Seoul Train

You may be aware that in Korea and Japan (and other locales) there exists a phenomenon called LP Bars. These bars and coffee shops have a stock of music (usually a large collection of vinyl records) and some version of a ‘good stereo’; often vintage American equipment such as JBL 43 series studio monitors, McIntosh tube amps, etc. As a customer you are encouraged to pick out an album and ask the proprietor if they would play it. Good times ensue.

Just outside the dense metropolitan core of Seoul lies just such a place, called Camerata Hall, which takes this concept and brings it to art museum proportions. A completely vintage, horn loaded theater audio system takes up an entire wall of the room. That such record collections or audio systems exist is not so unusual, it’s that these particular owners choose to share their passion in this public way that is so uncommon. These are not corporate marketing write-offs but rather a very personal form of patronage of the recorded arts.

We found this Camerata Hall video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHlhHuNdMXA

A more typical LP Bar, this one in Japan: Bar http://www.candy-ginza.com/