Do the math. Even with eight million people, how many do you expect are building amplifiers on a regular basis? 0.1% of the population would be 8,000 people. I'd wager that it's less than that. How often do those people need to buy something where going to a brick-and-mortar would make sense? I'm not convinced that a store of this nature could stay afloat in LA. High end caps and resistors? You're looking at a tiny market. Of the people building amps, I'd wager that a good 50% of them are building semiconductor amplifiers. Of those building tube amps, I'd say a good 50% have done the measurements / read the whitepapers and don't spend money on boutique parts.
Tubes are likely in-stock at some music stores that sell guitar amps. That covers the usual 12AX7/12AT7/12AU7/6L6/6V6/6550/EL34/6BQ5 assortment. DX Engineering and Ham Radio Outlet will cary 811A, 572B and 3-500Z, 3CX1500 etc.
Tubes are likely in-stock at some music stores that sell guitar amps. That covers the usual 12AX7/12AT7/12AU7/6L6/6V6/6550/EL34/6BQ5 assortment. DX Engineering and Ham Radio Outlet will cary 811A, 572B and 3-500Z, 3CX1500 etc.
While the market in the area may be small they would obviously have an online store as well. Just as Partsconnexion does in Canada. I know I’d rather buy from a company in the US to keep our economy going. What do you thing the average DIY builder spends per year? Multiply that by at least 8000 plus the online business and you have a profitable business. Nowadays very few businesses rely solely on walk in sales. I just find it interesting that no one has done this yet. Starting a business is always a gamble but so is driving in LA! Maybe when I get fed up with what I do I’ll make the investment. It could happen!