Climb the metal steps at the Old Silk Mill on Brook Street and you arrive at Deco Audio, a specialist hi-fi shop with a serious record room at its centre. Thousands of cleaned and graded LPs share the first floor with turntables, amplifiers and speakers, so you can dig for a record and hear what a good system makes of it in the same visit.
Background / History
For around fifteen years Deco Audio traded in Aylesbury, where its record side was known as The Vicious Squirrel, first in the town centre and later on the Gatehouse Industrial Estate. In 2025 the business moved seven miles to Tring, the owner’s home town, and the Aylesbury premises closed. The new base is a Grade II listed former silk mill, a building full of character and history, and the records made the journey too, now under the Deco Audio name.
What You’ll Find
Expect over four thousand LPs on display at any one time, with several thousand more waiting to be processed, spanning almost every genre. Used records are wet cleaned on a vacuum record cleaning machine, inspected, graded and slipped into anti-static inner sleeves before they reach the racks, yet prices stay competitive. New vinyl covers a wide spread of labels, including audiophile reissues from Classic Records, Mobile Fidelity, Music on Vinyl and Gearbox Records alongside releases from the majors. There is a growing stock of around seven hundred graded second-hand CDs too. On the hi-fi side you will find turntables, cartridges, amplifiers and speakers from makers such as Rega, Pro-Ject and Michell, plus a record cleaning and flattening service. The shop also buys record and CD collections in very good to excellent condition across most genres.
Experience / Atmosphere
A visit here feels unhurried and personal. The shop is on the first floor of the mill: head left from the Brook Street entrance and look for the sign by the steps up to number 7. There is on-site parking in the marked bays, and the market car park and high street are only a couple of minutes’ walk away. If you would like to hear a particular turntable or pair of speakers, let the team know in advance and they will set up one of the demonstration rooms for you. Coming by train? A pre-booked lift to and from Tring station is available, which helps as the station sits some way out of town.
Why Visit
- Over four thousand LPs on display, new and second-hand, across almost every genre
- Used vinyl wet cleaned, graded and resleeved before it goes out
- Audiophile reissues alongside new releases from the major labels
- Around seven hundred graded second-hand CDs
- Hi-fi demonstrations by arrangement, with turntable know-how on hand
- Collections bought regularly, so the racks keep changing
- Pre-booked station pick-up for visitors arriving by train
Summary
Deco Audio brings the records many people knew as The Vicious Squirrel to a characterful new home in Tring. With carefully cleaned used vinyl, thoughtful new stock and the chance to hear it on serious hi-fi, it is well worth the climb up the mill steps, whether you are building a collection or upgrading the system you play it on.
