Tech servicing quote

bernouski · Jun 30, 2014

After a month of waiting, and warning this guy weekly I've finally received a quote on what the full servicing will be on both my Ka-5700 Amp and Kt-5500 tuner.

He said it'd be $100 for parts and labor.

How does that sound to you guys? Imo that's very steep and was thinking close to half that.

Get back to me soon please

quartermoonp · Jun 30, 2014

If that's for a full recap and also a recap/alignment of the tuner I'd say that's more than fair. Most guys who do this for a living are backed up and turn around times are slow. Remember, there's not many that do this anymore professionally.

bernouski · Jun 30, 2014

Ok thank you sir. he has a website if you wanna check it out. his equipment looks pretty legit.

http://www.aztecelectronics.biz/

EchoWars · Jun 30, 2014

No one is doing a recapping and tuner alignment on two pieces for $100. Maybe a switch cleaning and overall checkout.

If you are not sure what you're getting for your $100, ask specifically what will be done and what will be replaced (if anything).

bernouski · Jun 30, 2014

He specifically told me he'd replace what needed to be inorder to be brought up to specs and he'll make it good as new. That included lights, fixing bleeding channels, fixing static, a full cleaning, and arduous testing.

I'm not sure what else can be done other than that.

Naptown Rob · Jun 30, 2014

$100 isn't steep for anything other than a sandwich these days if you think about it.:scratch2:

Most places (I think reasonably) will want $75 just to put it on the bench.
Where are you?

ccrider · Jun 30, 2014

bernouski said:
He specifically told me he'd replace what needed to be inorder to be brought up to specs and he'll make it good as new. That included lights, fixing bleeding channels, fixing static, a full cleaning, and arduous testing.

I'm not sure what else can be done other than that.

I'm sure it is something quite simple, if he's only quoting you $100. Nobody that is worth a darn or knows what they are doing would perform much more than a cleaning and maybe internal adjustments in the amp such as Dc offset and adjust bias for that, if your lucky

EchoWars · Jun 30, 2014

bernouski said:
I'm not sure what else can be done other than that.

I could write a book.

Like I said, for $100 he'll put it on the bench, clean the switches, and make sure everything works. If he finds something wrong that requires any extra effort, you'll be getting a phone call and a new estimate.

ConradH · Jun 30, 2014

I'll write the forward and do the cover photography!

This sounds like a case of mismatched expectations, and I always try to avoid that because nobody goes home satisfied.

bernouski · Jun 30, 2014

Oh well no use in convincing you guys. I'll pay for a cleaning which still sounds like I'm getting a good deal and whatever else is upgraded will be a great surprise to me.

I'm in Southern California.

All I know is he told me he ordered the parts he needed today and they'll arrive within a couple days and I should have a call back by Saturday with either a finished or close to finished amp and tuner.

blhagstrom · Jun 30, 2014

bernouski said:
After a month of waiting, and warning this guy weekly I've finally received a quote on what the full servicing will be on both my Ka-5700 Amp and Kt-5500 tuner.

He said it'd be $100 for parts and labor.

How does that sound to you guys? Imo that's very steep and was thinking close to half that.

Get back to me soon please

$50 for a "full service"? Red light?

jdurbin1 · Jun 30, 2014

What exactly were you trying to convince us of? That $100 was twice what it should cost to service two pieces of vintage audio equipment? You're deluded, forget about what work is actually being done. Nobody is going to take on those two pieces even for the minimal service EW mentioned, for $50.

Besides that, why post the question here if you already have staked out your position and don't want to hear from others with more experience?

Sheesh.

John

bernouski · Jun 30, 2014

You misunderstood what I was trying to say. I wasn't trying to convince anyone $100 I'm trying to convince what exactly is being serviced on the unit. I have no idea about prices just knowledge of what exactly he told me.

I don't believe I need to lookout for someone trying to swindle me as I've chatted with this nice old fellow about audio equipment for minutes. He's merely a guy who loves this stuff with over half of his life experiencing this kind of stuff.

Sorry if I stirred something up I'm just looking for answers.

Dingman · Jun 30, 2014

No need to be sorry - it's just that your question raises some red flags. And of course red flags get attention.

If your guy is seriously going to clean, test, repair and adjust these units for $50 per, then go find every piece of equipment you have and take it to him, because that's a helleva deal and he's working for peanuts.

I figure he'll have at a minimum, 2-3 hours in each unit. And after ordering parts, doing the paperwork, I'd say 4 hours. You do the math, this is why people in this thread sounded "uppity" but they really weren't. Most are just trying to warn you.

And rightly so - if your guy is doing this for the love of it - you're good. If he is running a business and trying to make a profit, then there's something seriously wrong with this deal - a rip off somewhere.

That's my humble opinion.

ConradH · Jun 30, 2014

He may well do a good check out and tune-up for cheap. Lots of us do love this stuff and probably charge way too little. If he does good, you should be pleased and delighted and understand what a smokin' good deal you got. The odds of some unexpected issue showing up are also high, and you should be prepared for that possibility as well.

bernouski · Jun 30, 2014

I'll take that into account when I go pickup the item. I'm gonna be sure to ask about flaws and free repair if so.

Whatever the outcome is, if I see an improvement, I'll appreciate what was done for the cost as it seems servicing is extremely pricey now-a-days due to your guy's certainty of some sort of ruse at hand.

Again, thanks for the feedback, and I'll be sure to let you guys know the outcome hopefully within the two week mark.

jhtstone · Jun 30, 2014

Please update us when possible. The price is definitely under market.

EchoWars · Jun 30, 2014

bernouski said:
as it seems servicing is extremely pricey now-a-days due to your guy's certainty of some sort of ruse at hand.

I don't think anyone here is suggesting such a thing. Conrad called it:

ConradH said:
This sounds like a case of mismatched expectations

You think he's going to do 'A' and all along his plan is to do 'B'. $100 parts and labor is a damn short amount of time on anyone's bench.

39cross · Jul 1, 2014

When a Coke was 10 cents, $100 was a lot of money...now it's dinner for two. How much does it cost for a good car mechanic? Or a plumber? Electrician? etc. etc. So it sounds like you have an excellent deal.

Hopefully your expectations and the work match up! I can sympathize with that. I'll be interested in your followup.

Danvee · Jul 1, 2014

Being the naturally suspicious type, I'd be taking highly detailed "before" photos, along with noting (or marking) components that would be likely to be replaced.
Would be interesting to see if what they say that they did, actually got "done".

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