It was a sunny day in February 1973. I was outside on a ladder painting the Alterman Audio sign you see above, and a car drove up. I made my first official Alterman Audio sale, it was an AR turntable on Freret Street around the corner from Tulane University. Thirty-eight years ago, I was very lucky to make a living out of a hobby I loved. I was able to recommend and sell the products and brand names I believed in.
And... over the decades I was lucky enough to find people, with the same passion for high fidelity stereo sound, and the components that made that possible. That passion for perfection in sound reproduction was also carried over to video reproduction. Alterman Audio was selling large screen projectors combined with excellent high fidelity sound years and years before the idea of home theater was even dreamed of.
We were the first to sell Betamax home video recorders. We had the first Betamovie camcorders. We had a prototype PCM recorder and missed making the first digital audio recording in the USA by two weeks. Over the years we were first with the CD. We had thousands of CDs when the record stores had none. We were first to show a CD recorder. We held special anniversary show and sales called the Mardi Gras of Sight and Sound. At one of these, off-store events Alterman Audio showed the first working DVD player in the entire country. In a rare retail event, the head of Sony television department spoke at a high definition seminar held at Alterman Audio in Metairie and introduced Sony HD Trinitron.
Our passion for our products, lead to our deep understanding of the technology that made these products sound better and look better. Key to Alterman Audio's sucess was our ability to explain this complex technology in easy to understand plain English. When you had a problem we did our best to answer your questions and fix your problem.
After Hurricane Katrina our business boomed. But, as the Katrina replacement business waned, the economic recession kicked in. So many people in New Orleans got a new HD television and home theater, the recession really hurt business. Our lease was up and we decided to close our stores, after 38 years.
Alterman Audio has changed our business model. We have evolved into a Custom Design Integrator Custom Installer.
Thank you all for the 38 years of business.
Henry Alterman