High Fidelity

High Fidelity is tucked away on a charming little alley behind the Temple Synagogue. And if ever a place seemed tailor-made for Kazimierz, then surely it's this cosy little den. Named after the cult Nick Hornby novel, High Fidelity is a very mellow place where you can pick up old CDs, vinyl, books and other enticing odds and ends. The welcoming, smiling atmosphere, coupled with the sofas to flop about on, make you feel like you've wandered into a very groovy friend's house who just happens to have a gargantuan music collection. Rifle around for those classic CD's that you never quite got round to picking up.

Some of my friends said it was the best place they've ever been to, then the others we shocked by the rude customer service?
Is the owner chap a bit bipolar then?

We wandered into this place following a recommendation from a friend, as it being like walking into a mans front room, and rifling through his vinyl as he drunk beer with his mates. So expecting big things we were greeted with an awkward and rude reception, as he didn’t appreciate me not immediately reeling out a list of bands I was searching for, instead opting for the browsing approach. Stiff with fear in the knowledge that at any point we would be ejected for not immediately buying something I began to peruse his records. The owner’s ignorance of customer service aside, the records appeared overpriced, and slightly limited in various genres. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was caught on ‘a bad day’, but it still left a sour taste in our mouths, especially with everyone else in the city being so friendly and with Krakow being one of the best European cities visited so far.

I visited the man after reading these reviews. Went in with two friends, showed him we were not some random guys searching for the rolling stones and treated him with respect.

The guy is a legend. He showed me more good records in a few hours than I have seen in my whole life. He suggested a few bands to me that were related to my musical taste and I had never heard of them before but can't stop listening to them now.

Finally, I purchased 6 amazing records at a very decent price. They're in mint condition.

Don't be a fat tourist searching for lady gaga vinyls and treat him and his records with respect and you will see that this is a very friendly man with an amazingly wide knowledge of the musical scene.

I also failed to mention that I wound up purchasing 5 hard to find vinyls.

I found from another person's review that his name is actually spelled Piotr.

Apologies,
John Hutto - Seattle, Washington

My girlfriend and I visited on 7/29/11. After reading previous reviews, I will admit to us being a little nervous beforehand. However, the owner, Peter (correct spelling???), said we could look around, but asked us to please handle his vinyl with care. He asked what type of music we were looking for and I said punk and / or power pop. He showed us the sections where it was located. He was extremely cordial and helpful. I found him to be knowledgeable in all genres of music. I'm sorry to hear that some others did not have an enjoyable experience, but feel he is receiving an undue bad rap. He even allowed us to make photos of him and his store - cool guy!!!

John Hutto - Seattle, Washington

Very nice place to go to, don't tell the man any nonsense and he will be good to you. I walked in the shop and came out at least 3 hours later, with a great deal of nice Polish beat music. Meanwhile playing records we discussed the Polish soul (not the music) world matters and of course music, a warm and friendly man. Only jerks with Che Guevara shirts should stay away.

Found the shop, definitely within opening hours, only to be told by a gruff man smoking at the door that this was 'not a shop' and to 'go away'...when it was clearly the store, considering it had 'High Fidelity' and lots of records glued to the shutters and an open sign in the door with the times of opening. We noticed when speaking English together around the city (even though we made an effort to use all the Polish we knew when speaking to locals and to use our phrasebook), people were generally unpleasant to us, but none more so than this.

Awesome place for cds and records. the man who owns the place is a legend. really passionate about music. great to have a chat with about your tastes in music. check it out!

piotr is up for trades / if you know him it is ok !!
He can appear hard to get on with,talk to him,be polite and all will be good !!
I have visited twice now and had no problems at all

I've visited the shop in 2005 and this year I want to go back to Cracow to buy records. Does some-one have the e-mail adress of the shop ?

Good Place, i have found many interesting vinil, good person and last but not least near a good pub.

Brilliant, zany and crazy place - cool for all you surfer dudes. I found lots of old vinyls here that made my day a good one. Peace.