I grew up in an era when home stereo systems consisted of several components, including an amplifier, turntable, tape deck, tuner, and speakers, which seemed to get bigger and more powerful every year.

Over the years and with the advent of boom boxes, stereo systems seemed to get smaller and smaller. Even listening media have also gotten smaller, from LP records and eight-track cassettes to cassettes, CDs and digital media on computers and smartphones.

I consider myself an audiophile, very proud of my stereo system and my music collection.

Although records take up space, I still enjoy the sound of vinyl. It was quite refreshing, then, to meet the Yamborko brothers, Leonid, 40, and Viktor, 37, at a North End warehouse where they set up two listening rooms. One of the rooms is for the home theater listening experience (with up to 17 speakers in one system), while the other room is for music lovers.

When I visited the showrooms for the second time, I brought some of my favorite recordings to compare to my stereo system. I was quite impressed. These guys have a great relationship with their premium audio component supplier and are able to set people up with stereo systems to suit their needs and budgets. Both audio enthusiasts have always enjoyed good quality sound from their days in Ukraine while listening to music. They moved to Winnipeg with their family in 2002.

Their music hobby became a business in 2017, after years of helping friends install stereo systems. Then they started to create bespoke systems for their friends by ordering directly from the manufacturers and selling them from their homes. Soon after, they set up the two listening rooms (and are also working on a third room).

Although a lot of people’s listening experience comes from their smartphones and computers these days, I still enjoy listening to a real stereo system. It’s pretty amazing the sound you can get from two properly placed speakers in a room and hear the music as it was meant to be heard. I always love listening to music through headphones and believe every recording should be listened to at least once this way for a true binaural experience.

If you would like to make an appointment with the brothers at their Altitudo Audio warehouse, you can visit their website at www.altitudoaudio.ca. They also offer consultation and installation services.

Doug Kretchmer is a freelance writer, artist and community correspondent for The Times. Email him at [email protected]
Twitter: @DougKretchmer