How is Liquid Audio different from other repair businesses?

Many things make us different from other outwardly similar businesses.

The short answer:

Liquid Audio is a specialist small business, preserving classic hi-fi stereo equipment, in an industry with many unskilled ‘recappers’, shotgun parts replacers and few genuinely respected technicians. People around the world constantly express to me how much they appreciate our approach and wish we were nearer. I think this says everything.

Reputation

Liquid Audio combines my passions for electronics, hi-fi, and music with university qualifications, 15 years teaching science, 5 years at Curtin University, a lifelong aptitude for all things technical, and an almost pathological attention to detail. It turns out that this is a uniquely valuable skill set, something that took me many years to properly appreciate.

Despite our modest size, some of Perth’s best hi-fi retailers and equipment owners use and recommend Liquid Audio. Our reputation allows me to work closely with well-known manufacturers, and has earned us several official service partnership offers I’ve declined, and one from Plinius that I proudly accepted.

Our reputation stems from what we deliver: attention to detail, integrity, knowledge, professionalism, reliability, proprietary solutions, trust, one business name for 15 years, ongoing contributions to the hi-fi community and consistently great results…

…And what we don’t: unprofessionalism, unrealistic assessments and promises, poor reviews, review-erasing business name changes, copying competitors, cheap parts, poor results, poor communication, poor knowledge and skills, fake qualifications, silly ‘guru‘ and amount of experience proclamations, court cases and confiscated vehicles.

Passion

Anyone who’s visited this website or spoken with me knows unequivocally that Liquid Audio is a labour of love, and that hi-fi has been my passion since I was a child. I was a successful professional for decades and walked away from permanent careers teaching science and managing students and staff at Curtin University, to take Liquid Audio full-time, because of that passion.

I did that because I wanted to grow my business, even if that meant ‘throwing away’ what I’d achieved to that point. Fast forward around 10 years since then, 17 in total, and I’m amazed to be constantly at capacity with work from around the country, and to have such strong engagement with my content. This website was visited over 360,000 times in 2025 alone, and we have over five million combined views here and on YouTube.

Authenticity

A reputation like ours must be earned, something we’ve done through hard work, original thinking, and dedication to excellence since 2010. Not all can say the same, however. Many resort to copying, and my work has been pillaged by a couple of well-known businesses.

I will never copy anyone. Copying vs creating from scratch and doing effective, useful work on hi-fi equipment are very different things. Designing, building, and maintaining a half-million-word website, handling all the technical work, inventory, photography, content creation, editing, admin, and personally replying to every enquiry is about as authentic as one can get. The beauty of generating all this is that you don’t need to copy anything.

Authenticity also means integrity, and customers rely on us to support them and care for their equipment. We never farm work out as some do. We don’t steal others’ work. We’ve had just one business name vs five in one case. We stand by our work and reputation, don’t ruin people’s equipment and call out bad businesses that do.

David H

Mike … you, of course, are a gem. We are so lucky to have someone as passionate, intelligent, ethical and hardworking in little ol’ Perth.

Best Practice

• Our mantra: create, inform, add value, never harm
• We are dedicated to technical excellence
• We inspect equipment rather than guess its condition/faults
• We advise when equipment is damaged or not viable to repair
• We recycle dead hi-fi equipment to be enjoyed again by others
• We champion integrity, professionalism, quality and value
• We care only for hi-fi stereo equipment – no toasters, mixers, VCRs
• We have fixed rates for Akai and Accuphase to Kenwood and Krell
• We specialise in component-level circuit board repair and fixing faults
• We advocate for improved industry standards and outing poor businesses
• We build long-term relationships with customers, distributors and manufacturers
• We created a unique, free 650,000+ word, 650+ article and video resource
• This business is powered by a lifetime immersed in science, audio, music, etc

Businesses championing professionalism and quality over making a quick buck are rare these days. Folks looking for a ‘cut-price, cut corners’ approach won’t find it here, though such businesses exist, delivering predictable results: blind ‘quotes’, shortcuts, poor workmanship, ‘Swell-Long’ capacitors, devalued or destroyed equipment, terrible reviews and even court cases. 

We take our goal of quietly preserving hi-fi equipment and bringing enjoyment to its owners seriously. We work to the highest standards, adding value to cherished equipment and delivering the best results for customers who care about the details as we do. If our approach resonates with you, don’t hesitate to get in touch.