Avoid The Stereo Exchange in Chicago.

I live within a mile of that place. The owner's quirky and he does occasionally have some interesting stuff in the shop. But I agree - he knows nothing about business, even less about customer service. I think all the serious Chicago vintage audio people have known for a very long time to stay away.

One of the weird things about the shop is that nothing's priced, and he never gives you one if you ask. Last time I was in there a few years ago, I asked about this Thorens that he had on display. He told me, "do your research, come back, and you'll know what to offer me." Haven't been back since.

The shop's located in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, which might've been rough back in '89, but is now one of Chicago's nicer 'hoods, and it's becoming more and more gentrified every year. With the way he does business, I don't know how he manages to pay his rent, but I don't think he'll be able to afford it much longer...
 
Last edited:
I think the OP is doing people a favor by posting here. I have heard some bad things about the Stereo Exchange as well, so I have never gone in there. It is actually in the one area of Lincoln Square where rents are probably still cheap--that section of Western Avenue, where things haven't changed much in a long, long time--so it's possible the place could be there a while longer. One thing that has changed since 1989 is the way word-of-mouth can spread via the internet (via Yelp, etc.), so maybe that will eventually have an effect.
 
We have good, reputable businessfolks here in St. Louis, MO and I've used both places I know of to good effect. If I have a problem they respond in kind and explain fully if there's something that's holding them up. I'm glad I don't have to travel to Chitown (6 hours north) to do business, I have everything I need right here in STL. Good luck to the ripped-off, I hope you resolve your differences and get this scumbag 86'ed from your scene.
 
I had a similar experience, only worse, with a camera repair shop in San Rafael, California, run by someone who never repaired a camera in his life. His door stayed open for many years—don't ask me how. I should have sued.

If i were you, I would contact the DA and whatever government agencies and try to have his business license rescinded. Also, I would sue in small claims court, even if I lost money on the suit.

This would help prevent the same thing from happening to others. Even though I'm never near Chicago, thank you for sharing.
 
Last edited:
I certainly don't have any more money to funnel into this mess, and just want to put this all behind me. I just wanted to ensure that the others would see this along with potential google folk looking for information on him.
 
I know this is an ancient thread, and that I haven't posted in a while (I've been crazy busy), but I thought I'd pass on this bit of news:

I happened to drive by Stereo Exchange this morning, and it seems that all that bad karma has finally seen fit to come back 'round Dave's way. I hope no AK'ers have any outstanding business there, 'cause the place is CLOSED.

And nothing personal against Dave, wherever he might be, but...good riddance Stereo Exchange, and honestly, it's about damn time.
 
Last edited:
That's great news.

Dave was a very nice guy and quite frankly I enjoyed talking with him. He was an atrocious business man though and his tech skills were not the best IMO.
 
I agree, Dave was a nice guy, but even though I never brought him any of my stuff, I'm happy to see that particular business go down the tubes. That said, I do have one Stereo Exchange story to share.

One night about a year ago (after my post here), I happened into the shop looking for a replacement belt for the TD125. Surprisingly, he had one, and actually didn't charge me too much for it, maybe $10-15 if I remember correctly.

Anyway, I talked to him for a while, and he took me behind the counter to show me the storage area. I knew he probably had some good stuff stashed away back there, but I cannot tell you just how much vintage awesomeness was just laying around, stacked literally from floor to ceiling.

Now for those who've been to Stereo Exchange, the "showroom" is tiny. For those who haven't, the picture posted earlier in this thread gives a good idea of the size. The storeroom was at least 4-5 times its size, and there were what looked to be at least several hundred, if not more than a thousand, vintage units from virtually every manufacturer stacked as high as you can see. And most all of it was nice stuff (though I don't know if they were working units) - there was a section of McIntosh gear (tube stuff included), a pretty large stack of Phase Linear gear, and I spotted several Thorens, Regas, and at least a couple Michells...

He didn't really deal in speakers, so virtually all of his stash was electronics - turntables (and tonearms), preamps, amps, receivers, tubes and solid state. It was an AKer's dream. That stash remains the single largest deposit of awesome vintage gear that I have ever seen in person.

I was absolutely dumbstruck. If he had ANY business acumen at all, he could've sold all of it on Ebay for 5 figures at conservative prices, maybe even 6... I can only hope that none of it ends up in the dump, and at least some of it ends up in the hands of some deserving AKers.
 
Last edited:
there were what looked to be at least several hundred, if not more than a thousand, vintage units from virtually every manufacturer stacked as high as you can see. And most all of it was nice stuff (though I don't know if they were working units) - there was a section of McIntosh gear (tube stuff included), a pretty large stack of Phase Linear gear, and I spotted several Thorens, Regas, and at least a couple Michells....

Tell Dave his customers want their gear back!!!!
 
Is he the guy myostuff on ebay who has been trying to sell a warehouse full of vintage gear for half a million for the past year or two? IIRC it was in Chicago. Maybe check his ebay photos and see if it jives with what you saw.
 
I don't get it. Why would anyone tolerate him ripping them off like that? Did no one think to call the cops to get their gear back, or a court, or a lawyer? If that failed I'd have done it the old school way and caught him when he came out at night.

Sheesh...
 
Sorry to hear about your experience with them. I don't have much to add besides you are better off driving a couple hours or less north instead to appleton, WI for service. My friends and I have been using sound world in appleton for service for years. Their tech Rick listens to what he's told and will call you if your piece or pieces reach your agreed upon price cap. He's fixed everything well or was straight with me on costs if something isn't worth the cost to fix.
 
He will also give you a realistic time frame on when things will be fixed up front. I think the longest I had to wait ever was around a two months which they told me up front.
 
It's part of the act for a rip-off artist to appear to be a "nice guy".

Good riddance to him.
 
Back
Top Bottom