FAQ

This may seem like a harsh question, but it is a question you need to ask yourself.

The short answer is if you can find another functioning model for less than $150, you may want to pick that option.

The long answer requires asking yourself more questions.

1. Can I find the same thing in functioning condition for a decent price?
2. Am I willing to spend more than it’s worth to fix it?
3. Am I willing to spend money to find out if it’s fixable?
4. Am I open to restoration over repair? (this may be answered in the next FAQ)

Here’s the deal. Most electronics that are worth fixing will have cost a bit back in the day and be valued at prices over $300 in today’s market. This will include all the big brands like Marantz, Sansui, Pioneer, Kenwood, Yamaha, Luxman, McIntosh … these are well-known brands that are usually in high demand. If you have any of these, you will want to seriously plan on getting it restored.

It is important to consider that most home stereo gear was made for a baseline consumer that just wanted an affordable way to listen to the radio, records, and tapes. The term “High End” is not associated with most “HiFi” you can find for sale now. If you are an enthusiast or audiophile (this term is misused too often), you will know the value of the audio gear you are interested in and don’t even need to read this. lf you are somewhere in between in that you want something really nice, but not sure what to get, or what is reasonable to spend … you need to do some research. Everyone online has an opinion. If you are going to base your decision on “marketers” and others who rely on income generated through search engines and traffic to their channel or website …. just be careful. 

More on that in the next FAQ.

The short answer is restoration so it so it can be enjoyed at the same, or better, performance level when it was new.

The long answer is that “fixing” a piece of audio so that it functions, is a short-term solution. It will almost always result in a bigger more costly failure in a matter of weeks to months, depending on how you use it. For this reason, most highly qualified techs only do restorations. I’m 100% in agreement.

The time it takes to repair electronics, requires pulling circuit boards and dismantling the unit to some degree. Unfortunately, the idea of “repair” or “fixing” sets an unrealistic expectation that somehow the unit should be able to function properly over a long period of time. Maybe a year or more. So when the “repaired” unit starts showing a different set of problems, it’s easy to get the sense that you wasted money. In some cases, this sours the whole experience of “vintage” HiFi. It is one reason we offer new products. There are some audio lovers that prefer to buy something that works, with a warranty and get high quality audio in their home.

I am seeing a growing number of situations where someone has soldered headshell wires (no clips) or clips to the pins on the back side of a phono cartridge. Why is this a problem?

The first reason is that you aren’t supposed to. The backside of all cartridges is a dielectric material (some kind of plastic) that will melt when heat is applied to a metal pin on the backside. The evidence of this is when a pin is no longer straight. The plastic will cool and possible hold the pin just fine. However, you have most likely damaged the connection inside the cartridge rendering the cartridge worthless and best tossed in the bin.

The second reason is that from what I’ve seen, solder ends up grounding out to solder on another pin. Keep in mind your phono cartridge is the most delicate product in your entire system. It doesn’t take much to damage and when you do, you find yourself once again wishing that life had a remote control so you could rewind and avoid the costly mistake.

When I run across damaged or possibly damaged cartridges, I send off to my good buddy Joseph Long in Connecticut for inspection. You can find him on our Repair Shop page. Scroll down to the Phono Cartridge section. We try to maintain up to date contact info there.

We do not.

Most repair shops don’t work on console stereos. Here’s why.

Size: even the smallest consoles are still big. Most shops don’t have space to dedicate to one piece of audio furniture for the time required to fix.

Servicability: some consoles and especially record changers can be challenging to regain 100% functionality and reliability.

Value: while you may find a cool console for $100, you could end up spending $1-2k to restore the cabinet, electronics, record changer and speakers. For this budget, you can find a better HiFi solution that will sound better, be easier to use and reliable.

With all of this said, there are some consoles that are pretty cool and can be a novelty if it fits your musical goals. Unfortunately, we can’t help you.

In most cases, YES!.

CD’s are a great bargain these days. While the masses have moved on to streaming, if you have a good cd player, you can in most cases get better resolution and sound from a CD. This is a general rule, assuming that you have a good sound system. The benefit of CD’s not being so popular is that it’s possible to find used cd players for a bargain. In some cases, a low price tag will mean the laser assembly and/or ribbon connector need to be replaced. Most any good cd player use laser assemblies that you can still buy. As a Rega dealer, we are able to repair most older Rega cd players. In rare cases, the DAC chip is bad, and we are not able to repair.

We do NOT work on cd carousel players (multi-disc) simply because they typically have problems we can’t fix. Single disc cd players have a simpler tray / assembly that for the most part is never going to create the issues that occur in carousel cd players.

When searching for a good used cd player, do your research to make sure you aren’t buying a basket case.

Technically, “Antique” applies to items older than 100 years.

“Vintage” seems to cover a wider range of audio products, usually starting in the 1950’s, depending on your age. With so many younger generations discovering their love of vintage audio gear, the age of a component is typically anything before they were born.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter as long as you are able to put a stereo system together that you enjoy looking at and listening to.

When it comes to buying and selling audio and thinking about how terms might be linked to market value, don’t bother. When it comes to high quality audio, there are wonderful examples of audio that are from the 70’s that after a proper restoration, will sound as good or better than a lot of modern setups. It comes down to knowing what you are buying, or finding someone who can help guide you in this journey.