SOUND SPECTRUM
My name is Jim Otto and I opened Sound Spectrum in 1967, the same year I attended the Monterey Pop Festival. What an inspiration.
Since then we have seen the music business evolve from records to tapes to CDs to digital downloads and now, back to vinyl records. We’ve done a pretty good job keeping up with these changes but always made customer interaction our prime driving force.
For the last 30 years, I have hosted “The Reggae Showcase” at 88.5FM KSBR radio. You can find me every Sunday from 3-6 pm. The show is also webcast at KSBR.org.
We were one of the first indie stores to report to Soundscan which compiles the national sales charts. For the last 4 years, we have been part of Record Store Day and continue to be.
Recently we were voted best record/cd store in the OC Weekly “Best of” issue. Over the years our store has been featured in numerous publications – most recently the Spring Edition of the Auto Club’s Westways Magazine (page 50 & 51) and the October issue of OC Coast Magazine (page 50).
Stop in and “try before you buy” at our Isis Listening station. We also carry a selection of Record Players (Crosley, Audio Technica) along with t-shirts, posters plus an amazing selection of memorabilia – which I have been personally accumulating since ’67.
Lately, I see a bright hope in the expansion of vinyl sales. We look to expose our audience to the importance of experiencing a musical album, in its entirety and reap the rewards of taking that journey right along with the artist.