Bad Neighbors is a hi-fi listening bar and diner in Portland’s Arts District. The music policy is built around exploration rather than a house playlist: full album sides, records from different parts of the world, and three-hour blocks devoted to a genre, artist or influence. It is a social bar, though the records have enough time and space to register properly.
Co-owner Dennis Gaines is a sound engineer and designed the system for the room. Two Altec speakers are built into the front of the bar, with another pair of theatre-style speakers at the rear. They were measured to provide useful coverage across the space. Exact models, amplification and turntables have not been published.
There are about 70 seats and a pool table, so this is not a silence-first listening room. The system is intended to carry through the bar at a deliberate listening volume, with cocktails and diner food alongside it. Go for a complete side or one of the longer themed blocks, rather than treating it as a quick drink before somewhere louder.