I was wondering too about that L.A./Irvine connection. Maybe he's from Connecticutt or some such place. It seems that these days Samy's is the place to go. I've been to their Pasadena and Santa Barbara stores, but not the main one on Fairfax.
Although I don't live in the L.A. area any more, I did for 39 years, and I still found myself missing the good old days up at Frank's in Highland Park. It was sortof the L.A. version of B&H, I guess. Bought a lot of my equipment there.