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Roy McCullough RIP - Russ Andrews HiFi - Edinburgh Shop

Eyebroughty

Eyebroughty

JohnC
I am saddened to report the passing of Roy McCullough one of the original four that started Russ Andrews HiFi in Edinburgh.

Roy passed away last Friday the 6th December 2019.

I got to know Roy well over the many years I would visit the shop, usually weekly, the shop was one of the first to sell Linn, Naim and Rega and for people in Scotland, in the early days, was the place to go and hear Linn/Naim/Rega alongside other well known HiFi.

As others who will have been to the shop and met Roy will know he would go to great lengths to help, he was a real gentleman, a good friend, he will be missed by all that knew him.

RIP Roy.


If anyone would like details of the funeral or about Roy please PM me.
 
Hi,

I did think about posting that, it is a good picture, I think there is one 25 years later somewhere about, Roy still looked the same.

They were happy days as had been said by a few people who I have been in contact with.

Thanks

John
 
Thanks Dec, I deleted my post when I read the pic subtitle which answered my query,

He sold me a Naim CD3 in 1994 which was a great success. Then showed me the door later when I expressed interest in expensive headphones, in a creative way. RIP Roy.
 
Sad to hear about his passing, he was a lovely gentleman. I enjoyed my visits to the shop in Northumberland Street.

My father started his proper hi-fi journey dealing with Russ when he worked with Hi-fi Corner in Leith Walk. Our loyalty transferred to the new venture in the New Town. When I was a student I regularly popped in to the shop and you could be assured of a warm welcome. I even managed to blag an invite to the launch demo of Linn/Naim tri-amp system in an Edinburgh hotel. As a result my father bought one! I inherited that setup (Isobariks s/n 13 and 14) and still use it. My 21st birthday present was NAC12 and NAP160 from Northumberland Street!
 
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So sorry to hear of Roy's passing.

My first "serious" hifi was bought from RAHF.
Rega Planar 2, Nad3020, AR18s.
After some serious serious saving up from paper rounds etc I got myself my first LP12.
But again I was on the upgrade path, this is all early eighties. My system was set up in my bedroom, the LP 12 on a heavy drawer unit.. After discussion with Roy over next steps, he drove over from Edinburgh to Carnoustie with a Linn Asak and fitted it.
But I remember so clearly the first thing he said to me " right David that LP12 is coming off there, I need the lightest table you can find in the house." I dutifully went and asked my parents if I could borrow the coffee table from the lounge (a fairly light thing with screw in cylinder legs)

He soon had it set up, he even thought to bring a step up phono amp, can't remember name, but it ran on batteries to go between tt and amp input.

Next before any music played, he had my speaker cable stripped back and started weaving the cable. I sat back and listened in awe to him, slightly feared of him tbh. He was so confidant and knowledgeable, I was just 17 or 18 I think.

Anyway he left system was sounging great and I was in awe that someone would do all that for a kid.

Thanks Roy, you played a part in my long love of hifi and music..

David
 
Not being an Edinburgh resident, I was only an occasional visitor to RAHF, but I remember Roy as an unassuming man of few words, who simply got on with the job in hand, swapping the equipment under audition, as required, standing back, and allowing you to listen, in a relaxed manner, in order to come to your own conclusions regarding preferences; the antithesis of the overbearing, pressure sales accusations levelled by some towards (some?) Linn/Naim dealers in the past.

He struck me as very much a gentle-man.

RIP Roy.
 
I like Caledon was not an Edinburgh resident. The 180 mile journey down the A9 was always worthwhile. You could always be assured of unbiased advice. I remember Roy demoing CD players for me. He let me decide based on what I was hearing, at no point did he try to steer me in any particular direction or try tell me what I should be hearing. This was always my experience at RAHF.

I really haven't spent much on my system since the shop closed. I do miss it and so sorry to hear about Roy.
 
I remember my first ever visit to the Northumberland St shop. I was a young teen and my parents were somewhere on Dundas St, no idea why but I popped into the shop to check it out. I have a vague memory of an interview or conversation being played on vinyl which surprised me at the time.

I certainly was made to feel welcome and years later of course I was buying kit from RAHF with Roy, Dave and Drew. I’m guessing Russ was away by then as I don’t remember him.
 
When I first visited the shop in the late 70's Roy was the one who did the demos.

I took him fishing a few times, he once caught one, he had a huge smile when it tugged on his line and shot away.

Think Russ left in the mid 70's, there is info on his website.

Then John Burns of Pear Audio worked there for a few years before he left to go to Linn.

I still have a few pictures of the shop and I think there is one of Roy and Dave, maybe I should post them on my Flickr and have a link here.
 
Eyebroughty said:
When I first visited the shop in the late 70's Roy was the one who did the demos.

I took him fishing a few times, he once caught one, he had a huge smile when it tugged on his line and shot away.

Think Russ left in the mid 70's, there is info on his website.

Then John Burns of Pear Audio worked there for a few years before he left to go to Linn.

I still have a few pictures of the shop and I think there is one of Roy and Dave, maybe I should post them on my Flickr and have a link here.
Click to expand...
John, please do put up some pics. Oh and I bet not many hifi shops can count a Nobel laureate among their customers...

via Imgflip Meme Generator
 
Hi Dec,
I will do, need to talk to a couple of people about them being in the pictures, but I have the ok to show the shop, the office and backroom workshops.
As far as I see I have one of Roy and Dave, some of Dave and one of Drew, will see them on Monday.
I will start sorting the pictures on Flickr and see how I get on.
Will keep things posted, I think the pictures will be the early 2000's not sure if I have any on film, will need to check my old picture collection but have digital ones.
Cheers
John
 
John,
Sad day yesterday. The man who sold me my first proper hifi as a student, Bob Lamont, then at HiFi Corner, Haddington Place in Edinburgh, across from my flat, also died before his time while running Glasgow Audio.
Those pics bring back memories! I watched Drew solder the Valhalla board on my LP12 on that jig in the workshop in 87 or maybe 88 when I bought an Ekos to go on it.
 
Thanks for the pics John. Downstairs is as I remember it but with a lot more stock. Upstairs has changed a lot since I was last there which I think was around 85.

I played snooker with Drew and mutual friend ( sadly no longer with us) in the early 80’s I think, lovely bloke.

I remember Robert Lamont from Haddington Place as well, but I wasn’t aware he’d gone to Glasgow Audio.
 
I went for a demo of those Shahinian Compasses, must have been 1998 or so. Sadly they didn't do anything for me.
When did the shop close? must be 10-15 years ago now.
 
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