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Where can I find vintage audio repair in MN

K

kenword

Member
I recently purchased some vintage Sansui gear through Ebay. It all seems to need some amount of repair despite being described as working. I am trying to find a vintage audio repair source and have found a few leads but know nothing about the companies' reputation or ability. Can anyone recommend a repair shop anywhere in Minnesota or the Fargo North Dakota area?
One shop I'm interested in is Alex Audio, Video and Computer Service in New Hope. Has anyone dealt with them? I need someone who can adjust the tuning of my T-9 tuner, and I understand tuners can be difficult to work with.
 
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geespot said:
Absolute Sound Labs in Savage for vintage.

http://www.absoundlabs.com

Stay away from Alex in New Hope. After a few bad repairs by them, my friends HT company sent repairs elsewhere.
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Wow, thanks, that's just the kind of advice I need. Unfortunately, it looks like Absolute Sound Labs will not work on Sansui :(
I found a shop in Alexandria MN that has offered to help. It is called Alextronics. Has anyone dealt with them?
 
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HiFiSound in downtown Minneapolis might still do repairs? I did take a McIntosh and Monster Sansui down there several years ago, they worked on the McIntosh but wouldn't touch the Sansui.
https://hifi-sound.com/
This guy has been advertising tuner alignment for years on CL
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/ele/d/minneapolis-50-vintage-analog-am-fm/7581882630.html
....and I think this guy has been highly recommended before? I've never used him.
http://www.pro-audioservice.com/

Good luck with the repairs, 10 years ago most equipment still seemed to work but now I expect a short life from my new finds if they do work.
 
geespot said:
Have you called them? They are usually closed on Thursday.
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I have not called Absolute Sound Labs, but did send an e-mail. Their website has a list of brands they repair and Sansui is not on it.

Update: I received a message from them today (Friday, Feb 3). Here is what they wrote:
"Unfortunately while we do service some Sansui products, we do not work on the T-9. These units have certain ICs in them that are difficult, near impossible to source.
I recommend contacting the Sansui support center and simply ask them who they would recommend who specializes in newer vintage Sansui products."

So while they might consider a '70s analog Sansui tuner, my '80s digital tuner is not welcome. I don't blame them. Who needs the hassle of trying to find obscure obsolete parts for equipment that has little collector interest or value?
What I find surprising is the suggestion to contact the Sansui support center. Is there such a thing now that Sansui is just a label slapped on cheap Chinese junk?
 
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kenword said:
I recently purchased some vintage Sansui gear through Ebay. It all seems to need some amount of repair despite being described as working. I am trying to find a vintage audio repair source and have found a few leads but know nothing about the companies' reputation or ability. Can anyone recommend a repair shop anywhere in Minnesota or the Fargo North Dakota area?
One shop I'm interested in is Alex Audio, Video and Computer Service in New Hope. Has anyone dealt with them? I need someone who can adjust the tuning of my T-9 tuner, and I understand tuners can be difficult to work with.
Click to expand...
I've used Alex many times. Been very pleased with their work.
 
Bone Yard said:
Good luck with the repairs, 10 years ago most equipment still seemed to work but now I expect a short life from my new finds if they do work.
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In my experience, the more I pay for vintage audio, to less likely it is to work.
I recently bought a Sansui A-9 amp. I paid about $150 for it with shipping. It was advertised as working, and does function, but every switch and adjustment on the thing is flaky from corrosion and I'm constantly losing signal. I understand the thing is now around 40 years old, and dirty switches and 'pots' are to be expected. However I also own a Zenith Allegro. The Allegro is a cheap plastic combination unit that has an AM FM radio combined with a BSR record changer. Units like these are typically dismissed as low performance junk. I don't know how old it is, but I believe it's from the late '60s, which would make it over 50 years old. Somehow it still works perfectly! The radio has great reception and the controls work as they should. I recently had trouble with the record changer, but found repair videos for it on line and got it going in just a few hours. I bought it from a thrift store many years ago and paid $6.00 ! I wish I could find more deals like that!
 
I've bought most of my 70's equipment locally, a lot of it came from the gravy days of the 2000's from thrifts and original owners, most it it still works. Online buying is a huge gamble, lot's of flippers and shipping damage. I still buy online, mostly rare things and I expect them to be non-working regardless of what the ad says. Japanese Ads always say "Junk" to get them off the hook for return/refunds, even if 80% of it still works fine.

I'm not familar with the A-9 but it looks like equipment similar to what Technics, Pioneer, Sony, etc, were pumping out with plug and play circuit boards. Some of that manufacturing technology, while super-fast, was also new to the world and those early circuit boards, ribbon cables, ICs now need maintenance. Unfortunately this is also the beginning of disposable products, instead of fixing, manufacturers started replacing non-working products and didn't expect the broken units to get repaired. I had a gig in the late 90's fixing mixing panels, there was piles of them, I'd isolate the non-working boards and swap until I had a working unit, I saved about 7 out of 10 units. I didn't do any repairs on the circuit boards themselves, it would have been too expensive.

These techs have piles of equipment to fix, I have a feeling they love pre-80's stuff, it's easier to work on and usually have much less complicated parts. Who's going to pay a few hundred dollars for repairs, the guy with the 80's mass-produced reciever or the guy with the 70's boat anchor?
 
I think I may have found my answer. An Audio Karma member from Minnetonka contacted me through the forum and has offered to help. That's a four -hour drive for me, but I plan to be in the twin cities to help my niece move, so it could work well.
 
Aren’t you going to be severely upside down the moment you have someone start working on any of this gear? I’d just take the L and find another one for sale. And I’ve also had Alex Audio fix a receiver I had and it worked fine when I got it back. Sold it immediately after though so no idea how it turned out in the long run.
 
Danathepill said:
Aren’t you going to be severely upside down the moment you have someone start working on any of this gear? I’d just take the L and find another one for sale. And I’ve also had Alex Audio fix a receiver I had and it worked fine when I got it back. Sold it immediately after though so no idea how it turned out in the long run.
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I am very concerned about cost. It normally doesn't pay to have any of this gear repaired except for the collectable high-end stuff. The AK member who has offered to help me is newly retired and working on vintage audio as a hobby. I'm sure he'll be very reasonable with me, and we can decide together if my tuner is worth fixing or not. I believe it just needs an adjustment to the tuning circuits which may take just a few minutes. If nothing else, it should be fun to meet someone who likes to tinker with audio gear as much as I do.
 
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kenword said:
I think I may have found my answer. An Audio Karma member from Minnetonka contacted me through the forum and has offered to help. That's a four -hour drive for me, but I plan to be in the twin cities to help my niece move, so it could work well.
Click to expand...
I know this is an older post, but who did you find in Minneapolis? I live in Grand Forks, ND and have a few pieces I would like repaired. It spoke with one of the owners of Alex Audio/Video in New Hope and he said he was retiring and was closing his business. I have a Denon integrated amp I would like serviced and a older stereo receiver tuner aligned. Thank you for your help!
 
kenword said:
I think I may have found my answer. An Audio Karma member from Minnetonka contacted me through the forum and has offered to help. That's a four -hour drive for me, but I plan to be in the twin cities to help my niece move, so it could work well.
Click to expand...
Hi,old thread,but can you give me his info.I have an Onkyo A7 amp needs work.
 
RCADIMENSIA said:
I know this is an older post, but who did you find in Minneapolis? I live in Grand Forks, ND and have a few pieces I would like repaired. It spoke with one of the owners of Alex Audio/Video in New Hope and he said he was retiring and was closing his business. I have a Denon integrated amp I would like serviced and a older stereo receiver tuner aligned. Thank you for your help!
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God I hope so. The amount of gear I've had to refix that's come from that place....
 
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