I can offer to each user a lifestyle of high fidelity...
Our store is named "Hi-Fi Do". Doesn't it sound good?

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