Q Audio

Q Audio is a high-fidelity audio store in Central Square, Cambridge, that sells new and pre-owned stereo equipment and has been in business since 1973. It began as a mail-order reseller of used hi-fi components through classified ads in Audio Magazine, then in the late 1970s focused on exporting classic American and European vacuum tube gear to collectors in Japan, Asia and Europe. Since the early 1980s it has steadily added new product lines.

In fall 1980 its Vassar Street storage room became a retail showroom, once billed as the world’s smallest hi-fi store. New gear soon followed, including Hafler amplifier kits that sold briskly to MIT students, Krell electronics from Dan D’Agostino and Pyramid loudspeakers by designer Dick Sequerra. In October 1982 Q Audio brought back the first CD players to the United States for resale from the Tokyo audio fair. In 2013 it moved to a larger storefront across from the Middle East nightclub.

What to Know

• Appointments outside regular hours can be arranged by phone or email.
• Central Square station on the Red Line and several bus routes are a short walk away.
• Nearby parking is available at the Green Street public garage.
• The original shop on Vassar Street was about a five-minute walk from the current storefront.