Stereoadvisor

I have a MOTU digital audio interface that needed repair. The dc input needed to be soldered to the circuit board. Rainbow Electronics told me it would cost $ 85 for a diagnosis and, at minimum, a further $ 250 for the repair. I told them that no diagnosis was necessary, as I already knew what was wrong with it, but the woman insisted that they would nevertheless perform a diagnostic.
So I called Stereoadvisor.
The repair technician (whose name I did not get) cautioned that he did not repair digital audio devices. I told him what the problem was and he told me to stop by. He checked out the broken piece, quoted me an extraordinarily reasonable price, and said he’d have it fixed in 10 minutes. 5 minutes later I was out the door, repaired MOTU in hand, and hundreds of dollars saved.
tl;dr: Stereoadvisor fixed my broken machine at a low cost and with amazing speed.

Took my technics 1200 in for repair of an RCA cable. Paid the $ 60 evaluation fee. A week later luis called and told me there was other problems in a technical language I really didn’t understand. He then told me the total repair was $ 322. If which only $ 35 were for parts.
I was a little shocked as this turntable was purchased new during the last years of production, rarely used and never left the house.
He said the internal wiring of the tone arm needed replaced. He then went on to replace the Rca and grounds.
Did I need it? I don’t know. I feel like my 1200 was held hostage. I paid the money and I hope the table works. It should. Essentially. Went in for a basic repair and was sold something that I didn’t know existed.

My old Dynaco Stereo 400 power amp had been misbehaving for a couple years. The right channel speaker protection circuit would activate, cutting off the right channel even at low levels. Technopia, a local shop in Walnut Creek attempted to repair it, twice, but they couldn’t quite get it right (didn’t charge me anything the second time). Thanks to Stereoadvisor it’s back home and seems to be working just fine. It took longer than I was quoted and it was a pretty expensive repair (close to what I paid for the amp) but it was a lot less than what a comparable replacement would cost now. The warranty is only 30 days so I hope it continues to work long past the warranty period. Time will tell. I’ll report back if it fails again.

I was so excited to find Louis, what a huge disappointment though! I would give half a star if I could. Luis was rude and confrontational as soon as I walked in but against my better judgement I went ahead with the repair, thinking he must have had a bad day and who doesn’t once in a while? My husband ending up taking in the turntable because I was intimidated with his dismissive attitude towards me. I knew it needed a new motor and tune up etc… And had no problem paying the $ 60 diagnostic fee. I asked how much more he thought it would be and he would not answer me let alone look me in the eye. He told me after 6 weeks he’d call, 7 went by and I called to find out what was going on (I had an event I was planning on using this player at) and he promptly told me «NEVER to call me to ask about the repair its a waste of my time and I don’t care to answer your questions» hmmmmm not cool. Anyway a week later the repair was done (just in time for the event I was having) got the turntable home and it worked fantastic for oh 2 weeks but! Yup here it comes it stopped working! Shock horror didn’t see this coming (hear the sarcasm?) my husband called and he said he might be able to fix it!!! Bring the whole console in. It’s a vintage 1950s 4 ft x 2 ft beast. I can’t do that! But he informs me it’s not his work it’s something in the console?! Nope… It’s his work. $ 350 total for a whole lot of frustration! thanks Louis thanks for taking our money and not performing a service you said you could do!

Luis explains the mysteries of the stereo age patiently and persistently. His shop is a living, loving museum of hi-​fi. He fixed my JVC turntable and gave me a tutorial on arm balancing that would have taken me hours of Internet searching to match. Skip the Internet, save your thumbs, go to Stereoadvisor.

I never thought someone could fix my very vintage European record player. I had brought my player to other stores before and no one wanted or could repair it. Luis was able to restore it to work and sound perfect again.

Luis is one of those rare finds now a days. Just given the fact that a stereo tech, who fixes old school turntables, even exists anymore in the age of downloading music is an amazing feat in itself, but I digress. Long story short, my turntable was skipping on the 3^rd song, and when it wasn’t skipping it just didn’t sound right. For those of you out there who appreciate the sound of vinyl, you know what I’m talking about. Anyways, I took it to Luis paid the $ 60 to check it out, and a few days later my turntable was back in the man cave sounding better than ever! Luis is amazing, he knows his stuff. If you’re like me and you like to listen to your music old school, check out Luis store. he not only fixes stereo equipment, he also sells it. Definitely check out Stereoadvisor!!!

I’ve taken 2 different things to have fixed at Stereoadvisor and they were both done with amazing care and in a timely manor.
I’ve had broken headphone cords repaired which saved me a bunch of money compared to buying new. I’ve also had a pair of vintage speakers repaired and they sound magnificent. Yes you do have to pay a down payment, but with so many other services requiring a down payment that doesn’t seem abnormal at all.
I wouldn’t hesitate going back there at all. Luis clearly knows his stereo magic. Its also a great store to browse in if you love vintage stereos and speakers.

Honestly, I have a complaint about the people who have complained about Louis! I can’t believe customers are complaining about paying a fee for a diagnosis and quote for repair. I am also dumfounded that customers think that they are being overcharged for repair to equipment that is over 30 years old when Louis provides a service that is so specialized and rare that you’d be hard pressed to find anyone else who has the knowledge and skill to do this work. The complainers seem to lack an appreciation that repairing equipment that is no longer manufactured is a service that comes at a price. If someone isn’t willing to pay for repair to an old piece of equipment, then they are not cut out to be the owner of such equipment.

Just wanted to express my Extreme happiness and delight that my 37 year old Pioneer SX1280 receiver/​amp is alive and so very well thanks to Luis. He was very quick to diagnose the issue of a channel dropping out and not working. He replaced all of the capacitors, cleaned everything including the many controls and switches and buttons.
I brought it home hooked it up and can not believe how good it sounds. Clear, bright sounds that I had forgot the Pioneer SX1280 amp was capable of.
Thank you again for your reasonably priced very high quality repair.

Wonderful experience: brought my old receiver from the 70’s in for repair. Luis was very knowledgable and friendly. I left with my receiver repaired at a reasonable cost and educated on my own device.

Luis is an artist!!! A few years ago when I was changing a cartridge on my Rega RB300, I managed to break off one of the leads. I was dumbfounded because what was I supposed to do? Get a new arm? Who on earth could fix this? I did a google, and low and behold STEREO ADVISOR not only showed up, but they were in Sacramento! I took my arm in and two days later not only was my arm repaired, he was able to strengthen all the leads and have been a happy listener ever since.
WHOLE HEARTEDLY recommend him, and he is a really nice guy.
I have a Marantz 2252b that is beginning to give me trouble in the left channel, so he will without question get my business.
Thank you STEREOADVISOR!!!

Nope. His reply to my review is BS. The monitors were brought back in as soon as I used them one time and noticed they were still not working correctly. Volume is never turned up past 50%. Never had as much discussion about it as he’s claiming. Brought them in the first time, he said it was one thing, claimed to fix it. Brought them back and it was, «Oh, the speaker must be blown too.» Not surprising that HE doesn’t want to own up to not being able to get the job done.

Got 2 technics turntables connections repaired. Brought a mixer to be looked at as well but didn’t get repaired because Luis asked a price too near what I paid originally for the mixer. Ended replacing both RCA cables and grounds. Turnaround was 2 weeks. Charged me $ 245. 60 $ of which was for just looking at the mixer alone. Attempted to use for a gig the next week and realized on table’s RCA connection was incorrectly attached. Had to drive back to shop, he fixed it.
Overall, Luis is a nice guy; but, I am somewhat disappointed with the price I paid and the service I received…

Luis did great job getting my turntable back into shape. Sounds great.

I took an old Peavey Standard PA head to this place. It turned on, but didn’t work. He told me that he would diagnose it for $ 60 and that the cost of the repair would be reduced by the $ 60 diagnosis fee. He also said that if the problem was minor it would not cost more than that.
A couple weeks later he told me that he found that problem to be the capacitors, but then went on to tell me that there was a resistance problem in the amps. That it was putting out too much watts.
I told him I wasn’t too worried about the watts and that I just wanted the capacitors replaced so it would work. He refused to do the work and said he would only do it if he completely rebuilt the whole unit for $ 260. His rationale is that it could eventually overheat and go out because of the resistance issues…
I was not happy and refused to let him do anything further. I brought this unit in for the capacitors and he would not do the work. I bought the capacitors on eBay for $ 20 and had Skip’s put them in for $ 75.
The electrician at Skip’s said these units are bullet proof and that they always run a little hot. That nothing ever goes wrong with them besides the capacitors. Unit works perfect now.
I feel like I got ripped off $ 60 by this guy. I would never take something into him.

Luis debugged and tuned up a brand new turntable after it was having tracking issues. He kept me aware of timing, and it sounds great.

The micrphone broke off the end of the flex cable of my motorcycle helmet. Man, I don’t want to have to send this all the way back to Italy (the mfg.) to be repaired.
I did a little search and found this place. Called him and talked about it… he said bring it in and let’s take a look at it. I did, he did and said he could repair it. That was two days ago. I took my wife’s helmet with me to make sure the wireless intercom worked between the two… it works great! Not only does it work great, it’s much more secure than it was before (it was pretty flemsy before the repair).
I’m very happy with it… two days sure beats the 3 – 6 weeks it would have been gone!
Thank you so much for repairing the helmet microphone.

I purchased a vintage Pioneer PLA-​25 turntable on eBay that needed a belt. When I received the unit, it was obvious the old belt had melted over the motor and drive shaft of the motor. It looked hopeless. Luis looked at the unit and quoted a fair price. He had to take the entire motor apart to get all the melted rubber out, plus he fixed the broken tone arm lift. I know the hours he put into the repair exceeded his quote, yet he stuck by his word. The turntable works flawlessly. I would not hesitate to return to Luis with any audio issue, he’s outstanding at both audio repair and customer service.

Luis was very helpful and did an excellent job fixing my amplifier — and went above and beyond to make sure it was done right. He even did some work that was not required to increase the durability of all of the connectors.
He was also able to re-​align the tray and remove the cd’s that had fallen into my changer (due to my stupidity in forgetting to remove them before I moved) and get it working again.
Expensive? Yes. But his skill and time are worth money, and he did a good job for the price quoted with no hassle — and got it done very quickly for me. You get what you pay for, and when you have A/​V equipment that costs 5 times as much to replace, it’s money well spent.
Thank you! I have beautiful music again!