Alpha Tech Electronics

This is some genuine old-​time service, folks. Come here if you want a quality receiver, speaker, turntable and want to buy a used one manufactured back when they were actually good (instead of the cheap plastic ones they sell these days).
It’s not a sales shop by any means, as compared to Best Buy, you cant just browse around yourself really. The main floor is where they do repairs and upstairs is where they have all the antique equipment. In fact, with the towers of old equipment stacked up everywhere (and I mean as soon as you walk in) I was a bit worried about the element of care in this place. That went away quickly when the owner Zaw showed us around. In fact, the stacks mean you have tens maybe hundreds of options rather than the 3 – 6 you’d find in a regular store.
A bit out of our league, we told him what we were looking for. To him, it’s a organized mess, he knows where to look and remembered what he had replaced on each model and the type of technology used in that model. I’m not that knowledgable about old time equipment but I’m sure some more knowledgeable people would be quite amazed at the stuff he had up there.
Eventually, he set me up with a whole sound system for less than the original price he quoted that it would cost us. (You can spend anywhere from $ 200 to $ 1,000s of dollars). He hooked them all together and tested the sound. He also included every possible cable I would need and an antenna and an FM adapter AND packaged them all safely in boxes. He was trying to get a sticker off one of the units and I said don’t worry about it I can do that at home, and he said no no I wouldn’t sell anything without cleaning it up. All in all, extremely happy with this unexpected wonder of a shop.
Another customer came in during this process and he was told it would be just a minute, although it was probably more like 15 minutes until he was done helping us. So don’t expect to be treated like you’re the only thing that matters; that just means he takes his time to do quality work and if it had been me having to wait, I would have understood. Plus, I noticed it was already past the 5pm closing time and he still stayed to help that other customer.

Shop is a bit off-​putting. When I walked in the Asian lady working the counter wasn’t very willing to answer my questions. I asked if I could listen to a pair of speakers they had upstairs or take the grills off. She wasn’t willing to do either. Then I asked if they might get certain pieces of equipment in and the general cost. She couldn’t say and I received some BS answer to get me out of the store. Thanks for the terrible customer service!

If you are looking for incompetent repairmen then this is the place for you. I dropped my home receiver off here to be serviced because my unit was turning off whenever I played music through it. The repairman called and told me he ran it for three days straight and the unit never turned off. After I picked up the unit and took it home and set it up the receiver turned off within five minutes time. I called and told the owner the problem and he told me to bring it back to the store. I told him I would not be bringing it back up there since his technician had already ran the unit for three days and could not get it to turn off. Obviously they are not testing the unit properly or they would have encountered the same problem I have at my house.
Do not use Alpha Tech Electronics for any repairs. They also tried to sell me a used receiver and showed me their inventory which consisted of well over 50 other receivers. The sales clerk told me many people will not pick up their units if they are not fixed. I asked the owner this question and he vehemently told me that none of the units they have for sale are from past clients. I’m calling nans on this one.

Can’t say enough about this place! I went to buy a turntable for a Christmas present and he spent over two hours going over everything I needed to know so my boyfriend could use it on Christmas Day. We listened to it, and he even demonstrated how to clean my records and just went over and beyond any expectations I could have had. I live 45 minutes away but I won’t be going anywhere else!

Every person who works here knows a ton about vintage stereo equipment. The prices are great. They’ve stayed open past closing for me when I couldn’t get there by 5. They’re nice, and they’re funny. Also, perhaps most important: there’s a really sweet cat here named Agent Orange.

Avoid doing business with this company. I was yelled at almost immediately upon entering the store. They lured me in by badmouthing a (former) competitor and claiming to know more about my issue than he. I offered to provide them with detailed information about my problem, so that they could let me know if they could help. They declined and told me to come in. When I did, they said that they could not help me. When I asked why they didn’t take the information that I offered on the phone so as to avoid me wasting time, the proprietor raised his voice at me. I told him to stop and he did. They did not even say goodbye as I left. So rude! I like St. Louis because of the courtesy and sense of community here… I wish the proprietor felt the same way.

The best. Big time honest. I bought a rebuilt receiver. Sounded great, then the power button started acting up within the warranty period. I took it in to get repaired. The owner Zao called me to tell me that he’ll have to either give me a refund or replace it because it’s heating up abnormally and will eventually go out. HE COULD HAVE SIMPLY FIXED THE POWER BUTTON, AND ALLOWED THE RECEIVER TO GO OUT EVENTUALLY, I would not have known the difference I’m sure. He allowed me to pick one out that was a little more expensive and it sounds great. they encouraged me to bring it back if anything seems wrong. Great service, great stuff everyone who wants great sound for a bargain should check it out.

I have no idea why this place does not have any (steller) reviews. I am new to the vintage audio scene and I was a little intimidated by the place. (Everyone I asked about hi fi audio equipment told me to go here and said they are the most knowledgeable. My age also accounted for some of the intimidation) I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly and helpful the staff was. I talked with the staff about servicing my Marantz receiver and also about upgrading cartridges. They took the time to explain everything and answered all of my questions without being condescending or patronizing.
There was another customer in at the time and he also told me how great the staff is. (He was a 30+ year regular customer.)
I cannot say enough good things about Alpha Tech. I won’t be taking my audio equipment anywhere else for servicing while living in STL.