Looking for good repair shop in Chicago

For the Chicagoland area I would say Stereo Exchange is the best if you want it done right. I live in northwest Indiana and took my MBL preamp to David on my daughters word after her boyfriend had an old Concept receiver repaired. He said it worked great when David was done. She was right. The preamp preforms great and all the issues I had with it were repaired. It's not a fast food type store,David takes the time to make it right. Very pleased.

I just had a prototype Joule Electra LA200 all-tube pre worked on by David at Stereo Exchange, located on Western Ave. in Chicago. I cherish this piece and have always had the designer, Jud Barber, do the work I needed. But I had a pesky, intermitant right channel problem and just didn't want to ship the unit and wait 3-5 months for the fix, so saw this thread and met with David.

I am an experienced audiophile and a former TAS reviewer and I was very happy with David's work - and here is why.

There are techs and there are techs. 50% are sloppy with solder and the other 49% think they know what "beautiful" sounds like but really just end up banging around the inside of your unit and making it more, um, "accurate." They mean well, but like a Ferrari mechanic, its hard to find someone who understands that the technical fix is in service of getting you to, or back to, that place where you sit for hours immersed in the music.

David gets that.

Just a quick example: He does the US repair work for Plinius and when I was there he had a pair of monster SS amps opened up on the counter. He said that they were working fine, but that he still couldn't quite get them to sound the way they could. 99% of techs would have handed them back and the owner would have none the wiser. My guess is that that owner is going to get his monos back sounding better than ever.

Why?

Because the artistry in being a tech is more than just swapping out parts until it runs.

I run WE300Bs, am brutal on harmonic and spatial presentation and have over $700 in NOS tubes just in my phono stage and last night, after getting the pre back from David, I was running around and too busy to give it a good run-through, so just quickly hooked it up to see that the lights went on. Two hours later, almost dark outside, I had to drag myself away from the system to finish the leaves outside.

Highly recommended.

i wasn't happy with deltronics. sterep exchange does a good job; van l on western avenue also knows what he's doing, esp. with speaker repair.

Chris from the post above turned me on to Musician Custom Electronics in Chicago Heights. I received first rate service and he even finished the repair within a week and the cost was LESS than the amount he originally quoted me. 4 star service for anyone on the south side of Chicago. As noted above, I have also had good luck with Stereo Exchange in the City.

I brought my Plinius 8150 to the Stereo Exchange as he is now the repair facility which Plinius uses for repair work. The first place I sent to on the east coast didn't do a good job at all.

I have only had the amp a a couple weeks since the repair but it sounds better then I ever remember it sounding. He seems to definitely have a good grasp of how to repair equipment and from what he has told me will stand behind what he has done. So far so good, I'd go back if I needed to.

I also had an unusally great experience with a local Chicago repair facility. The Stereo Exchange located on north Western Avenue was very prompt and professional with a vintage Berning preamplifier. Needing a quick turn around, I was well accomadated and I received a follow-up call to make sure every thing was working OK. Of course it was and I even received an additional call a week later.

Excellent Service!

I have to throw in with Stereo Exchange. Dave performed minor repairs on my, UPS damaged, cj amp. Not only was I happy with his work, I really appreciated the way he understood my sense of urgency and how helpful he was in communications with the seller and UPS.

I recently had Dave at Stereo Exchange repair a vintage HK tube receiver and a newer, high end tube amp. Both now work well and, equally important, both were returned in the same (mint) cosmetic condition in which they were dropped off.

Try Musician Custom Electronics in Chicago Heights off Halsted St. Ask for James, he is very honest and knowledgeable.

I second using Stereo Exchange in Lincoln Square. I would've used Deltronics but their hours were too inconvenient for me. Dave fixed my Unico SE that was badly damaged in shipping after I bought it through Agon.
When I brought it in he handed me a screwdriver and told me to pop the lid while he kept working on some big child's toy made out of green plastic. Then he inspected the amp with me to point out everything that would need fixing - must've dropped it off of a loading dock! Great guy who put in lots of hours fixing it. Also, he insists on keeping amps for a couple of extra days to stress test the repairs.

A dealer friend from the Northside sends most of his stuff to Deltronics, he says they do good work. I have never had anything repaired at Stereo Exchange but I drop in occasionally and they always have some great vintage gear. Nice guys too.

Check out Deltronics - they have two locations: one in Chicago the other in Woodridge. I had them do a little work on a Sonic Frontiers Line 1 preamp a couple of years ago and they did a good job for a reasonable price.

http://www.deltronicschicago.com/

Can you spend extra shipping to Tenessee.Terry DeWick is familiar with almost all mcintosh gear.He just did my mc-225 back to life and i will send my other one for minor repair and serviced.Every one knows him except he is that far from you?....I shipped my mc-225 from California,Sf all the way to Knoxville.

I have had very good luck with Stereo Exchange in Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago. Dave has repaired my very complicated Conrad Johnson Evolution 2000 hybrid amplifier and my Antique Sound Labs Flora that had shipping damage. They have a very cool vintage collection of gear so I would have no doubt that they would be very much at home with your vintage Mac amp.