Hey, not only do I remember Lafayette Radio, I worked in the service department of the Michigan franchise from '75 to '80. We used to call it Laff-alot Rodeo. I started out doing speaker reconing and later doing bench repairs. We were a warranty station for EV, Altec Lansing and JBL, so I got some amazing deals on unclaimed speakers. We could get unclaimed stuff for the cost of the parts and I remember getting a pair of JBL K-140's for $30!
Those were the early days of people doing DJ gigs at parties, etc. The laid off auto workers would come into Laff-alot with a few hundred bucks, buy a turntable and the most powerful stereo amp they could get and then spend whatever was left on crappy speakers. They always got a little cranky when we wouldn't warranty speakers with fried voice coils the Monday after their first party gig that weekend. If they argued about it we'd whip out our pocket knife, slice the cone surround and spider out and pull the innards out in one piece to show them the blackened voice coil dangling underneath and say "Nope. Sorry. No warranty.". One guy actually managed to blow the woofer voice coils out the front of the cones and get the midrange voice coils hot enough to ignite the cones and grill cloths. He didn't ask for warranty service.
Thank you modern medicine.
