11 Nov 2026 · Blog
‘Clarity could really help the industry if we all sat down and said, ‘Right - let’s get people into hi-fi stores’
In the third instalment in our series of interviews with Clarity members - retailers and suppliers - freelance journalist, Sean Hannam, speaks to board member, Alister Smith, who has worked in both the custom installation and hi-fi sectors - his most recent role was as UK sales manager at British loudspeaker brand PMC. Alister, who joined the board of Clarity last year, tells us about some of the challenges facing the hi-fi retail sector, including how to increase footfall and engage with younger consumers.
Your background is in Custom Install (CI), isn’t it? You’ve worked for several brands in that sector…
Alister Smith: Yes. I was also heavily involved in CEDIA [the global industry association for smart home professionals] and I ran my own CI company.
What role do you think Clarity has to play in the hi-fi industry?
Part of our direction is to get more retailers to engage with Clarity - now, I feel like everybody knows each other, and they’ll talk, but they don’t really work together.
So, there needs to be more unity?
Yes - and once that message reaches the marketplace, Clarity will really stand out. Look at some of the people [retailers and installers] I know in the CI sector and how they operate; they openly collaborate and support one another on projects.
A CI project is an ongoing process. When someone wants a cinema built, for example, the installer doesn’t simply arrive the next day and put everything in place, but, fundamentally, with hi-fi, someone walks in [to a shop] and they often want to walk out that day with the products.
High street retail across the country - not just hi-fi - is in decline. We [the hi-fi industry] have an extremely knowledgeable and skilled marketplace, but I think that gets lost on the consumer. Clarity could really help the industry if we all sat down and said, ‘Right - let’s get people into stores…’
Is getting customers into physical shops rather than buying online a big challenge for the hi-fi retail sector?
When I look at my previous role at PMC, they have five speaker ranges and only one of them is available to purchase online – the remit is to steer people into stores, and PMC target those retailers who will look after the products. It’s not just about a box and a price… One thing that’s evident is that speakers under £1,000 aren’t selling because people [in that part of the market] haven’t got the money to spend on them, but speakers and systems at £25,000 plus are selling. People are still investing at the higher end.
What about the hi-fi sector appealing to younger consumers? Does it need to do that?
I’ve worked in the technology industry since I was 17 - when I got to 23, I became more involved with the higher end… People tell me that we’re losing the youth… I think we’re losing the type of sale that we used to get from younger consumers. People used to talk about their first record player or their first separates… Kids nowadays will talk about their first pair of Sonos Ones or their little DAB radio… When you’re in your twenties, it’s about image or convenience, but, as you get older, you appreciate quality and the time and effort that’s gone into a product. There are people in their twenties who are earning good salaries and who could spend a significant amount on a hi-fi system, and we should be engaging with them, but the challenge is how we gain their attention.
Manufacturers want to appeal to a younger audience and are doing so in certain ways. PMC’s engagement is very much aligned to their studio heritage. When I talk to my kids, who are in their twenties, about some of the work PMC have been involved in, they think it’s cool and they engage with it - they want to hear about Stormzy recording at Islington, or Metropolis Studios in Chiswick. Clarity could engage more with live acts, including DJs - it’s about a love of music.
At Clarity, maybe we should be speaking to manufacturers and getting them to engage with the youth market because that will then drive younger consumers towards hi-fi stores. Maybe some hi-fi stores have to accept that there's a [younger] marketplace that they're not touching and that they need to sell certain products that are aimed at the younger market, like the turntables that are sold in Urban Outfitters.
When I went to the launch of the new Sevenoaks Sound and Vision store in Sutton Coldfield, there was a large number of families there - there were customers who were 18, 19 or 20 going through the LPs and buying an album - either to play on their father’s system or to play on their own [cheaper] turntable. The store was designed as a destination for the family, and that works.
More Hi-fi stores need to become a destination. I know a lot of retailers, like Senso Systems, in Cornwall, for example, who’ve moved out of the high street and are now on industrial parks - they’re in shared units. We’re also seeing some retailers who are moving away from the high street and are going to more remote locations, like Basically Sound, in Norfolk - they’re in the middle of nowhere. There are other retailers are set up the same, like Paul Clark at Hi-Fi Lounge in Biggleswade, and John Gorodecky at The Department of Music in West Sussex.
Earlier, you mentioned how Clarity needs to engage people by talking about a love of music. What’s your home hi-fi system like and do you buy vinyl or CDs, or do you stream?
My home hi-fi varies, depending more on the demonstration products I have access to at the time. Recently, I had a pair of Prophecy 1 speakers, a Michell Gyro [turntable], a PMC Cor [integrated amplifier] and a Michell Apollo [phono stage.] I stream music a lot - I can be impatient… I have ADHD, so if I’m listening to a song, I’ll probably listen to half or two-thirds of it and skip onto something else.
If a [vinyl] record comes on and there’s a track I don’t like, it’s frustrating when you have to get up and lift the needle off the album. Streaming is better for me, but I’ve got about 25 albums on vinyl that I can sit down and listen to all the way through. I don’t do it very often, but I should do because I do love the quality of vinyl over streaming.