Sound Well

So, I bought another piece of equipment from these guys and there were some issues.
It was a tube integrated amp that didn’t work properly. The symptoms were an absence of balance control and an inverted audio signal in 3 out of 4 output modes, which didn’t make sense. The 2 week return privilege had lapsed and, although there was also 6 month «guarantee,» I decided to take the amp to a tube technician who I was sure knew how to fix whatever was wrong with it.
When I took it to the tube tech and he opened up the bottom of the amp, it was clear that the amp had been seriously altered — the balance control had been disconnected and a variety of other wires had been disconnected and/​or added. It looked like a mess. It took a few weeks but the tube tech completely rewired the IA back to stock and put in a new set of power tubes to replace the ones that came w/​the amp which were almost entirely burnt out.
I’m not going to knock down my prior rating because of this situation because I still could have returned it to them to see if they could fix it or not BUT I didn’t want to get into a pissing match w/​them about it, especially since they are only open 1 day a week for a few hours. I liked the amp and wanted to keep it, so I took it to someone I KNEW could fix it and fix it properly. Paid a few more dollars to get that done but it didn’t cost that much more and I got what I wanted out of it.
However, buyer beware. If you buy something at SoundWell make sure to check it out completely BEFORE the 2 week return period lapses or you may have a problem on your hands. Fortunately, it didn’t work out that way for me but that’s because I was willing/​able to deal w/​the problem myself.

Bought some great refurbished speakers for a decent price from some of the nicest guys. Really wonderful place.

Went in here with my husband for advice about why our 1970s Technics receiver might be making a crackling and popping sound. The kind mustachioed gentleman took time to recommend someone who might be able to make a house call to take a look at it since they do not do repairs anymore. But before calling someone in he recommended we clean the knobs and insides a bit to see if it helps. He took the time to diagram the insides of the receiver and what we should use to clean it. We did not buy anything from them but we sure did appreciate their kindness in helping us help ourselves.

Gene’s Sound Service (who these guys recommended) came out and repaired my receiver and turn table! WOO HOO! The music lives once again! These guys are back on my A-​list. I’ll probably get some speakers from em latter this fall.

Nice, helpful owner. They don’t do repairs anymore, but he was able to provide a replacement needle he had on hand and suggested other repair options.
(I did not have a good experience with the owner of Handy Electronics, which shares the same space, when I stopped by another time and the Sound Well owner wasn’t there.)

Great place for the audiophile hobbyist who appreciates good vintage audio gear. I’ve been going there since 2000. They have helped me keep my Fisher Studio Standard 8500 system working well, as well as my Onkyo m508 amp. I also like them for speaker refoams.

For Christmas my wife asked me to dust off the turn table and get some good use out of the 900 pounds of Vinyl we’ve been hauling around for years. After a search in the area I found Soundwell. I went in and spoke to the 2 owners — super friendly and knowledgable. I picked up a pair of speakers and a new cartridge went home and set it up but I had some difficulty balancing the tone arm and the needle. I brought the turntable in and they fixed it all up no additional charge! They have a varied selection and it’s worth going in and having a look and a nice conversation with these audio files.

what an amazing find. these guys are good, honest people who really just care about people listening to quality sound at home. they go above and beyond to make sure you are satisfied with your purchases (including you can return something within 2 weeks to exchange it for another like item for up to 6 months). they also don’t make you feel dumb when you have a lot to learn, but help you to learn it. and they know their stuff.
i went in looking for one specific set of speakers and (i think) rich actually showed me another pair that was cheaper that he thought sounded better. sure enough it did. a very happy customer.
thanks, rich, for helping me to finally have a solid at home set-​up to listen to all these great LPs.

Stopped by last week to get some advice on turntables. The person who helped me was knowledge and helpful, and took his time to assist me, despite the fact I made it clear I wasn’t going to buy anything that day.
Great customer service is always appreciated — and I am now keeping an eye on their website for a used turntable. Highly recommended!

Just stopped in today hoping to get my Pioneer SX-​950 receiver checked out but apparently this store isn’t doing repairs any longer… just sales. I was given a list of local contacts who could help me which was appreciated. Just a heads up if you’re looking to get something repaired — seems you’ll have to look eslewhere.

I went here to buy a preamp for my vintage technics turntable. It was the only physical place in the area that had one. The price wasn’t bad and the owner was extremely helpful and knowledgable. He even said I could bring it back If it didn’t work. The best thing is I supported a local business, instead of buying it online from a big box store like Best Buy or Walmart!
I would highly recommend this place for your electronic repair and supply needs. My records sound great on this turntable now.
The down side is that they’re only open from 12 – 3 p.m. on Saturdays and it was pretty busy when I came in, so it took awhile for service.

How refreshing! I brought my long-​broken turntable in to be fixed and the very nice guy– must have been Rich– took one look at it, flipped a switch in the back, and voila, it was fixed. And he didn’t even charge me. He could have– he could have kept it and called later with some invented story and I would have paid quite happily, but he didn’t. How refreshing!!!
The Sound Well is where you should go if
1. You want real professional, knowledgeable help,
2. You want to deal with trustworthy people,
3. You (for philosophical, environmental, or other reasons) would rather get it fixed than throw it out, and
4. You believe that #1, 2 and 3 are worth what they cost.
Not that it cost me anything. But like I said, I would have gladly paid!

OOPS! RICHARD OF SOUND WELL EMAILED TO ADVISE ME ITS NOT THE SAME SHOP THEY JUST SHARE FACILITIES THE COMPANY’S NAME THAT I HAD DEALING WITH APPEARS TO BE HANDY ELECTRONICS, SORRY RICHARD! I am not sure this is the same business because the phone number is wrong. The address I have is 1467 University Ave @ Sacramento and its on the north side of University. I had a portable DVD Player 8″ screen which was hardly ever used but would not work for me now. The owner demanded a $ 25.00 nonrefundable assessment fee and promised to call me the next day this was the ¹¹⁄₁₈. He never called so finally I called him yesterday. He told me it was broken (no kidding), and did I want him to put it back together or just toss it. I told him I would be picking it up on Friday the 4^th of Dec in the same condition that I left it,
I will call the number listed for this business and see if it is the same guy, if not I will update the review. The phone number I have is 510 – 5 481 782

With more than a passing interest in listening to vinyl records, and a terrible late 90’s model turntable at home, I went shopping for a new one.
I found this shop on «Yelp!», and with some qualified and gentle guidance from Rich at The Sound Well, I bought a turntable that’s as old as me, but much prettier.
It’s clean, working as good as new, with a new stylus on a well balanced tone arm with an aligned cartridge. It sounds great, and I’m really enjoying it.
The shop offers a great 6 month warranty, a nice return policy, and a really generous trade in policy.
The shop’s hours are not entirely convenient, but everyone who walked in there was helped promptly and with respect while I visited.
I highly recommend a visit to The Sound Well to buy vintage and used audio gear, maintenance servicing, and repair services.

The Sound Well is both an excellent audio electronics repair shop, and a terrific source of high-​quality used components from the hey-​day of high-​end consumer-​grade products. I’ve had a 1970s Yamaha integrated amp resurrected from a blown power stage and gotten a tune-​up for a Technics direct-​drive turntable. I’ve purchased a refurbished Dual turntable from these guys that’s still working well.
Repairs have always been of good quality, and have been performed within (or faster than) the time frame they’ve stated. They get backed up with repairs sometimes, so it’s good to call ahead (during their limited phone hours — check their website). Their repair work isn’t inexpensive, but for good quality components, it’s less expensive than trying to buy a new replacement.
Their selection of used components, speakers and turntables turns over regularly, and generally sells for less (sometimes much less) than half the original retail price. To get something of comparable quality today, you’d have to spend big bucks.
The golden-​age of high-​end consumer-​grade products (as opposed to audiophile products, which they’ll also repair and sometimes offer used) is alive and well at the Sound Well. If your stereo needs a tune-​up, or you’re thinking of upgrading (or building out a system for a second room), check here before you shop for new products!

About a year and a half ago, I dragged my thrift store record player over here for repair, and the nice guys at Sound Well very politely explained how it wouldn’t be worth fixing because it was a piece of shit. I bought one of their repaired players, and although it was a bit more than I hoped to dish out, I didn’t feel like I was being taken advantage of at all.
Anyway, the player (and needle) had no problems at all, played great, and served me perfectly until the belt fell off last week. When I put it back on, it played great — at about 2x speed, making all my records turn chipmunk-​style. I called the Sound Well, and the guy spent about 5 minutes on the phone giving me a run-​down of possible causes and I was able to fix it myself (belt was on the wrong ridge).
Audio equipment is one of those things where I (and most people) know so little that it’s easy to feel like you’re being constantly screwed over. The guys at Sound Well are so awesome and nice, however, I feel pretty good about handing them whatever denomination of money they request to make my music go.
** p. s. You might want to call first before dragging your player over, because the guy indicated that they might be taking a break from complicated repair jobs to fix up some old equipment for sale. **

Some part of this story is true:
1.) The goddamned Irish movers I found on Unilocal jostled my turntable so that a rubber band thingee on the inside slipped off, and I wasn’t able to put it back on myself, and I’ve spent the last six months jonesing for my records.
2.) I couldn’t find a record player repair shop by looking online, not even on Unilocal,and it was only when we got our new Yellow Pages was I able to find that the Sound Well repairs stereos in Berkeley.
3.) I sent Tito into the shop with the broken record player, and he came out and said that the Sound Well guy said that it would cost $ 300 to repair a turntable, so it wouldn’t be worth it… and then the same guy slipped our rubber thing back on to the record player for free. This is the especially fishy part of the story, as Tito is the perpetual jokester.
4.) My record player is repaired… hullo, Roberta Flack’s Greatest Hits!

EXCELLENT service, knowledge, warranty
I’m so glad I gave my money to these guys for a great used turntable rather than to some salesperson for a new one. If you’re fretting about how much you can spend (probably more than you really should) on stereo equipment, give these guys a chance and I guarantee there’s a very good chance you’ll be happy you did! I bet you’ll end up with a good piece of equipment that you’ll feel good about not only because it’s one less item for the landfill, but because of the confidence you’ll gain from talking to them. AND you’ll most likely end up spending considerably less money than for a new, comparable component. What are you waiting for? Hail, Sound Well!!!

I stopped in last Friday because I happened to be biking by and had just recently rescued an old Dual 1237 turntable from a basement and was thinking about getting it going. I asked if they though it was worth getting a new stylus for it (they said yes) and they showed me my options. Then I stared at all the awesome equipment for awhile.
Lucky for me, the former owner of the turntable called the next day and said he had found a spare stylus (new) that I could have. So I saved myself the cash by not buying a new needle – but I now know where to go when I need anything audio-​related.
Another bonus is that Sound Well’s web site had instructions for balancing Dual tonearms, which is really priceless information. My records sound great; right now I got Jim Croce tellin’ me about big bad Leroy Brown and he sounds so good!
Also looking forward to attending the «garage sale» there this weekend and I WILL buy something.

This is a GREAT repair shop. If you like the gear you have and believe in repairing good stuff instead of loading up the landfill, this is the shop for you. You should see the cool items they have for sale as well.
Open limited hours, and email them first so they can give you an idea of what’s doable — e.g., if nobody makes your parts anymore, they’ll let you know and save you the trip. Honest, great policies, reliable.
My experience: I brought in a 1980 Yamaha receiver to see about repair. They told me that they could investigate it, but that Yamaha in particular doesn’t keep older parts, so it might be a waste of my money, then mentioned they had a similar vintage receiver for sale for $ 115 that was WARRANTIED FOR PARTS AND LABOR FOR SIX MONTHS, eligible for a one-​time trade-​in for an upgrade (during a limited period of time, I forget how long), and they have a fine return policy too. The sale included BRAND NEW speaker wire with soldered ends, instructions on how to install new wire without accidentally frying the insides, and an antenna for the receiver.
If you need something repaired, these are your guys.
Peigi