I've recently had the tremendous good fortune to meet Bill and Loretta Legall. For just a moment, let's forget about speaker repair - just for a moment. I'm lucky, I live a short drive away, so I met them, visited with them. And I can confirm without a bit of hesitation, they are a treasure.
Bill has that very rare combination of passion for what he does, and for the people he works for, along with an absolute and consummate knowledge of his craft. He is the Jedi Master of speaker repair. And the true secret to his success is that he does what he does for the love of it, and not for the money. For the love of what he provides for his customers, for the next level quality he can give you.
Bill may not be the most sophisticated businessman in the world (if he was, he'd charge 2-3x his normal price) and I can see how his email skills may not be on par with what some might expect. So objectively, it's no surprise that in all the transactions he's done, a problem occurred, a customer was not happy, and an email-only communication effort couldn't solve it. The sad thing is, Bill's impeccable and well deserved reputation takes a hit. So be it, we all move on.
Back to speakers. I had an old pair of ADS L1290's that I saved all my pennies forever for, way back in the day. Been sitting in my basement for decades and almost tossed them in a dumpster a year ago. My 18 yo son recently renewed my interest in hifi through vinyl so I hunted down a vintage Pioneer SX-1250 in perfect condition out in Chicago, did a 25 hour marathon road trip, got that beast home and dusted off the old speakers...and promptly blew them up.
Found Bill online, called and got an appointment, threw the speakers in my truck and dropped them off. A week later he called and said come and get em. What he didn't tell me was that ADS had glued the drivers into the cabs and that he was afraid to pry them out for fear he'd ruin the boxes, so he actually rebuilt the drivers in place! I still have no idea how he did it. He also touched up all the scratches and made them look practically new. Well, they've never sounded so good. And the price he charged for all the work he did was less than I spent to take my wife to dinner that night.
I'm headed to see Bill tomorrow to pick up a mint pair of JBL L100t's I just acquired and I can not wait to hear those puppy's sing after Bill works his magic.
One last thing, Loretta is Bill's soul partner and they are one. There is neither without the other, you can just tell that. It's a true joy to see them together. You know, we meet people throughout our lives that impact us in positive ways we can't explain, and we can't forget. Bill and Loretta are that kind of people. Forget the speakers, I am just lucky to have met such wonderful folks.
Bill has that very rare combination of passion for what he does, and for the people he works for, along with an absolute and consummate knowledge of his craft. He is the Jedi Master of speaker repair. And the true secret to his success is that he does what he does for the love of it, and not for the money. For the love of what he provides for his customers, for the next level quality he can give you.
Bill may not be the most sophisticated businessman in the world (if he was, he'd charge 2-3x his normal price) and I can see how his email skills may not be on par with what some might expect. So objectively, it's no surprise that in all the transactions he's done, a problem occurred, a customer was not happy, and an email-only communication effort couldn't solve it. The sad thing is, Bill's impeccable and well deserved reputation takes a hit. So be it, we all move on.
Back to speakers. I had an old pair of ADS L1290's that I saved all my pennies forever for, way back in the day. Been sitting in my basement for decades and almost tossed them in a dumpster a year ago. My 18 yo son recently renewed my interest in hifi through vinyl so I hunted down a vintage Pioneer SX-1250 in perfect condition out in Chicago, did a 25 hour marathon road trip, got that beast home and dusted off the old speakers...and promptly blew them up.
Found Bill online, called and got an appointment, threw the speakers in my truck and dropped them off. A week later he called and said come and get em. What he didn't tell me was that ADS had glued the drivers into the cabs and that he was afraid to pry them out for fear he'd ruin the boxes, so he actually rebuilt the drivers in place! I still have no idea how he did it. He also touched up all the scratches and made them look practically new. Well, they've never sounded so good. And the price he charged for all the work he did was less than I spent to take my wife to dinner that night.
I'm headed to see Bill tomorrow to pick up a mint pair of JBL L100t's I just acquired and I can not wait to hear those puppy's sing after Bill works his magic.
One last thing, Loretta is Bill's soul partner and they are one. There is neither without the other, you can just tell that. It's a true joy to see them together. You know, we meet people throughout our lives that impact us in positive ways we can't explain, and we can't forget. Bill and Loretta are that kind of people. Forget the speakers, I am just lucky to have met such wonderful folks.