Inside 5 of New York City’s best hi-fi bars: Where they are and why they sound so goodSince the golden days of the late-70s underground dance scene, New York City has been a haven for clubbing and crisp hi-fi sound systems.
Richard Long, who was mentored by the Loft system designer Alex Rosner, became renowned for his Paradise Garage system, which he built and adjusted with input from legendary DJ Larry Levan. Long built over 300 hi-fi systems, including legendary NYC clubs Studio 54, Area, Limelight, Funhouse and Copacabana, along with Zanzibar in Newark, the Warehouse and the Box in Chicago before his death in 1986. (Astonishingly, one of Long’s only remaining systems lives on at a Coney Island bumper car joint. Rosner is still working, now building array sound systems primarily for cathedrals and hotels.)
Today, there are a plethora of New York venues, clubs and other spaces ostensibly dedicated to music, yet, given how expensive it is to run a business here, not all are created equal. While the overarching goal of a hi-fi system may be rather simple — to offer the clearest sound — the means to get there are complex, expensive and involve ongoing tinkering and improvement. This is not a list of the best-sounding clubs or listening-style bars in NYC. Instead, we are interested in highlighting some great spaces to listen to music on hi-fi sound systems in enjoyable environs, as well as exploring how the people behind them have made these spaces sound and feel so good.
Read on as MusicTech meets the people behind a diverse group of spellbinding spaces in the Big Apple.
NYC’s hi-fi bars at a glance

Suono
All Blues
Nowadays
Public Records
Nightmoves

Suono. Image: Masahiro Takai
Suono (Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn)
Descending the stairs into Suono is to enter a delightfully New York experience; where you’re welcomed into a small, basement space turned into an inviting, cosy lounge. What makes Suono special is its excellent-sounding vintage analogue system and the heartwarming story behind it. This is amplified by the care that sound engineer and DJ Danilo Braca and Bar Camillo owner Michael Schall have put into the intimate space, which has fostered a laidback DJ-friendly space.
The two large handmade Jensen speakers are nestled sideways (due to low ceilings) into the back wall, encased in handsome walnut wood. They feature Jensen Imperial drivers; one of the first moving coil speakers, which can also be found inside classic Fender amps. The speakers were built by Braca’s father, who was at the forefront of hi-fi sound in his native Italy, in 1963 when he was 21. The bar is also home to two custom tube amps built by his father in 1961.
When his father passed away in 2017, Braca shipped the speakers, along with some of the other audio gear and records that filled their family home, to New York. He attempted to repair them but paused the project after blowing out one of the tweeters. On the day Schall and Braca decided to partner to turn the basement into a hi-fi bar, the hard-to-find Jensen Imperial RP-302 Super Tweeter, appeared on eBay — an auspicious sign.
“Hi-fi is about trying to achieve real sound,” the DJ and mixing engineer says. “You need to have good speakers and amplifiers, but also the room has to be treated in a way so that, as much as possible, it’s not adding anything that did not exist on the original record.”
Image: Masahiro Takai
Suono means sound in Italian, a name shared by the Italian hi-fi magazine Braca’s father started — the first in the country — which still exists today. “Suono was the bible for people that wanted high fidelity at home in Italy,” Braca explains. The bar’s colourful fliers are repurposed from old covers of the magazines scanned by Braca’s mother.
Testing out the speakers for the first time after adding the tweeter — hours before the opening party at Suono — was an emotional moment. “I connected the wire and the first song that I played was a Sam Cooke song that my dad loved, and, of course, I started crying. They were working,” Braca reflects.
The speakers sound clear and crisp; it’s a pleasure to sit on the bench seating that wraps along the three sides of the wall (the other side hosts the bar and DJ decks) and immerse yourself in the sound as the disco ball reflects rainbows across the room.
Suono is for anyone who enjoys hearing a stellar system in an intimate space and, at its core, it’s a DJ’s bar, not only because Braca is one himself, but because DJs can play whatever records they want.
“Suono is a neighbourhood spot so it’s very unpretentious and kind of a secret… The DJs have been collecting records for years and have developed a distinct personality and perspective,” says DJ Stretch Armstrong, a long-time NYC hip-hop and open-format DJ.
“The beauty of the room is that, despite its size, or perhaps because of it, it sounds like you’re in the music.”
Visit Suono Thursday through Saturday from 9 pm to 1 am to hear for yourself.
All Blues. Image: Roger Gallegos
All Blues (Tribeca, Manhattan)
All Blues is a warm and inviting Japanese-style listening bar where quiet voices are encouraged to make way for deep listening and enjoyment of the records being played on their enviable hi-fi vintage analogue system.
Upon entering All Blues, you are stopped by a small velvet rope and greeted personally by one of its staff. The bartenders — one of whom was a long-time backup singer for Roy Ayers — and servers are dressed dapperly in a vest suit and white button-up. They promptly provide you with a leather-bound menu, which opens with the etiquette and closes with the system specs.
At All Blues, the music is front-and-centre. In the listening theatre at the back of the bar are three large mid-century hi-fi JBL home audio speakers (the stunning Paragon, of which around only 1,000 were made, in the middle and a Hartsfield on each side) resting on a low stage in front of plush leather chairs.
Behind the speakers, a large print of Prince smiles down like a mischievous angel from one corner, while Bob Marley, eyes closed, faces the heavens in a meditative pose; the patron saints of All Blues. Nearby, you can likely find owner Yuji Fukushima mixing jazz, funk and R&B gems — the genres he thinks sound best on the vintage system — at the EMT 930ST turntables and Bozak mixer.
Two sizeable early-80s JBL 4343 studio monitors rest inside the cabinets behind the bar, next to signed records, two vintage McIntosh MC2500 Solid State Power amps along with a McIntosh preamp, stereo tuner and performance indicator, and neatly arranged liquor bottles, including a selection of Japanese whiskey and shochu. Unlike the theatre, where you get a unique listening experience depending on where you sit, the bar speakers are mono to offer a direct sound suitable for the narrow, long bar area.
Yuji Fukushima. Image: Roger Gallegos
“Vintage sounds different. The old vintage compared to the latest, current model of the best equipment sounds much warmer, much richer,” Fukushima says when reflecting on why he opted for older equipment. “Newer stuff is more complicated. Sound systems should be as simple as possible.”
All Blues was a long time coming. Fukushima grew up visiting jazz kizzas, or listening bars where you silently enjoy the owner’s record selections, in his native Tokyo and wanted to translate that for fellow music lovers in NYC with “the next version of the listening bar,” as he puts it.
When it opened in 2023, he was nervous about guests’ reception to needing to be quiet. The etiquette is displayed prominently on their one-page website (“Let the music do the talking” it declares), which they also include in the reservation confirmation email to set expectations. When they need to lower the overall chatter volume (talking is allowed, with inside voices), ‘shhhs’ have proven effective, as well as speaking directly to loud customers. They also have yellow cards, like in soccer, with a polite reminder printed inside.
“I want to protect the person that really wants to listen,” Fukushima says. “The music is first; it always has to be that.”
“We would like to become and uphold what a listening space is,” Cornelius Byrd, who runs the space with Fukushima, affirms.
Thus far, Fukushima has been the primary DJ, although he’d like to pass the baton to a rotating cast of resident DJs. It‘s important to him that people aren’t coming to see a specific DJ play, but instead know that they can come to All Blues anytime for great music.
When you need respite from the world, visit All Blues from 6 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday and 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations are recommended, especially on weekends.
Nowadays. Image: Sphente
Nowadays (Ridgewood, Queens)
Before entering Nowadays, one of the staff safety monitors gives a speech that all clubs should: No phones on the dancefloor, no creepy or disrespectful behaviour; they are there to help if needed. Once inside, if you use your phone on the dancefloor, you will be asked not to. There’s space around their indoor and outdoor dance floors to sit and chat with friends or rest your feet, allowing the dancefloor to return to its intended form.
Nowadays began as outdoor-only in 2015, later opening the indoor club in 2018. Both boast custom analogue point-source systems built by Craig “Shorty” Bernabeu of SBS Slammer, with powerful horn-loaded speaker stacks in each corner of both dance floors. The speakers are fully bi-amplified with an active crossover, meaning every frequency band has its own amplifier, allowing for less distortion.
“My philosophy on sound is less is more; it’s what you do to it that messes it up,” Sphente Shepherd, the lead audio engineer at Nowadays, tells us.
“The amplification we use is a big factor in the character of the sound. We use all Class AB amplifiers, which have a certain character and warmth to them. I personally prefer them over Class D amplifiers, which are used largely across the industry right now, mainly because they’re less expensive to produce and can output a lot of power in a small format,” Shepherd notes when asked what stands out about their system.
They point out that finding the best sound involves a lot of A/B testing. It also involves finding creative solutions to existing problems. Seeing all-vinyl DJ and 90s rave aficionado Eris Drew insist on using a metal staging solutions table during one of her beloved parties inspired them to update the DJ booth. “We renovated the booth using a steel deck reinforced by an additional marble top and added mass underneath, which allowed us to place high output horn subwoofers directly next to the DJ and have enough isolation of the turntables that the DJ can get all the bass that they want without skipping the record or feedback. That’s had a pretty big impact on the listening experience here, and allows the DJ to have more control and knowledge over what’s happening in the room,” Shepherd explains.
Image: Sphente
Nowadays is revered for its eclectic, diverse bookings, which capture the breadth of current dance music, making it a favourite for legends like Detroit house icon Theo Parrish and popular NYC acts, like soulful duo Musclecars. It’s also home to experimental sounds, from glitchy DJ sets of Ugandan innovator Authentically Plastic and the ever-expansive techno, rave and beyond of Avalon Emerson, to ambient live sets, talks, movie nights, and the beloved, family-friend outdoor Mr Sundays day party.
“The depth and punch is one of my favourite things about [Nowadays’] sound system,” Craig Handfield of Musclecars tells us. “Bernabeu also worked on the sound for Stereo in Montreal, Zanzibar in New Jersey, and Twilo here in NYC. He has a rich legacy within sound system culture, and so it goes without saying that Nowadays has one of the best systems in the city.”
It’s not just the sound and DJs that make Nowadays a favourite NYC club for many; it’s the respectful, diverse crowd and the welcoming community vibe.
“Nowadays has such a warm, friendly and comfortable feeling… Safety monitors make sure everyone is doing okay and having a good time. Water is free and there’s a Mexican restaurant in the club. Also, the dance floor was constructed from a flexible material, that way you can dance for hours without stressing your joints. Nowadays is a venue that was designed by DJs and dancers,” Brandon Weems of Musclecars adds.
Nowadays is open Thursday through Sunday, with its 24-hour “Nonstop” parties taking place every Saturday to Sunday night. Their beloved Mr. Sunday outdoor day parties happen seasonally from May through October.
Public Records (Gowanus, Brooklyn)
Experiencing music on Public Records’ main Sound Room sound system is a nearly religious experience — the horns are clear and all the little intricacies of records you’ve heard before but now can really hear jump out at you. The small, square, minimalist blonde-wood-covered space is tucked in the back of Public Records’ multi-room compound, on a quiet street in Gowanus, and stepping into it is to be transported into a world where only music exists.
The powerful system was custom-built by hip speaker designer Devon Turnbull of OJAS and Jason Ojeda of Global Audio Systems, and also boasts a custom Isonoe rotary mixer and a custom DJ console by Global Audio Systems and Harry Theocharidis.
“The Sound Room system is… in my opinion, one of the best sounding rooms in NYC… There’s an audiophile level of quality that’s been applied to Public Records, and that shows whether you’re on the dance floor or in the DJ booth,” Brandon Weems of Musclecars tells us.

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Ojeda offered some insights on why the system sounds so good in 2019 (Public Records did not respond to our request for an interview). Like Nowadays, it also uses Class AB amplifiers. “The dynamic headroom is through the roof and the amps will never get close to their limit because the system is so overbuilt. The channel separation and imaging [are] so incredible that we played the live version of Hotel California, and it sounded like you were standing in the audience during the concert,” Ojeda explained.
Whenever an event takes place in the Sound Room, DJs are also spinning in the Upstairs bar/lounge and in the Atrium, which also hosts a vegan restaurant and bar and was formerly home to the ASPCA headquarters’ horse stable. During the warmer months, the outdoor Nursery hosts day parties and powerful custom horn-loaded four-way speaker stacks built by OJAS and NNNN. During the winter, these speakers live in the Atrium, giving life to indoor day parties such as Justin Cudmore’s joyfully gay, sweaty and housey Revival series.
“It’s such a rare thing in our city to have a club with rooms that cater to different types of listeners. There are so many different ways that folks can interact with the music across Public Records’ Sound Room, Atrium, and Upstairs spaces,” Musclecars’ Craig Handfield underscores.
You can explore Public Records Wednesday through Sunday; advance reservations are recommended for the Upstairs space and the restaurant.
Nightmoves (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Nightmoves is a special space; finding yourself on its kitschy rainbow light-up dancefloor, underneath the large skylight that glows during thunderstorms, feels like stumbling on a piece of authentic New York nightlife in your music nerd friend’s living room (in this case, James Murphy’s surrogate gathering space).
If you’re extra lucky, a friendly face may offer you a splash of tart orange wine on said dancefloor, or you can saddle up to the bar and order a glass of natural wine yourself, from the same award-winning wine program by Justin Chearno of Four Horsemen. (Pro tip: A pop-up version of the wine program pours at the back of massive warehouse venue Knockdown Center during LCD Soundsystem’s annual string of winter New York shows there.)

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To get the full James Murphy-selected sound system and natural wine experience, visit his restaurant next door, Four Horsemen (if you don’t have a coveted reservation, go early or late, or put your name down and wander the neighbourhood), which also has great sound and music, then head to Nightmoves for more sips and some dancefloor bliss.
Very little is published about Nightmoves online and they didn’t respond to our request for an interview, so we don’t have the details about their system, beyond noticing their Technics vinyl turntables, McIntosh amplifiers and the four custom-looking, crisp-sounding speakers hovering from the ceiling above the dancefloor (the DJ monitors are also suspended from the ceiling). Like every other space on this list, it is truly worth experiencing for yourself.
Nightmoves is open to the public from 6 to 9 pm Wednesday through Sunday. To enter after 9 pm requires a spot on the guestlist, offering an intimate, friendly, unpretentious local-DJs-and-their friends vibe.
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