Anyone have experience with Circle Stereo?

i cannot believe people are still falling into the Circle Stereo trap-- good luck with yours, latest guy!
 
Sorry, but this is a no-brainer. Send to Terry. I've shipped several pieces from CA to Terry and it just isn't that expensvie. It's worth it. :thmbsp:

Turn around has been 2-3 days which is, well, super.

Boxing and shipping an amp can be a pita but it can be safely done.

Murray

Yup!!!!
 
Don't send your stuff to Circle Stereo - my experience

I have had two experiences with him. About 4 years ago he restored my SX 950 and did an awesome job. I know enough about checking under the hood and he replaced just about everything and then I sent him my SX 1010. That was horrible.

It took me 3 years to get it back and at one time he did not respond for over a year. And, to get it back I travelled all the way to Dripping Springs, TX (from 800 miles away), found him and he gave it back to me. For $400 he rebuilt the power supply board and when I got it back it isn't working at all. Not sure what I am going to do with it at this point but it is cosmetically a pristine condition SX 1010. I do not even think he cleaned anything in it.

I have all my receipts from sending it to him, copies of emails, etc... at least I got my 1010 back.

I've been to his house/shop - his address on his website is the UPS Store.
 
I have had two experiences with him. About 4 years ago he restored my SX 950 and did an awesome job. I know enough about checking under the hood and he replaced just about everything and then I sent him my SX 1010. That was horrible.

It took me 3 years to get it back and at one time he did not respond for over a year. And, to get it back I travelled all the way to Dripping Springs, TX (from 800 miles away), found him and he gave it back to me. For $400 he rebuilt the power supply board and when I got it back it isn't working at all. Not sure what I am going to do with it at this point but it is cosmetically a pristine condition SX 1010. I do not even think he cleaned anything in it.

I have all my receipts from sending it to him, copies of emails, etc... at least I got my 1010 back.

I've been to his house/shop - his address on his website is the UPS Store.

I would have stopped payment or refused to pay or, at least put the matter to a small claims judge. Sometimes it takes something like it to give an effective wake up call.
 
Unfortunately payment was made up front. I live in another state and it would be kind of expensive for me to stay around there and go to small claims. I did think about that and maybe I should write to the Sec of State in Texas and make a complaint. I figure at least i have the unit back and I learned an expensive lesson.
 
Phase Linear 4000 repair

Finally got my preamp back. I had the full resto job done on this unit. The good news is he did a really first rate job. It sounds better than I remember it sounding when I purchased it new in 1977. The bad is it did indeed take an extraordinary long time. He did return my call to explain about some family issues that caused the delay.
 
Unfortunately my experience with this guy was terrible. Sent him a Marantz 2275 well over three years ago; he still has it, does not respond to phone calls or emails, took a whole lot of my money and it looks like I am out well over $500 that I paid him plus the cost of the unit. I submitted a complaint to the Austin area BBB, to which he also never responded, and they have now given him a grade of F. I do not know what is going on at his end but he still has an ad on ebay looking for new business, even as he blows off customers whose units have been in his shop for years now and haven't been fixed. Consider yourselves duly warned.
 
what is going on at his end is that he is a dishonest blowhard who's figured out how scam a living out of his unfortunate customers
 
I would wager he takes care of his EBay repairs, and some of his walk-in and ship-in repairs, at least enough to keep positive reviews > negative reviews. He did good work years ago for me, but you can't ignore the classic telltale signs of danger and unreliability.

That said, why not use Echowars, Terry Dewick, and Craig Otsby, who all are great techs, great guys, and honest. No guessing game with them!
 
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I know this is an old thread but I wanted to chime in about this guy and what is currently going on with him.
I sent a Marantz 2235B in for the restoration years ago. The work that was done was shoddy, the FM was not working in Stereo,
and it took forever to get it back. Only now is the receiver worth more than what I have into it.
It looks like there has been a name change to the business to "Lion Audio" (Formerly Circle Stereo)
It seems that the same issues that people had with this person continued as recently as 2019.
For those in the Austin area I would advise caution if you choose this place to repair your vintage equipment.
 
Wish I had read this before I took him my Thorens. Paid a lot on $$ for not very much work. It took 7 weeks and he didn't even replace the belt as he said he did. I won't deal with him again, and I am also local.
He still has one of my Thorens turntables and this 2022! I pre-paid a deposit on the work, never got that back either when he closed the shop in Austin.
 
Back in the late 1990s, when Circle Stereo was in Austin, I bought a Pioneer linear tracking turntable from him (whoever it was).
I had put some money down on it, and thought I had 30 days to pay it off (that was printed on the receipt form).
Apparently I had misunderstood the terms (it was a consignment), and two or three days later he called, very rude, demanding that I pay it off immediately.
I immediately went in and paid the balance. The man was not friendly or gracious at all; in fact, he acted as if he held resentment against me.

When I got the turntable home, it didn't work after three or four tries. I then realized, too late, that he had tightened down some shipping screws which locked everything up for shipping. He told me nothing about this. Apparently, this severed all the wires that go to the tone arm.

I went back and told him about this, and he was totally cold and unsympathetic. I have never played the turntable since; perhaps I will take it in for repair somewhere.
 
I can't say anything good about "Circle Stereo", assuming it's the same as when they were in Austin, close to the hospital.
I took a R2R and receiver to him that now I know was repairable but he recommended disposal.
If I knew then.....
 
I can't say anything good about "Circle Stereo", assuming it's the same as when they were in Austin, close to the hospital.
I took a R2R and receiver to him that now I know was repairable but he recommended disposal.
If I knew then.....
He tried to get my McIntosh solid state 50-watt monoblocks, which back then were worth $600 for the pair, but then he started adding on various costs...I'm glad I resisted him.
I DID "do him a favor" by selling him a McIntosh tuner/receiver I found in a garage for $100...and he got it for the same. Next thing I knew, he had restored it, took the grungy walnut side panels off, and it became this beautiful, stripped-down piece of art...if I had only known this was possible! But he showed me NO appreciation for this, and acted as cold as ever towards me.
 
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