True Sound

Nick is an electronics artist and genius!
He took a hacked up Jolida 102B integrated amp that I bought used and restored it to new — without a schematic — in just a few weeks and I couldn’t be happier. Don’t know how many hours he put into fooling with it but he only charged me $ 250 for the rewiring, overhauling of the mode switch and a used (but still good and matched) set of four EL-​34 tubes (that run $ 60/​pair new).
If it can be fixed, Nick can do it and he will not gouge you in the process. I can’t recommend him more highly!

It’s been an absolute pleasure doing business with this company. Lee was extremely patient and courteous; her insight and knowledge is priceless. We also want to give a shout out to Nick — such a gentleman! A simply fantastic experience! Thank you.

I called True Sound today and spoke with a gentleman about if he could fix my little CD player. The on/​off/​selection of am/​fm/​cd wasn’t working. I didn’t get his name, but he was very nice and extremely polite and helpful. Took the model # of my CD player and looked it up and told me what he thought might be wrong with it, that the switch gets dirty and would need to be cleaned. He gave me a tip to try at home to try to clean off the switch, and also said he could try to clean it at his shop, but warned me that the solvent that is used to clean the metal, could ruin the plastic parts and if that happened the CD player wouldn’t be salvageable. I thanked him and tried what he suggested and it worked and now my CD player is working once again. He didn’t need to tell me how to fix it. He could have just said to bring it in and charged me for a look-​see and/​or repair, but he didn’t. That speaks volumes to me! To have found someone honest and knowledgeable… what a find! I will definitely bring any other of my electronics that may need fixing to True Sound in the future.

I just called about repairing an old Yamaha R-​1000 receiver and the owner Nick was completely honest on whether it was worth repairing. His vast knowledge of audio equipment showed just over the phone and at some point I look forward to meeting him and getting advice on a home audio system.

If you find yourself needing your Rega Apollo CD player or any other HiFi or electronic component requiring repair or adjustment, give Nick a call… you will be glad you did.
Nick’s correspondence, return e-​mails and calls and his equipment promises and quote all were answered with professionalism, courtesy and first class customer service.
I can wholeheartedly recommend Nick Gowan as he took care of my Rega Apollo perfectly!

Absolutely fantastic service, both in repairs as well as equipment sales. Honest, fair and truly professional.
Thanks,
C

Ah yes, please let me tell you about True Sound a little-​known (no well-​enough known?) gem on the SF Bay area sound scene! Nick Gowan and Lee are true connoisseurs of fine music & reproduction equipment; most notably Audio Note UK and Da Vinci Audio equipment. If for not other reason — you owe it to yourself to visit simply to hear what a system built around an Ongaku can sound like. A word about the equipment prices is needed here — Audio Note UK gear has a well-​deserved reputation for being pricey — but they actually offer a wide range of equipment (levels in AN parlance) — and thusly are able to accommodate any SERIOUS music-lover’s budget without forcing them to resort to felonious acts of larceny! With Nick’s apt guidance, I have assembled a truly killer stereo system that I could have only dreamed about in the past. I am hearing far better dynamics, better articulated bass, loads more detail, and a gorgeous presentation that has me pulling out all sorts of recording that I have long neglected. It has truly brought new life to my music collection, and increased my enjoyment of the music by at least a tenfold factor. I must mention that if you love VINYL LPs this is Nick true calling. I would not believe how good records can sound if I had not learned so much from his advice. Nick has always steered me in the right direction, and NEVER does he come across as high-​pressure — nor does he blow along with the fashionable audio winds in terms of the latest and greatest gear. If you are truly interested in the SOUND of MUSIC, then you owe it to yourself to pay them a visit. Before I close — I’ve also had equipment repaired at True Sound, and I highly recommend their services. His prices are fair — nay more than fair — and he stand behind his work. I hope that this is an adequately glowing review — as my appreciation for sound and music has grown much greater — solely due my to listening to what the expert has to say!

Nick is superb. I can’t speak too highly of his knowledge and service. I can’t imagine I will ever go anywhere else again.

Nick Gowan is a classy gentleman that runs, quite frankly, the most professional and pleasant sound business I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with. I have brought Nick 3 pieces to date; a 2325 Marantz receiver, a Thorens TD124 turntable, and a C20 McIntosh PreAmp. Not only did he provide perfect work on all of these machines, but he also did so at an incredible rate. All of these units were returned to me VERY rapidly. Not only was his service speedy, but his price was fair in a business that is full of snobby crooks. Gowan himself is a pleasure to interact with; he takes the time to ask the important questions and you can tell right off the bat that he is not just invested in what he does, he loves it. Both him and his assistant Lee are courteous and an absolute pleasure to interact with. Gowan’s patience, extreme wealth of knowledge, superlative work, and professionalism have earned my respect and deepest trust.

After multiple attempts to repair my vintage hi-​fi with another «authorized repair center» I contacted Nick Gowan. He quickly isolated the problem and repaired my power amplifier quickly and perfectly. He is very knowledgeable, patient, gracious, and reasonable. It’s rare to find someone working at this quality level, extraordinary.

Nick repaired a tube preamp I had damaged out of sheer stupidity.
This turned out to be a protracted and frustrating process to source the replacement parts. Nick was patient, courteous, followed through until the end despite the manufacturer lack of responsiveness, and did a superb job at bringing my preamp back to its glory. Simply the best person I have met for tube electronics repair, and an awfully nice guy to deal with. Most highly recommended!!!

My experience here was about as good as it gets. Nick is patient and passionate about audio. He makes you feel like it’s his privilege that you came into the store and «allowed» him to work on your gear. I might also mention that his shop is full of components and cables worth 50X what I brought in, but there was not a hint of audio snootiness that is all-​too-​present in this industry. They love good sound and Nick has the skills to let you get the most our of your equipment. When picking up my equipment, I stayed a while and it was my pleasure to sit with Lee and listen to a few of my vinyl tracks played on their fantastic system. Considering that they have a phono cartridge worth more than my entire rig (with a limited life), I feel I got quite a gift to have that stylus drag through my grooves a bit. Lee and Nick give off some seriously good vibes, and I suggest you find a good excuse to have them work on your equipment. Or better yet, they can assemble a cost-​no-​object dream system for you. Either way, they will ensure your system brings you much amusement for years to come.

They are the best in the industry ! Because of Nick I continue to enjoy vacuum tubes and analogue equipments which sounds best at any cost.

Nick rescued me from audio hell, going way above and beyond to repair my hopeless, antique, and ruined english loudspeakers, after their US distributor proved to be utterly worthless. Lots of work and headache on his part, and very little profit. A kind and knowledgeable man who I like and admire. He’s got my back, and my business.

I can’t say enough good things about Nick Gowan and his assistant Lee. After growing weary of others in this industry who care only about pushing their brands, Nick’s delight is enabling others to discover and enjoy the gift of music. I deeply trust Nick. As a man of integrity, unrivaled technical skills and an amazing ear, he advised me to patiently WAIT before auditioning ANYTHING until my current system was fully optimized (by his in-​home visits) so that I would know exactly what components to invest in. Nick doesn’t want his clients to merely spend a lot but to be educated so that they’d wisely invest in the right things. Thank you Nick and Lee!

Nick Gowan, proprietor of True Sound, is a skilled and conscientious audio consultant, and true gentleman. I brought him a troublesome tube preamp that he restored to its best and safest performance for less than half the cost he initially quoted. But that was not the end of his sterling service: while visiting San Francisco to see another client, he stopped by to follow up on the repair, and gave my system a thorough checkup. Highly recommended!