Frogman - agreed but the chances of me getting a full refund & shipping from this guy is next to nil so I was just trying to get what I felt was reasonable given that he did do some work, mainly cosmetic work to the wood pieces and metal frames. BTW, the shipping costs for these are around $200 one way, not cheap to start shipping back and forth for repairs.
Quad 63 ESL Rebuild - A Horror Story
If you are considering having a set of Quad 63 ESL speakers restored, please be forewarned if you are considering using Wayne Piquet (PK) of Quad Unlimited.
I contacted PK in Sept 2011 concerning a pair of 63's that I was considering purchasing and having him restore them. PK said that ALL 63's with the original panels need to be restored due to their age. We agreed on a price of $2000 for a complete restoration.
I had the speakers shipped the PK. Once they arrived at PK's I asked him if we were still talking $2000 and he confirmed the price so I send him the $1000 deposit to get on his "calendar". That was Oct 2011. In mid-Nov, PK said that he was ready to ship my 63's and that I should go ahead and pay the balance of $1000 which I promptly did. After a few weeks, I learned that PK had yet to ship my 63's. This went on until Jan 2012 when I got a call from PK saying that the bottom-end (electronics) of my 63's were in terrible shape and that he needed another $500 to complete the restoration. I agreed to the additional $500 but would not make the payment until after I my 63's were delivered. Finally in mid-Feb 2012, my 63's arrived, 3 months after PK said he was "ready to ship" and in possession of my $2000. I promptly paid the $500.
Soon after taking delivery, I started getting a static noise in both speakers. I thought I must be getting some RF interference so I spend months changing pieces, moving components, etc. but still had the noise. My thinking as that it could not be the 63's because I had just spent $2500 to have them stored. I asked PK about it and he replied asking what was the "relative humidity" in my area.
Finally talked to another Quad restoration person and he identified my static issue as bad panels. I had this person take a look at my 63's and upon inspection it certainly appears that PK never rebuilt any of my panels. The panel membrane on several panels were split. The dusts were torn and patched in several placed and looking at the tape used for the dust covers, it was the original tape and dust covers.
I asked PK for a partial refund. He replied saying that I should have sent them back to him. However, why should I expect him to do anything different than a crap job that I have had to endure for months now? When I asked him about the static issue he came back with check the relative humidity. If he had attempted to rebuild the panels and the rebuild just did not go well that would have been one thing but to charge $2500 and never attempt to rebuild the panels is fraudulent in my opinion.
Obviously can't speak to others' experience with PK but mine has been a horror story. So if you are looking to have some Quads restored, I can only suggest that you take a good look at some of the other restoration companies.
I contacted PK in Sept 2011 concerning a pair of 63's that I was considering purchasing and having him restore them. PK said that ALL 63's with the original panels need to be restored due to their age. We agreed on a price of $2000 for a complete restoration.
I had the speakers shipped the PK. Once they arrived at PK's I asked him if we were still talking $2000 and he confirmed the price so I send him the $1000 deposit to get on his "calendar". That was Oct 2011. In mid-Nov, PK said that he was ready to ship my 63's and that I should go ahead and pay the balance of $1000 which I promptly did. After a few weeks, I learned that PK had yet to ship my 63's. This went on until Jan 2012 when I got a call from PK saying that the bottom-end (electronics) of my 63's were in terrible shape and that he needed another $500 to complete the restoration. I agreed to the additional $500 but would not make the payment until after I my 63's were delivered. Finally in mid-Feb 2012, my 63's arrived, 3 months after PK said he was "ready to ship" and in possession of my $2000. I promptly paid the $500.
Soon after taking delivery, I started getting a static noise in both speakers. I thought I must be getting some RF interference so I spend months changing pieces, moving components, etc. but still had the noise. My thinking as that it could not be the 63's because I had just spent $2500 to have them stored. I asked PK about it and he replied asking what was the "relative humidity" in my area.
Finally talked to another Quad restoration person and he identified my static issue as bad panels. I had this person take a look at my 63's and upon inspection it certainly appears that PK never rebuilt any of my panels. The panel membrane on several panels were split. The dusts were torn and patched in several placed and looking at the tape used for the dust covers, it was the original tape and dust covers.
I asked PK for a partial refund. He replied saying that I should have sent them back to him. However, why should I expect him to do anything different than a crap job that I have had to endure for months now? When I asked him about the static issue he came back with check the relative humidity. If he had attempted to rebuild the panels and the rebuild just did not go well that would have been one thing but to charge $2500 and never attempt to rebuild the panels is fraudulent in my opinion.
Obviously can't speak to others' experience with PK but mine has been a horror story. So if you are looking to have some Quads restored, I can only suggest that you take a good look at some of the other restoration companies.
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- 12 posts total
- 12 posts total