Service needed in Michigan - Crossed Paths Vintage??
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mcgurk
New Member
It's a bit of a drive. But there's a trusted place in Ypsilanti. Thin Air Audio, LLC. https://thinairaudio.com Here is a copy of my first and only public review of a service provider that I left on Google.
"Recently, while listening to some vinyl the sound abruptly stopped. I checked all connections, switched out turntables, changed cartridges to no avail. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Silence. Had my nearly 35 year old Sony TA-F700ES Integrated finally given up? I dropped the unit off to Ben. He listened carefully, asked incisive questions and began his journey with my unit. He contacted me a bit later requesting some further information to assist him with his diagnosis and repair. Thankfully. His review found multiple issues with my unit. He corrected a relay in the headphone jack circuit, resolved an issue with the volume attenuator, replaced lamps as needed, cleaned switches, etc. as needed and most importantly, brought the phono stage back to life. My system hasn't sounded this good in years! Ben is quality. I'm thrilled to have found Thin Air Audio and his services. No more anxiety when I drop off a piece of valuable to me equipment for service and repair. Ben will handle it. Clearly, I'm a grateful customer."
"Recently, while listening to some vinyl the sound abruptly stopped. I checked all connections, switched out turntables, changed cartridges to no avail. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Silence. Had my nearly 35 year old Sony TA-F700ES Integrated finally given up? I dropped the unit off to Ben. He listened carefully, asked incisive questions and began his journey with my unit. He contacted me a bit later requesting some further information to assist him with his diagnosis and repair. Thankfully. His review found multiple issues with my unit. He corrected a relay in the headphone jack circuit, resolved an issue with the volume attenuator, replaced lamps as needed, cleaned switches, etc. as needed and most importantly, brought the phono stage back to life. My system hasn't sounded this good in years! Ben is quality. I'm thrilled to have found Thin Air Audio and his services. No more anxiety when I drop off a piece of valuable to me equipment for service and repair. Ben will handle it. Clearly, I'm a grateful customer."
mcgurk
New Member
Please do. That's a nice piece of kit. Really nice.
Buyer beware! Here's my story:
I was in need of a service tech to repair some issues I had with my Pioneer SX-780. I bought this receiver new in 1980 and have kept it through thick and thin through the years. So while searching on Ebay, I came across a listing for restorative service for this model from a company called Crossed-Paths Vintage located in Burleson, TX. The listing stated that they will perform a complete restoration and cleaning of my receiver with a 30 day turnaround for $400, plus $30 tax, and the cost of return shipment ($50). The listing also stated that they would provide total transparency regarding where my unit was in the queue at any time. This listing was exactly what I was looking for, so I placed an order for it. Soon after, a person named Brent Huskins at Crossed-Paths called and thanked me for the order and we discussed how to ship the unit to them. He also mentioned that the revised turnaround time would be by the end of March, which I was OK with. I sent the receiver to Crossed-Paths via Fedex and it delivered on 1/8/21. Since then I have received NO information on my unit, per the verbiage on their listing. I've called and emailed Brent several times and all he does is push the date out. He last told me on 4/2/21 that I would have the receiver back in mid-May. To-date, I haven't received the unit. I emailed Brent again yesterday voicing my frustration and displeasure and demanding that he return my receiver, as advertised and paid for. So far, no reply. I contacted Ebay Customer Service yesterday and reported the listing as fraudulent. Ebay just got back to me via email stating that they are investigating Crossed-Paths for fraud. I'm afraid that I've been scammed out of $480 and my receiver. Good luck to anyone that bought this "service" from Crossed-Paths.
I was in need of a service tech to repair some issues I had with my Pioneer SX-780. I bought this receiver new in 1980 and have kept it through thick and thin through the years. So while searching on Ebay, I came across a listing for restorative service for this model from a company called Crossed-Paths Vintage located in Burleson, TX. The listing stated that they will perform a complete restoration and cleaning of my receiver with a 30 day turnaround for $400, plus $30 tax, and the cost of return shipment ($50). The listing also stated that they would provide total transparency regarding where my unit was in the queue at any time. This listing was exactly what I was looking for, so I placed an order for it. Soon after, a person named Brent Huskins at Crossed-Paths called and thanked me for the order and we discussed how to ship the unit to them. He also mentioned that the revised turnaround time would be by the end of March, which I was OK with. I sent the receiver to Crossed-Paths via Fedex and it delivered on 1/8/21. Since then I have received NO information on my unit, per the verbiage on their listing. I've called and emailed Brent several times and all he does is push the date out. He last told me on 4/2/21 that I would have the receiver back in mid-May. To-date, I haven't received the unit. I emailed Brent again yesterday voicing my frustration and displeasure and demanding that he return my receiver, as advertised and paid for. So far, no reply. I contacted Ebay Customer Service yesterday and reported the listing as fraudulent. Ebay just got back to me via email stating that they are investigating Crossed-Paths for fraud. I'm afraid that I've been scammed out of $480 and my receiver. Good luck to anyone that bought this "service" from Crossed-Paths.
Have you received your unit back from Crossed-Paths? Please read my post regarding my experience with them.
PTL-Pioneer
Super Member
Thats rough. It really goes to show that anyone who comes here looking for a recommendation for a tech, should really pay heed to the folks here and do not go anywhere else.
Pretty disturbing that there are people out there scamming good people out of their money and their gear.
I hope it all works out for you all, please update the post
Pretty disturbing that there are people out there scamming good people out of their money and their gear.
I hope it all works out for you all, please update the post
Thanks. I'll post updates as they occur. My next step is to contact my bank to see what they can do to assist me.
kissisone
New Member
I'm afraid my excitement of finding someone who could turn the unit around fairly quickly got the best of me and i to fear I have been scammed. This week was 60 days and I emailed and called with no response just to get an update. He told me 75 to 90 days so were not past that yet. But when EastPoint sent me the complaints he found online, my heart feel to the floor and I started trying to contact him just to "check in" and haven't been able to connect. Fingers crossed but hope sinking fast that I just lost a pretty sweet unit and $450
Please contact Ebay Customer Service and open a fraud claim against Crossed-Path ASAP. Don't wait.
As an FYI - I Googled the address where Brent requested that I ship my receiver. It's a residence and not a shop that you would expect to be in a industrial/commercial district.
1011 McKavett Dr - Google Maps
1011 McKavett Dr - Google Maps
FYI - I filed a complaint against Brent and Crossed-Paths Vintage with the Texas AG - Consumer Protection Division. The complaint is under review. We need to keep the heat on this guy and not let him off the hook easy to further scam other people.
Well, Brent sent me a text yesterday stating that my SX-780 was shipping that day and provided the Fedex tracking number. Everything looks legit and I may have been wrong about him. He also sent a few photos of my receiver showing how it cleaned up nice. One of the photos was of the back plate; with a clear view of the S/N. It's definitely my receiver. It's in transit now, with a scheduled delivery of Tuesday. I sent Crossed-Paths the receiver on 1/8/21, so it was almost 5 months for them to turn it around. I may have been OK with the long duration had he been straight with me in the beginning regarding the actual ship date and also provided periodic updates (with photos) on where it was during the restoration. I received no updates at all unless I contacted Brent; but had no proof that he was being honest with the info. You can bet that I'll be removing the cover on it ASAP to see if the work had actually been done.
Fastocker
New Member
Well, sadly I'm in the same boat with Crossed Paths Vintage. Shipped him my Sansui 5000X in early December 2020 for a full restoration thru an ebay ad, had a great conversation with Brent at the time of the sale. Was initially told a mid-February 2021 return date (roughly 60 day turnaround); that came and went. Tried contacting Crossed Paths several times and finally received a response in early April -- they were 'waiting for parts' and mentioned mid-April to finish my receiver.
It's the end of May and still no receiver and zero communication. Sounds like the Texas AG call will have to be made, unfortunately. Sigh . . .
It's the end of May and still no receiver and zero communication. Sounds like the Texas AG call will have to be made, unfortunately. Sigh . . .
If only our paths would have crossed sooner. We're only a couple hours apart. I'm near the Lock Haven/Williamsport Pa area. About an hour northeast of Penn State.
Fastocker
New Member
Ah, I see what you did there. Yes, wish I would have known you were so close -- have been to Williamsport and I graduated from Penn State. May still reach out to you, though -- I have several old receivers here in varying conditions that need some TLC.
A good thing that did come of all this was that I started working on some of my other receivers with good success. Completed a Sansui 4000 refresh that turned out great, plus a 5000A that now sings. So at least the frustrating long distance transaction lead me to learn some usable DIY skills.
A good thing that did come of all this was that I started working on some of my other receivers with good success. Completed a Sansui 4000 refresh that turned out great, plus a 5000A that now sings. So at least the frustrating long distance transaction lead me to learn some usable DIY skills.
Experience is the best teacher. Along with the many expert folks here on AK. Pretty soon you won't be needing to ship anything out and become "self sufficient" fixing your own stuff.
But I always welcome a new "challenge:. 
